Cameroon- Team Profile World Cup 2010

Appearances at finals:
1982 - First round
1990 - Quarter-finals
1994 - First round
1998 - First round
2002 - First round

Overall record at finals: Played 17, Won 4, Drawn 7, Lost 6.

Best performance: Quarter-finals in 1990.

Most apearances at finals: Roger Milla (1982), (1990), (1994) - 10.

Most goals at finals: Roger Milla (1990, 1994) - 5.

World Cup high: Reaching the quarter-finals in 1990. Cameroon began the finals with a memorable 1-0 win over reigning champions Argentina, courtesy of a François Omam-Biyik goal, winning the group ahead of Romania and USSR. Two extra-time goals from Roger Milla saw them move past Colombia in the second round before the 'Indomitable Lions' suffered extra-time heartbreak of their own as they went down 3-2 to England despite another impressive showing.

World Cup low: Getting thrashed 6-1 at the hands of Russia at the 1994 finals. Oleg Salenko scored a record five goals in the match to condemn Cameroon to bottom spot in the group, with a 2-2 draw with Sweden all they had to show for their appearance at the finals.

World Cup legend: Roger Milla. Rigobert Song may be set to overtake his Cameroon finals appearance record, but Milla is a player who epitomised the spirit of World Cup football, representing the 'Indomitable Lions' at three finals. Incredibly, he was Cameroon's top scorer at the 1990 finals without starting a single game. As a super-sub, Milla netted two crucial braces in 2-1 wins against Romania and Colombia in the second round. He is both the oldest player to have played and to have scored at the World Cup, a record achieved at 42 years and 39 days when he made his final international appearance against Russia in the 1994 World Cup.

The story so far: Cameroon competed in their first World Cup finals in 1982, becoming the fourth African country to do so after Morocco, Zaire and Tunisia. In their first ever finals match, they earned an impressive 1-1 draw with eventual champions Italy. They finished the group stage unbeaten after draws with Poland and Peru but were eliminated on goals scored behind the Italians.

In 1990, they stole headlines around the globe with perhaps the most memorable display by an African team at the World Cup. After shocking the world by beating reigning champions Argentina 1-0, Cameroon also picked up a win over Romania before losing to USSR, and they became the first African side to win their group at a finals. Colombia were beaten in the second round before Cameroon threw away a 2-1 lead over England, losing 3-2 after almost causing another major shock.

The 1994 tournament was one to forget as Cameroon crashed out after losing 3-0 to Brazil and 6-1 to Russia, ending up bottom of their group. The only highlight was Roger Milla's record-breaking appearance and goal against the Russians. In 1998, the 'Indomitable Lions' finished bottom of their group again with a 3-0 defeat to Italy sandwiched in between draws with Austria and Chile. And in 2002, after qualifying for a fourth straight finals, Cameroon narrowly missed out on a place in the second round, drawing with Ireland and beating Saudi Arabia before losing 2-0 to eventual finalists Germany in a game they needed to draw to progress.

After disappointingly missing out on the 2006 finals, Samuel Eto'o and co now have a chance to move out of the shadow of the 1990 side and write a new chapter in Cameroon's World Cup history.

Qualification: Cameroon looked as though they would ease their way to South Africa after cruising through their opening African qualification group. Samuel Eto'o scored six goals in six games as boss Otto Pfister recorded five wins and just one draw - away to Tanzania - on their way to the third qualifying round.

But they failed to maintain their form and it appeared their World Cup dream was over after a 1-0 away defeat to Togo and a home draw with Morocco in their opening two games, which saw Pfister sacked and former Lyon boss Paul Le Guen appointed. Cameroon experienced a revival in fortunes with Le Guen at the helm as, helped greatly by the scoring exploits of Samuel Eto'o, they recorded four successive victories, including the 2-0 away win away to Morocco that secured their qualification at the expense of second-placed Gabon and booked their place at the finals for the sixth time, breaking the African record.

Qualifying record (second round): P6, W5, D1, L0, F 14, A2, Pts16.

Qualifying record (third round): P6, W4, D1, L1, F9, A2, Pts13.

