1) Another Icelandic miracle?

Iceland have already made history by becoming the first country to qualify for the World Cup play-offs despite being seeded sixth in their group, and – no offence, Croatia – most neutrals will hope that the fairytale does not end here. With a population of 300,000, Iceland will be the smallest country to compete in the finals. Eidur Gudjohnsen, their veteran striker, puts that down to the current generation benefiting from indoor pitches that were built around 13 years ago, meaning football can be played all year in a country where weather conditions are fierce. "Today it was nice," Gudjohnsen said on Tuesday, the first day of training. "It's minus three degrees. That's nice. It wasn't windy or snowing, so that is nice for us. If the game would have been played last Sunday, it would have been cancelled because there was a storm. The forecast is not that bad." Which is good news for Croatia as they prepare for the first leg in Reykjavik. Yet although the visitors are favourites to go through, this young Iceland side proved they could handle the pressure when the group stage came to a close, securing the four points they needed from their final two matches against Cyprus and Norway to finish second behind Switzerland. They also drew 4-4 in Switzerland in September, having been 4-1 down after 54 minutes, so they never know when they are beaten. They will need to carry that belief into the Croatia playoff. JS

2) A new era for Croatia

Although Croatia are expected to win, they arrive in Reykjavik in a miserable state. Their qualifying campaign started brightly enough but deteriorated alarmingly towards the end under Igor Stimac, who left his job after the 2-0 defeat by Scotland in their final group match last month. Stimac, whose tactical decisions were muddled and inconsistent, has been replaced by Niko Kovac, the popular former captain and an intelligent deep-lying midfielder in the Slaven Bilic side that reached the quarter-finals at Euro 2008. However, while Kovac has been accepted, the 42-year-old is inexperienced as a manager. He worked at Red Bull Salzburg's academy before going on to manage Croatia's Under-21s in January and though he managed five wins in five matches, Iceland's wily manager, Lars Lagerback, will fancy his chances of outmanoeuvring the younger man. The 65-year-old Swede has a wealth of experience at international level, having taken Sweden to five consecutive tournaments and Nigeria to the last World Cup, so Iceland are in capable hands. JS

3) France to harness Pogba power?

Earlier this year Paul Pogba led France to victory at the Under-20 World Cup and he is shaping up as a player who could do something similar for the senior team. He has excelled on a weekly basis for Juventus this season, playing in a more advanced midfield role than the one he has filled while earning five senior caps. If Didier Deschamps sticks to his vow of picking players based on their club form, then Pogba will start the play-off in Ukraine. Mathieu Valbuena may find himself on the bench as, despite being a constant creator for France for over a year, he has looked off-colour and jaded for Marseille in the last month and is at risk of being replaced by the resurgent Samir Nasri. Deschamps also has a big decision to make at the back, where Laurent Koscielny and Eric Abidal have formed a solid partnership for their country. The latter has been floundering for Monaco in recent weeks but ousting him in favour of the less experienced Mamadou Sakho or Raphaël Varane would be a dicey move in such a high-pressure game. Mind you, no matter what happens at the back, France have enough in-form firepower to outscore Ukraine with Karim Benzema, Franck Ribéry, Loic Rémy, Olivier Giroud. French failure at this stage would be inexcusable. PD

4) Ronaldo v Zlatan

The clash of the mega-egos, part one, is almost upon us. When Portugal and Sweden take to the pitch in Lisbon on Friday night, the 20 players who are not Cristiano Ronaldo or Zlatan Ibrahimovic could be forgiven for thinking the world has forgotten that they exist considering how much attention there has been on the two men who are arguably the best two players in the world at the moment. When the tie is done, we will know which one will not be at the World Cup next summer – which is a reminder that, despite the presence of Ronaldo and Ibrahimovic, collectively neither side offers too much to get excited about. Ronaldo or Ibrahimovic will be missed in Brazil, yes, but the absence of either Portugal or Sweden will not be too great a loss for the tournament as a whole. JS

