Find out who will be playing alongside hosts South Africa at the 2010 World Cup with BBC Sport's definitive guide to who has qualified and when they wrapped up their place at the finals...

Spain's win over Estonia ensured the European Champions' smooth progression

Full list of qualified teams

PARAGUAY (9 September, 2009)

Paraguay secured their place at a fourth-straight World Cup finals with two games to spare after a 1-0 win over Argentina.

Nelson Valdez's goal earned his side victory over Diego Maradona's struggling outfit in the South American qualifying group as Paraguay joined Brazil in qualifying for South Africa in 2010.

Paraguay coach Gerardo Martino: "In the national team, you work for two possibilities - you can work for having a job or for making history. I want to work for the second option."

SPAIN (9 September, 2009)

Spain matched the feats of England and Netherlands, qualifying for the 2010 World Cup with two qualifying group matches to spare thanks to a workmanlike 3-0 defeat of Estonia in Merida.

Cesc Fabregas, Santi Cazorla and Juan Mata got the goals to make it eight straight wins for the European champions, with Bosnia-Herzegovina's 1-1 draw with Turkey ensuring their smooth progress to the finals for the ninth straight time.

Spanish midfielder Cesc Fabregas: "This goal is very important for me, especially for the confidence it gives me. It's a pleasure to play with these players and in front of these fans. Eight wins out of eight, not many countries can say that."

ENGLAND (9 September, 2009)

England swept into the finals with a 5-1 rout of Croatia, their eighth victory in eight Group Six matches, as Fabio Capello's side ensured their progress to the finals with two matches to spare.

Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard each bagged a brace, with Wayne Rooney adding a fifth, as the Wembley crowd were treated to a superb home win that went some way to making up for Croatia stopping England from qualifying for Euro 2008 under Steve McLaren.

England captain John Terry: "When we play like that, pressing and working the ball, we're a difficult opposition for any side. Don't forget, it's taken a year for us to get this good, and we've got a way to go to get to where we ultimately want to be. But we're on track."

GHANA (6 September, 2009)

Ghana defeated Sudan 2-0 in Accra to become the first African side to reach the 2010 World Cup in South Africa from the qualifiers.

Inter Milan's Sulley Muntari and Chelsea's Michael Essien scored the goals in each half to give Ghana an unassailable lead at the top of qualifying Group D.

Ghana midfielder Michael Essien: "The people of Ghana wanted us to win and we did not let them down. What a fantastic feeling to be the first African country to qualify for the first World Cup to be staged in Africa."

BRAZIL (6 September, 2009)

Brazil are the only team to have appeared in every World Cup finals and they made sure that record would continue in the best possible fashion, beating their bitter rivals Argentina 3-1 on their home turf.

Two goals from striker Luis Fabiano and another from defender Luisao was enough as they inflicted only the second home defeat in World Cup qualifiers on Diego Maradona's struggling side.

Coach Dunga: "We're happy. We beat a great team with great champions. Lionel Messi might be the best player in the world. We beat Argentina, which had not lost a match at home in qualifying."

NORTH KOREA (17 June, 2009)

Iran's failure to defeat South Korea in Seoul earlier in the day meant North Korea only needed to draw in their final group match against Saudi Arabia in Riyadh.

They did exactly that, with a 0-0 result, putting them into their first World Cup finals since 1966. Back then, they were memorably beaten 5-3 in the quarter-finals by Portugal - despite taking a 3-0 lead.

Coach Kim Jong-Hun: "It was so hot in Saudi Arabia and as you know the journey from Korea was long, but our belief in the ability of the players snatched the ticket to South Africa."

THE NETHERLANDS (6 June, 2009)

The Dutch won 2-1 away to Iceland to become the first European side to qualify for next summer's tournament.

Goals from Nigel de Jong and Mark van Bommel put Bert van Marwijk's team in the driving seat before Kristjan Orn Sigurdsson pulled a goal back.

Bert van Marwijk: "My goal was to qualify for the finals so now we have a year to prepare. Winning six straight World Cup qualifiers deserves a compliment."

SOUTH KOREA (6 June, 2009)

The South Koreans secured a seventh successive World Cup finals place thanks to a 2-0 victory over United Arab Emirates in Dubai.

Park Chu-young and Ki Sung-yueng grabbed the goals as Huh Jung-Moo's outfit strolled to a place in Africa's first World Cup.

Huh Jung-Moo: "I'm really happy that we made it. We are all satisfied with a performance that saw us ensure a place in South Africa. The players were excellent throughout the qualifiers, they did a great job."

AUSTRALIA (6 June, 2009)

The Socceroos eased into the World Cup without so much as even conceding a goal in the six matches it took them to qualify.

A 0-0 draw against Qatar in Doha wrapped things up for Pim Verbeek's team after they picked up 14 points in Group A of the final Asian qualifying phase.

Pim Verbeek: "The World Cup is a great, great event and I'm already looking forward to going there. We have to go and do it better than last time."

JAPAN (6 June, 2009)

Takeshi Okada's Japan became the first team to book their place after earning a hard-fought 1-0 victory against Uzbekistan in Tashkent.

Shunji Okazaki grabbed the only goal of the game after nine minutes to book a fourth successive finals berth.

Takeshi Okada: "We played very well. I think we should continue playing this style in the remaining matches."