The shape of next year's World Cup in Germany is still hazy, with only 10 teams having qualified for the 32-team field.
But the picture will become clearer in the next few days, with 76 World Cup qualifying games set from Cameroon to Croatia, from Portugal to Paraguay.
Play begins today, with a few matches tomorrow, and continues Wednesday. At the end, all but five of the berths will be decided. And some big-name teams are sure to be out.
Like Italy, many countries are tantalizingly close to reaching soccer's biggest stage.
"It's true, we can say we are within sight of the finish line, since we only need one point to qualify," said Italy coach Marcello Lippi, whose team hosts Slovenia in the Sicilian city of Palermo on Saturday. "But it would be an error to consider these games just a formality."
Host Germany and four Asian teams -- Iran, Japan, South Korea, and Saudi Arabia -- already have secured their place. Ukraine has qualified from Europe. Five-time winner Brazil and two-time champion Argentina have made it from South America, and Mexico and the United States have qualified from Central and North America.
On Saturday, all five African berths will be decided.
Ghana is the surest bet, and can even lose at the Cape Verde Islands and still qualify for the first time.
Togo, a West African nation of 5.7 million, can secure its first World Cup berth with only a draw at the Republic of Congo.
At a team breakfast this week, Togo President Faure Gnassingbe promised his players a big party.
"We are going to organize a big celebration on Saturday evening after your victory," he said.
Cameroon is another good bet. The Indomitable Lions will qualify for an African record sixth time if they win at home against Egypt.
Angola can clinch its first World Cup appearance with a victory at Rwanda, the last-place team in the group.
"This is a chance to show what we can do," said Angola's Pedro Manuel Mantorras, who plays for Portuguese champion Benfica. ``It will open up the doors of Europe to other players and give us the experience to play elsewhere.''
The other African spot will go to either Morocco or Tunisia. They play each other near Tunis. Tunisia can advance with a draw, but Morocco must win.
South Africa -- host of the 2010 World Cup -- already has been eliminated, and two other powers -- Senegal and Nigeria -- could miss out. All three played in the 2002 World Cup, and Senegal was a surprise quarterfinalist.
Europe is the most confused situation, with Ukraine the only qualifier so far. The eight group winners and best two second-place teams advance automatically. The other six runners-up play off next month for three berths.
Saturday's 21 games, plus 23 on Wednesday, will determine nine more berths.
In Group 1, the Netherlands can secure a place by avoiding defeat on Saturday at the Czech Republic. Ukraine already has won Group 2.
Portugal will win Group 3 by beating or drawing with Liechtenstein. Russia and Slovakia are chasing runners-up spots. France, the '98 World Cup winner, will advance with a victory at Switzerland in Group 4.
Italy is also on course in Group 5 and will advance with a home draw against Slovenia.
England is no sure bet. Poland leads Group 6 by five points and England must win its last two games -- against Austria and Poland -- to win the group. If not, the Poles will win the group and England will have to use the second-place route.
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