Most appearances: Rigobert Song, Jean Makoun, Idriss Kameni (12). Top goalscorer: Samuel Eto'o (9). [via]

Japan- Team Profile World Cup 2010

Appearances at finals:
1998 - First round
2002 - Second round
2006 - First round

Overall record at finals: Played 10, Won 2, Drawn 2, Lost 6.

Best performance: Second round in 2002.

Most appearances at finals: Hidetoshi Nakata (1998, 2002, 2006) - 10.

Most goals at finals: Junichi Inamoto (2002) - 2.

World Cup high: Junichi Inamoto's goal to fire Japan to a 1-0 victory over Russia in front of over 60,000 fans in their home tournament in 2002.

World Cup low: Crashing out at the hands of Turkey in the second round in 2002 while rivals and co-hosts South Korea went on to make the semi-finals.

World Cup legend: Hidetoshi Nakata played in every match for Japan at their first three World Cups and the iconic midfielder helped bring Japanese football onto the world stage.

The story so far: Japanese football underwent a renaissance in the early 90s with the launch of the professional J-League, and the national team came within one minute of qualifying for USA 1994. Despite that disappointment, Japanese football improved markedly on the back of the new league and Japan has competed in every World Cup finals since as a true powerhouse of the Asian confederation.

Wedged between first round exits in 1998 and 2006 came Japan's best result, a second round appearance on home soil as part of the 2002 tournament joint-hosted with South Korea.

Qualification: After coach Ivica Osim suffered a stroke in late 2007, the Japanese FA handed the reins to Takeshi Okada, the man who guided the team through France 1998. A more mature Okada led Japan to a fairly straightforward qualification, although he came in for criticism at times from an increasingly demanding Japanese media for the team's lack of goals. Being grouped with Australia in the final stage helped Japan, given the other three teams struggled to pick up points.

Qualifying record (final group stage): P8, W4, D3, L1, F11, A6, Pts15.

Most appearances: Marcus Tulio Tanaka (8).

Top goalscorer: Keiji Tamada, Marcus Tulio Tanaka, Shunsuke Nakamura (2). [via]

Denmark- Team Profile World Cup 2010

Appearances at finals:
1986 - Second round
1998 - Quarter-finals
2002 - Second round

Overall record at finals: Played 13, Won 7, Drawn 2, Lost 4.

Best performance: The quarter-finals in 1998.

Most appearances at finals: Michael Laudrup (1986, 1998) - 8.

Most goals at finals: Preben Elkjaer-Larsen (1986), Jon Dahl Tomasson (2002) - 4.

World Cup high: Beating defending world and European champions France 2-0 in 2002 to complete an inspired run that saw them top their group.

World Cup low: Spain's Emilio Butragueño scoring four goals in their first appearance at the finals in 1986, where they lost in the knockout stages 5-1.

World Cup legend: Michael Laudrup. Named Denmark's best ever player in 2006, the midfielder had his best moment at the Euros in 1992, but retired on a high after helping the side to the quarter-finals in 1998.

The story so far: It took a long time for one of FIFA's founding members to make their mark on a World Cup, which they eventually managed in 1986. A 5-1 humiliation by Spain after making it into the knockout stages gave them a platform to win the European Championship in 1992, but a talented squad was not seen again in a World Cup until 1998, where they said goodbye to Peter Schmeichel and the legendary Laudrup brothers - Michael and Brian.

That squad reached the quarter-finals, where they lost 3-2 to Brazil. England then knocked them out in 2002 and, despite having a rich history in the European game, 2010 will mark only their fourth World Cup appearance.

Qualification: Losing only once, in the final game to Hungary - when qualification was already assured - progress was unexpectedly easy in a seemingly tough group. Beating local rivals Sweden 1-0 both home and away made things a lot easier, but the wheels were put into motion with a stunning last-gasp comeback to beat Portugal 3-2 in September.

Given solidity from the fine performances of Christian Poulsen in midfield and the pairing of Simon Kjaer and Daniel Agger in defence also proved invaluable in the latter stages.

Qualifying record: P10, W6, D3, L1, F16, A5, Pts21.

Most appearances: Christian Poulsen, Dennis Rommedahl (10).

Top goalscorer: Soren Larsen (5). [via]