The domestic season for most of the European leagues may be over, but there is still some football for the top players and fans to sink their teeth into before they can head for the beach.

Given the weather of late, fans may still wish to apply some sun tan lotion before the next set of World Cup qualifying matches. No matter what the weather is like, the on-field action is sure to be hot.

The qualification campaign runs until October, before the play-off games for the best 8 runner-ups. These games have the potential to make or break their route to South Africa.

One such country who will be looking to take six points from their double header and virtually guarantee their place in South Africa will be England. Surprising absentees at Euro 2008 when Croatia and Russia nudged past a toothless squad led by Steve McLaren, Fabio Capello has quickly restored pride and professionalism in the English national team.

Their all new tailored white kit may have divided the opinion of some of the fans but there is no division regarding the job that the Italian has managed so far in his adopted home.

An away trip to Kazakhstan and a home tie versus Andorra should see a maximum return, taking England to 21 points from 7 games, which will leave them in an extremely strong position to officially book their place in the next World Cup finals at the start of the new season.

However, while England is one of the major national teams who appear well placed to be at the next World Cup, there are others who are in serious danger of missing out on the world’s biggest stage.

Portugal have graced the major football tournaments in recent years and with players like Ronaldo, Simao, Deco, Maniche and Paulo Ferreira it is almost unthinkable that their presence will be missing next summer.

However, they now face a daunting away trip to Albania and if they fail to pick up all three points, they will have a monumental task to qualify. This is because they are seven points behind Denmark and Hungary in the European Qualifying Group 1, though they have a game in hand over the Hungarian team.

Probably as pertinent though is the fact that they are sitting on the same level of points as Albania who will be greatly fired up to defeat their more famous rivals and possibly place boss Carlos Queiros very close to the exit door.

Sitting behind Portugal in the same group but with a game win is Sweden, and the up-coming double header is bound to be crucial in their qualification hopes. The Swedes will be delighted that both of their games will be at home. If they can defeat current group leaders Denmark, they will have a great opportunity to become serious rivals for the World Cup.

The evergreen Henrik Larsson is still part of the squad and Jose Mourinho’s Golden Boy Zlatan Ibrahimovic will be given the responsibility to fire the Swedes to victory in these two matches, but the motivation of making the next World Cup should be enough for all the players to be at their best.

For many players, it has been a long hard season and the promise of a holiday must be enticing. The opportunity to claim a place at the biggest event of all next summer should be a big enough incentive for any player to forget about a break for another week or two.