In a week’s time we will know a near complete list of the nations who will be competing to lift the World Cup in South Africa.  The first legs take place on November 14, with the second legs on the 18th.  The African nations qualification process takes a little longer, so I’ll be focusing on the Republic of Ireland Vs France, Bosnia-Herz Vs Portugal, Russia Vs Slovenia and Greece Vs Ukraine.  Before kicking off I will say I thought it was extremely harsh and a little underhand of the ruling bodies to decide to seed the teams at such a late stage.  This guaranteed that France, Portugal and Russia would not meet each other and would therfore stand a better chance of qualification.

Anyway, that little grumble aside I’ll start with a brief look at Ireland and France.  The French have some great players such as Thierry Henry and Karim Benzema but they will be without Franck Ribery.  They have struggled a bit under Raymond Domenech and I think it is safe to say if he doesn’t manage to qualify then he will be out of a job next week.  Ireland have some quality within their ranks as well, such as Spurs striker Robbie Keane and Celtics Aidan McGeady.  I quite fancy Ireland to cause an upset to be honest, especially in the home leg.  Ireland boss Giovanni Tapattoni has really made his mark on that team and there seems to be a great belief within the Irish camp.  It should be a cracking tie and definitely worth catching if you can, I’ll certainly be watching both legs with interest anyway.

Bosnia had a great qualification campaign but they face a massive test against the Potuguese.  One massive bonus for the underdogs is that it looks as if Portugal will be without Cristiano Ronaldo, who has an injury although he has linked up with the national side.  They are still a quality team full players such as Chelsea’s Deco, Sporting Lisbon pair Joao Moutinho and Miguel Veloso and Simao Sabrosa of Atletico Madrid.  Bosnia have their own star in the shape of Wolfburgs Edin Dzeko and are certainly capable of troubling Portugal, but over two legs I expect Portugal to prove just too strong.

Slovenia have been handed a very hard task in the shape of Russia.  I’ll admit I don’t know a massive amount about Slovenia, though I saw them face Northern Ireland a couple of times in qualification and they look very well organised and tight. They will have to hope the likes of West Brom’s Robert Koren and Rene Krhin of Internazionale put in great performances and carve out openings against a very strong Russian side.  In players like Sergey Semak of Russian champions Rubin Kazan, Zenit trio Igor Denisov, Konstantin Zyrianov and Igor Semshov and Premier League stars Diniar Bilyaletdinov of Everton and Arsenal playmaker Andrey Arshavin they have some immense talent and will take some beating.

Last but not least Greece take on the Ukraine in what I would argue is, on paper, the most evenly matched tie.  The Ukraine are fairly lucky to still be involved after pipping Croatia to second spot in the last few games but that doesn’t matter anymore.  The Ukraine have some talent amongst their ranks such as former Milan striker Andriy Shevchenko (now at Dynamo Kiev), Olexiy Gay of Shakhtar Donetsk and Bayern Munich’s Anatoly Tymoschuk who are all capable of performing at the highest level.  While the Greeks have Celtic striker Giorgos Samaras, Angelos Charisteas of German outfit Nuremberg and Panathinaikos pair Kostas Katsouranis and Giorgos Karagounis who all have the talents to trouble even the best defenders.

For the final eight European nations who have a chance of competing in South Africa next summer the next week is vital, and it should produce some exhilarating ties.

Written by Gareth Freeman, a sports writer promoting Irish Racing and racing tips for today for Betfair.