by Robert Burns

Eight European countries still harbor hopes of a flight to Johannesburg next summer, including 1998 World Cup champions France, Euro 2004 winners Greece, 2006 World Cup semifinalists Portugal, Euro 2008 semifinalists Russia, Ireland, Ukraine, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Slovenia.

In the Western Hemisphere, U.S. defender Jonathan Bornstein's late header at RFK relegated a gutted Costa Rica side to a two-leg playoff against South American powerhouse Uruguay (in its third-straight World Cup playoff out of CONMEBOL).

Bahrain and New Zealand square off for a spot in the finals as well, with the Kiwis taking the advantage home for the second leg after a 0-0 draw in Bahrain last month.

At the very least, the European nations, Ticos and Celestes have two matches left to decide their fates. If there's failure in the first leg, there will be four days to make adjustments and organize a new strategy based on the first-leg results.

But in Africa, it's do or die time. With the final matchday of qualifying set for November 14, the long road for that continent has come down to ninety more minutes of intense football. Ghana and the Ivory Coast have already qualified.

Say what you want about qualifying in other parts of the world, but in no other region does second place earn you zero. Nada. Zilch. In CAF qualifying, only group winners advance to the World Cup, so second place really is the king of the losers (although, as a reader correctly pointed out, it is important in terms of African Cup qualifying, however we're only talking about the World Cup here).

In Group A, Cameroon holds a slight one-point edge over Gabon with both teams facing tricky road trips against the already ousted Morocco and Togo, respectively. The pressure will be on the Indomitable Lions to win outright since a draw in Rabat could relegate the team to watching the World Cup on TV if Gabon can beat Emmanuel Adebayor's Togo.

Morocco was a bit of an African power in the 90's with stars like Mustapha Hadji, but its time in the sun has faded — at least until Bordeaux star Marouane Chamakh blossoms on the international scene as well. However, the Moroccans did hold Cameroon to a scoreless home draw back in June, so a win will be no simple task.

Nigeria's Obafemi Martins will need a lot of luck to reach his first-ever World Cup. (Dean Mouhtaropoulos / Getty Images)

That same day in June, Gabon routed Togo 3-0 in Libreville, so while the Sparrows have little to play for outside of revenge and pride, that could be enough to spoil Gabon's improbable party.

In the unlikely event of a Cameroon loss and a Gabon draw, the Lions hold a two-goal advantage in goal differential — the first tiebreaker.

In almost the exact same scenario as Group A, the aspiring Group B candidates for the World Cup — Nigeria and Tunisia — also face road matches against the also-rans in their group — Mozambique and Kenya.

The Tunisians, led by Portugal manager Humberto Coelho, hold a two-point advantage over the Super Eagles going into the final game, and shouldn't have too much difficulty closing out the group when they face a Mozambique side that has yet to win a match in the final round of qualifying.

Once considered the cream of the African crop, Nigeria has fallen off since its glory days in the 90's when the team advanced to the second round of the 1994 and 1998 World Cups with players like Jay-Jay Okocha, Finidi George, Sunday Oliseh and Kanu.

While the team hasn't lost a match in group action (twice drawing with rivals Tunisia), its matchday one scoreless draw at Mozambique has most likely cost the squad a trip to the World Cup.

The only head-to-head matchup for all the marbles takes place in Group C, with Egypt hosting leaders Algeria in what's bound to be a very charged-up Cairo. The three-point difference can be eliminated if the Pharaohs beat their north African rivals, but it won't matter unless they win by two or more goals.

Led by ageless captain Ahmed Hassan, Egypt will have to go full throttle from the outset and hope that an early goal opens the door to bigger and better things. Needing only to not lose by more than one goal, the Algerians will most likely bunker throughout the match (the good old 8-1-1 formation, most likely), which is sure to draw the ire of the fans at Cairo's International Stadium.

But with dangerous forwards like Mohamed Zidan and Amr Zaki in the squad, the Pharaohs have a chance, albeit a slim one, to make the miracle happen. If Egypt wins 2-0, then the two nations face the prospect of a single match playoff at a neutral venue.

For my money, there's no match anywhere on the planet I'd rather see that Wednesday than the one being played in the shadow of the Pyramids (of course I reserve the right to change my mind after the first-leg results elsewhere ... however I don't remember Paris being all that hospitable in November).

After their embarrassing loss to the U.S. at the Confederations Cup (and subsequent exit), the two-time defending African Cup of Nations champions will be leaving it all on the field with a chance to taste World Cup glory.

It's easy to get lost in all the drama of what's going on in Europe with nations like France and Portugal involved, but the World Cup is not limited to the fancy names and glitzy teams.

It's the World Cup for a reason.

Robert Burns is the senior editor of FoxSoccer.com and contributes his Side Kicks column every Friday.