Editing FIFA World Cup (section)

=== Qualification ===
{{Main|FIFA World Cup qualification}}
Since the second World Cup in [[1934 FIFA World Cup|1934]], qualifying tournaments have been held to thin the field for the final tournament.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.fifa.com/worldcup/preliminarydraw/news/newsid=576440.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071118182153/http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/preliminarydraw/news/newsid=576440.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=18 November 2007 |title=FIFA World Cup qualifying: Treasure-trove of the weird and wonderful |work=FIFA |access-date=23 December 2007}}</ref> They are held within the six FIFA continental zones ([[Confederation of African Football|Africa]], [[Asian Football Confederation|Asia]], [[CONCACAF|North and Central America and Caribbean]], [[CONMEBOL|South America]], [[Oceania Football Confederation|Oceania]], and [[UEFA|Europe]]), overseen by their respective confederations. For each tournament, FIFA decides the number of places awarded to each of the continental zones beforehand, generally based on the relative strength of the confederations' teams.

The qualification process can start as early as almost three years before the final tournament and last over a two-year period. The formats of the qualification tournaments differ between confederations. Usually, one or two places are awarded to winners of intercontinental [[play-off]]s. For example, the winner of the Oceanian zone and the fifth-placed team from the Asian zone entered a play-off for a spot in the [[2010 FIFA World Cup|2010 World Cup]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://soccernet.espn.go.com/print?id=468907&type=story&cc= |title=2010 World Cup Qualifying |work=ESPNSoccernet.com |publisher=ESPN |date=26 November 2009 |access-date=23 December 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081216151218/http://soccernet.espn.go.com/print?id=468907&type=story&cc= |archive-date=16 December 2008}}</ref> From the [[1938 FIFA World Cup|1938 World Cup]] onwards, host nations receive automatic qualification to the final tournament. This right was also granted to the defending champions between 1938 and 2002, but was withdrawn from the [[2006 FIFA World Cup]] onward, requiring the champions to qualify, as previous defending champions had uncompetitive performances at subsequent editions of the FIFA World Cup. [[Brazil national football team|Brazil]], winners in [[2002 FIFA World Cup|2002]], were the first defending champions to play qualifying matches.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.fifa.com/mm/document/fifafacts/mencompwc/51/97/75/fs-201_19a_fwc-prel-history.pdf |title=History of the FIFA World Cup Preliminary Competition (by year) |work=FIFA.com |publisher=Fédération Internationale de Football Association |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100614212731/http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/fifafacts/mencompwc/51/97/75/fs-201_19a_fwc-prel-history.pdf |archive-date=14 June 2010}}</ref>