Azerbaijan. Wales began their qualifying campaign with consecutive draws away to Azerbaijan (1–1) and at home to Northern Ireland (2–2), before losing their next six matches in a row. First was a 2–0 defeat away to England in the sides' first meeting in 20 years, followed by a 3–2 home loss to Poland in Mark Hughes' last game as manager and Gary Speed's last as captain. Wales opened 2005 with home and away defeats to Austria (2–0 at home and 1–0 away), before losing the return games against England (1–0 at home) and Poland (1–0 away). They then picked up their first victory of the campaign, winning 3–2 away to Northern Ireland; after taking a 2–0 lead in the first half, Northern Ireland pulled it back to 2–2 within five minutes after the interval, before Ryan Giggs scored the winner with less than 10 minutes to play. Giggs was on the scoresheet again in the final game, scoring both goals as Wales beat Azerbaijan 2–0 at home to confirm fifth place in the group. South Africa 2010 The 2010 FIFA World Cup followed the same format as the last three, with 32 teams at the finals, 13 of which came through UEFA's qualifying process. The 53 participating teams were seeded into six pots and drawn into nine groups (eight of six teams and one of five), with the winners of each group qualifying automatically and the eight best runners-up contesting a play-off for the four remaining places. Wales were seeded in Pot 4 and drawn into Group 4 along with Germany, Russia, Finland, Liechtenstein and Azerbaijan. After playing them in their most recent World Cup qualifier almost three years earlier, Wales won their first match of this campaign 1–0 at home to Azerbaijan. They alternated between victory and defeat in their first four games, losing their next game 2–1 away to Russia, before a 2–0 home win over Liechtenstein and then a 1–0 defeat away to Germany in their last competitive game of 2008. They started 2009 with another two defeats, at home to Finland and Germany in March and April, before their third straight win over Azerbaijan in June. A 3–1 loss at home to Russia ended Wales' already slim hopes of qualification, while defeat to Finland a month later meant Wales could finish the group no higher than fourth. That position was confirmed with a 2–0 away win