The final round of World Cup qualifying anywhere in the world is the intercontinental playoffs, when one team from four different confederations play in two two-legged playoffs for the final two spots in the world's biggest sporting event. For the 2010 World Cup, the two intercontinental playoffs saw New Zealand defeat Bahrain, 1-0 on aggregate, and Uruguay take down Costa Rica, 2-1 on aggregate. It proved to be an enormously important round as Uruguay punched their ticket to South Africa, where they went all the way to the tournament semifinals.
2014 FIFA World Cup Preliminary Draw: Intercontinental Playoffs
The final four teams in search of qualification for the 2014 World Cup will once again come from South America, Asia, CONCACAF and Oceania. The preliminary draw determined that the team that finishes in fifth place in South American qualifying will play the fifth place team from Asia in one intercontinental playoff for a final World Cup spot, while the fourth place team in CONCACAF will play the winner of Oceania.
That’s a favorable draw for CONCACAF, whose fourth place team will almost certainly play New Zealand. Regardless of who finishes in fourth, the CONCACAF team will almost certainly be favored to win their playoff. It’s even more favorable for South America though, who get to play the fifth place team in Asia. The last two times that has been Bahrain and both times Bahrain lost, as did Iran, who finished in fifth place in qualification for the 2002 World Cup.
Intercontinental Playoffs
South America fifth place vs. Asia fifth place
CONCACAF fourth place vs. Oceania winner
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