Andorra is one of the smallest countries taking part in the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™ qualifiers. The principality is situated in the East Pyrenees between France and Spain and has just 66,000 inhabitants.

Andorra did not become a member of FIFA until 1996. Since then the national team has participated three times in the qualifying rounds for the UEFA European Championships and twice in the FIFA World Cup qualifiers - unfortunately for them, without success.

In their Korea/Japan 2002 qualifying campaign, Andorra finished bottom of a group featuring Portugal, Republic of Ireland, Netherlands, Estonia and Cyprus, losing all ten of their matches, conceding 36 goals and scoring just five. Their heaviest defeat was a 7-1 reverse by Portugal in front of their own supporters.

In their UEFA EURO 2004 qualifying group, Andorra managed to score just one goal, Antonio Lima finding the target in a narrow 2-1 loss to Bulgaria. They again finished bottom of the group with zero points.

During the qualifiers for Germany 2006, the principality tasted victory for the first time in an official match - Marc Bernaus scoring the winner in a 1-0 home win over Macedonia on 13 October 2004. And while Andorra were once again in last place at the end of qualifying, they amassed no fewer than five points along the way - their highest ever tally in an official competition.

Andorra may still have still a long way to go, but those achievements have whetted the country's appetite for further successes in international competitions. And while they had little to cheer about during the UEFA EURO 2008 qualifiers, they are optimistic that the South Africa 2010 preliminaries will see them repeat their achievements of the previous campaign.