Kuwait had a busy year playing 23 matches celebrating a decisive 0-0 draw away to Oman in an Asian Cup qualifier to qualify ahead of their opponents. They also had good results in friendly matches battering Bahrain 4-1 in the UAE and getting the better of Iran 2-1 in Jordan.

New Zealand had an impressive World Cup bowing out without losing and ahead of reining world champions Italy in their group where they drew 1-1 against Slovakia and Italy before holding Paraguay to a goalless draw.

Ghana knocked Africa Cup of Nations hosts Angola out with a single goal and repeated the result to eliminate Nigeria and reach the final where they lost by another single goal to Egypt. A 1-0 win over Serbia in the World Cup gave Ghana passage to the knockout rounds where they were a penalty shootout away from a top four position.

Montenegro enjoyed 1-0 wins away to Bulgaria and at home to Switzerland and also held England to a goalless draw at Wembley in Euro qualifiers.

Botswana warmed up with a 1-0 friendly win in Mozambique before beating Tunisia home and away 1-0 and drawing 1-1 away to Malawi in Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.

Egypt won the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations in Angola, winning their group ahead of Nigeria whom they defeated 3-1 and beating Cameroon 3-1 in extra time before thumping Algeria 4-0 to reach the final where they were victorious 1-0 over Ghana.

Serbia lost 1-0 to New Zealand in a friendly in Austria in preparation for the World Cup where they finished bottom of their group after losing 1-0 to Ghana and 2-1 to Australia. Later in a Euro qualifier they were stunned 3-1 at home to Estonia.

Wales played only 5 matches losing all 3 of their Euro qualifiers including 1-0 at home to Bulgaria.

Latvia had some bad results in their home matches of the Euro qualifiers losing 3-0 to Croatia and drawing 1-1 with Georgia.

Togo had disappointing results in the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers losing 2-1 at home to Tunisia and playing a goalless match at home to Chad.

Cameroon struggled to get out of their Africa Cup of Nations group in Angola after losing 1-0 to Gabon and were duly eliminated by Egypt 3-1 in extra time. In the qualifiers for the next tournament they were held 1-1 at home to DR Congo.

Trinidad & Tobago failed to advance from their Caribbean Cup group in Martinique after losing 2-0 to Cuba and 1-0 to Grenada.

Algeria began their Africa Cup of Nations matches with a 3-0 loss to Malawi and scraped through on the head to head rule ahead of Mali but were hammered 4-0 by Egypt in the semi final. In the qualifiers for the 2012 Cup of Nations they could only manage a 1-1 draw at home to Tanzania and lost 2-0 in the Central African Republic.

The biggest surprise of the year took place in Puerto Rico where Anguilla shocked Saint Martin 2-1 in a Caribbean qualifier.

The highest score of the year was Dominican Republic's 17-0 hammering of British Virgin Island in a Caribbean Cup qualifier.