The fifth-placed team in the South American group will meet winners of the Oceania zone to vie for a place in the 2006 World Cup finals in Germany, FIFA decided in Frankfurt, Germany on Thursday.

Also the fourth placed team in the final group of the CONCACAF zone will meet the winners of an Asian playoff, a same playoff system with the 2002 finals.

This model to decide the last qualifiers may cause a repeat of Australia against Uruguay, who finished fifth in South America forthe 2002 finals and won a World Cup berth as they beat Australia 3-1 in the two-leg playoff.

Oceania's direct place is still out of sight as the world's soccer governing body FIFA drew back its promise in June and turned down a proposal to increase the number of finalists from 32to 36.

The last time a team from the Oceania confederation qualified for the World Cup finals was New Zealand in 1982, and Australia made their only appearance at the finals of 1974 World Cup in Germany.

The playoffs are due to be played in November 2005 at the end of the qualifying competition. The draw for the main qualifying rounds will be made in Frankfurt on Friday.

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