Bermuda's Portuguese fans ¿ and there are many ¿ will sitting on the edge of their seats this coming week when Portugal take on Bosnia in the two-legged play-off to see who makes it to the World Cup.

And I know there are a number of Irish fans who will likewise be praying their side can get by France on Saturday and next Wednesday.

By this time next week we will all know who will be going to South Africa next summer for the best sports tournament in the world ¿ bar none.

You always want to see the best players on the world stage and I hope Portugal gets through. But they are up against a tough Bosnia side, who despite the political changes seen in that part of the world over recent years, have managed to get a chance to play in their first World Cup.

And Portugal will be without a few of their main players ¿ World Play of the Year Ronaldo who is out with an ankle injury and then this week their Chelsea defender Jose Bosingwa had to be withdrawn as did Pedro Mendes.

While many people may think they do not know any of Bosnia's players, there are two who are in good form ¿ Edin Dzeko and Zvjezdan Misimovic.

They are both club colleagues at German side Wolfsburg who won their first Bundesliga crown last season and now play in the Champions League. They love to attack and Portugal have not really scored that many goals in their World Cup campaign ¿ far less than one would have thought.

Irish fans will be in full force when they host France today at Dublin's Croke Park and I hope they give a good account of themselves. They have some very good players like Robbie Keane up front but if France are in the mood the Irish will have their hands full.

But that has been the problem with France lately. Sometimes they come to play and sometimes they don't. They will also be without Bayern Munich's Franck Ribery who can add so much to the attack and is now wanted by the major clubs of Europe. But France still have so many attacking options in Barcelona's Thierry Henry, Real Madrid's Karim Benzema and Chelsea's Nicolas Anelka who was top scorer in the Premier League last season.

Last summer France had a rather dismal performance in Euro 2008 but the country kept with coach Raymond Domenech. But I think Irish defender Richard Dunne made a big mistake this week when he came out and started accusing Domenech of messing up the team. I always believe that you should keep your mouth shut and do you talking on the field so to speak. The last thing you want to do is motivate the other team and I am sure Domenech will pin that article up on the board in the dressing room. France are going to be tough enough without that kind of motivation ¿ and their players will stick up for Domenech.

Just over a year ago Russia had a superb European Championship where they went out in the semi-finals to eventual winners Spain.

Now they are hoping to get to South Africa next summer and will have to take on Slovenia to get there. Russia have improved so much over recent years under Dutch coach Guus Hiddink and with the likes of Andrei Arshavin should probably be too strong for Slovenia.

In Africa the race will be tight as well. So far only Ivory Coast and Ghana have qualified along with automatic qualifiers and hosts South Africa. Personally it would be nice to see the likes of Cameroon qualify so Eto'o can be on the world stage. Right now they are top of their group with Gabon only one point behind.

Others who may qualify include Tunisia, Nigeria, Algeria and Egypt.

Besides the play-off matches this weekend and next Wednesday, there are some friendlies going on between those countries that have already qualified ¿ the biggest being Brazil taking on England in Qatar on Saturday afternoon.

That is going to be a good test for both teams although some players are out through injury. England will be without Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard and David Beckham in midfield but when you get those situations it gives players on the fringe a chance to impress the coach. And when you get a chance you must take it.

One friendly which has been called off is the one between Germany and Chile. Earlier this week the number one German goalkeeper Robert Enke committed suicide when he was struck and killed by a train. That to me is so sad and I know his family must be really suffering as will be his teammates.

On a note of a different nature, I must say that I admire the courage of British boxer and new WBA heavyweight champion David Haye after he dethroned Russian giant Nikolai Valuev last weekend.

Haye was so much smaller than the Russian but he came through. It just shows that with desire and the right mind-set what you can accomplish in any sport.