The French football team during a training session in Clairefontaine on Friday. (Reuters)

London: Portugal have to get to the World Cup without Cristiano Ronaldo and France have lost Franck Ribery and the familiar swagger as the two colourful teams face tricky playoffs on Saturday.

The final stages of European qualifying for next year’s championship kick off on Saturday with the prospect that the likes of Ronaldo, Deco, Thierry Henry, Karim Benzema, Franck Ribery and Nicolas Anelka may not make it to South Africa.

The spectre of failure also hangs over Russia’s Andrei Arshavin and Ukraine’s Andriy Shevchenko.

In the first legs of the playoffs, Portugal host a Bosnia-Herzegovina side trying to reach their first World Cup while Slovenia are chasing a second appearance when they take on Russia.

Greece host 2006 World Cup quarter finalists Ukraine, while 1998 world champions and 2006 runners-up France visit Ireland, who have not made it to a major championship since the 2002 World Cup.

The second legs take place Wednesday and then the identities of the 13 European nations heading for the Dec. 4 World Cup draw will be known. The eight teams have wound up in the lottery of the playoffs by finishing second in their qualifying groups.

Already going through are the nine group winners — Italy, Spain, Germany, The Netherlands, England, Switzerland, Slovakia, Denmark and Serbia.

“It’s hugely frustrating not being able to help Portugal, even more so now that we have such a decisive game against Bosnia,” said Ronaldo, who was injured playing for Real Madrid in September and aggravated the problem in a World Cup qualifying game for his country against Hungary.

“I’m sure that if we can maintain the spirit we’ve shown, as well as our unity, humility and mutual support, our quality will see us through.”

The French go to Dublin’s Croke Park where some 80,000 Ireland fans will be roaring on players who can rise to the occasion or simply fall apart.

If players such as goalkeeper Shay Given and striker Robbie Keane are in form, an Ireland team coached by experienced Italian coach Giovanni Trapattoni can surprise the French and put even more pressure on Domenech in the second leg at the Stade de France next Wednesday.

After failing to qualify for the last World Cup, Russia have improved under Dutch coach Guus Hiddink and should be too strong for Slovenia, especially in the first leg in Moscow.

Hiddink has the Russians playing with both method and style with Arshavin opening up defences and creating chances with his runs and layoffs.

Slovenia lost all three games on their World Cup debut in 2002 but have made it to the playoffs from a comparatively easy group.

They will look for goals from Cologne striker Milivoje Novakovic, who has netted five times in qualifying games.

Greece bid to make it to the World Cup for only the second time. The team qualified in 1994 but did not score or collect a single point in the United States.

But their achievement under German coach Otto Rehhagel, who has been in charge since August 2001, guiding the team to an astonishing triumph at the 2004 European Championship in Portugal, means they fear no opponents and can well make it to South Africa by eliminating Ukraine.

Bayer Leverkusen striker Theofanis Gekas goes into Saturday’s game in Athens as the top-scorer in European qualifying games with 10 goals, four of them in a come-from-behind 5-2 victory over Latvia.

Ukraine will look to the experience of Shevchenko, who scored six goals in qualifying. But he has turned 33 and is back with Dynamo Kiev after failing at Chelsea and on return to AC Milan.

In African qualifying, with three of the five groups still undecided, Cameroon, Gabon, Algeria, Egypt, Nigeria and Tunisia are all in contention to qualify for the World Cup.

Each group winner goes through and three teams will join the hosts, Ivory Coast and Ghana at the first World Cup to be staged in Africa.

In Group C, Egypt must beat Algeria by three goals in Cairo on Saturday to ensure qualification.

There is a lot at stake elsewhere this weekend, with all games Saturday except Ghana’s Group D game against Mali in Kumasi on Sunday.

Cameroon’s perfect turnaround in Group A under Paul Le Guen will be complete if they beat Morocco in Fez.

In Group B, Nigeria are two points behind Tunisia. The Carthage Eagles go to Mozambique, while the Super Eagles of Nigeria head to Nairobi to play Kenya.

Costa Rica meet Uruguay in the first leg of their 2010 World Cup playoff Saturday.

Costa Rica are hoping to reach their fourth World Cup and third in a row, while twice winners Uruguay, who last played in the finals in 2002, are in their third successive playoff.

New Zealand expect home advantage to play a decisive role in their must-win qualifier against Bahrain Saturday, helping them reach their first World Cup in 27 years. The teams drew 0-0 when they met in the first leg in the Bahrain capital of Manama in September.

World Cup playoffs on Saturday

European
First leg: Russia vs Slovenia; Greece vs Ukraine; Ireland vs France; Portugal vs Bosnia

Asia/Oceania
Second leg: New Zealand vs Bahrain