For the 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification, there were two inter-confederation play-offs to determine the final two qualification spots to the

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial football world championship for men's national teams organized by FIFA. It was held from 31 May to 30 June 2002 at sites in South Korea an ...

. They were won by Ireland and Uruguay. The matches were played between 10 and 25 November 2001. As of 2022, this remains the last time a European team earned a World Cup spot through an intercontinental play-off. From 2006 onwards, the remaining European qualifiers would be determined by continental play-offs.

Format

The four teams from the four confederations ( AFC, CONMEBOL, OFC, and

UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...

) were drawn into two ties. The ties themselves were not drawn, but were allocated by FIFA as: * UEFA first round randomly drawn runner-up v AFC third round (play-off) winner * OFC final round winner v CONMEBOL round-robin 5th place The draw for the order in which the two matches were played was held on 31 August 2001 during the FIFA Congress in Zurich, Switzerland. In each tie, the two teams played a two-legged home-and-away series. The two winners, decided on

aggregate score There are a number of formats used in various levels of competition in sports and games to determine an overall champion. Some of the most common are the ''single elimination'', the ''best-of-'' series, the ''total points series'' more commonly kn ...

, qualified for the

in South Korea and Japan.

Qualified teams

Matches

The first legs were played on 10 and 20 November 2001, and the second legs were played on 15 and 25 November 2001.

UEFA v AFC

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern ...

won 2–1 on aggregate and qualified for the

OFC v CONMEBOL

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

won 3–1 on aggregate and qualified for the

Goalscorers

There were 7 goals scored in 4 matches, for an average of 1.75 goals per match. ;2 goals * Richard Morales ;1 goal *

Kevin Muscat Kevin Vincent Muscat (born 7 August 1973) is an Australian former association football player and the current manager of Yokohama F. Marinos. As a player, he represented the Australia national team at international level winning 46 caps and sco ...

* Yahya Golmohammadi *

Ian Harte Ian Patrick Harte (born 31 August 1977) is an Irish football agent and former professional footballer who played as a left back. He was best known for his ability to score goals from long range, including being a free kick specialist. He be ...

* Robbie Keane *

Darío Silva Darío Debray Silva Pereira (born 2 November 1972) is a Uruguayan retired professional footballer who played as a striker. After making a name for himself in his country and in Italy with Cagliari, he spent the following seven years of his car ...

References

{{2002 FIFA World Cup qualifiers

Play-off The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...