5) Republic of Ireland's new duet

We're not ones to sensationalise things here at the greatest website in the whole wide world, but we do believe that Friday night will bring us the most fascinating Republic of Ireland-Latvia friendly of all time! What tune will the most electrifying duet since John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John (you can decide which one's which) get out of the Boys in Green? Will their debut line-up and performance indicate how they intend to do things differently from Giovanni Trapattoni? Will they actually get so far as to name a line-up or will they knock each other out before that? PD

6) Egypt bid to avoid repeat humiliation

Ghana may be 6-1 up from the first leg but they are worried about playing in volatile Cairo, so much so that they contemplated not turning up and conceding a 3-0 walkover, safe in the knowledge that would still put them through on aggregate. Fifa warned that such a ploy would not work and ordered them to fulfil the fixture, which it has refused to move to a neutral venue. If peace prevails, it is hard to imagine Ghana being disrupted on the pitch: true, Egypt did look threatening at times in Kumasi, with Mohamed Aboutreika as elegant as ever and Mohamed Salah a menace on the right wing, but the Pharaohs were feeble at the back and Ghana – sharper, stronger and trickier – looked like scoring every time they attacked. And now, with Kevin Prince-Boateng available for the second leg, the Black Stars are even better equipped. Egypt are eager to overturn their first-leg humiliation – but just avoiding a repeat looks the best they can do. PD

7) Lallana and Rodriguez

After all the fuss surrounding which country Adnan Januzaj will eventually choose to play for, it was amusing to learn that Jay Rodriguez could play for Spain because of his father. Yet when he was asked whether he would ever consider playing for Spain, Rodriguez jokingly pointed out he probably could not get away with it because of his Burnley accent. Lucky England. Rodriguez has been in excellent form lately, scoring three goals in his past five league matches, and has grown in stature and confidence in his second season at Southampton. Mauricio Pochettino has mainly used him in an attacking role on the left and Roy Hodgson has said that Rodriguez, so direct with the ball at his feet, will provide competition for Danny Welbeck's place. There are three Southampton players in the squad but while Rickie Lambert is out, Rodriguez and Adam Lallana are likely to make their debuts against Chile. It will be proper challenge for both, although Southampton have made a habit of confounding expectations lately and scoring a brilliant solo goal in front of Hodgson against Hull last Saturday will not have done Lallana any harm at all. JS

8) Nigeria bid to beat the cash wrangles

A few weeks ago Stephen Keshi was paid for the first time in seven months. He was not given everything he is owed, just two months' worth of arrears and a promise that the balance will follow. It is a galling predicament for a manager who has shown discipline and vision to harness some of Nigeria's huge potential and turn the Super Eagles into the champions of Africa. Under him Mikel Jon Obi has reasserted himself as a driving playmaker rather than static cog, Emmanuel Emenike has confirmed that he is the African striker most likely to make a big impact at the World Cup, Ogenyi Onazi has flourished as a creative force and several players – notably Azubuike Egwueke and Sunday Mba – have been given the opportunities to prove there is plenty of talent in Nigeria's domestic league. This is an exciting Nigeria side and it would be a shame if their World Cup campaign, like last summer's Confederations Cup campaign, was hampered by financial wrangling. Or if they failed to make it to the World Cup despite going into the second leg against a neat but limited Ethiopian team with a 2-1 lead. PD

9) Entertainment with Greece

Ah, Greece. What fun we all have watching Greece. The country that won Euro 2004 in binary have been at it again – although they were unfortunate to finish second behind Bosnia in their group after amassing 25 points, 12 goals in 10 matches was a paltry return and they finished with a goal difference of +8 to Bosnia's +24. That is partly because Bosnia beat Liechtenstein 8-1 and 4-1 and Greece beat them 2-0 and 1-0. Could it be time for Greece to throw off the shackles off in the first leg of their play-off against Romania on Friday night, especially as the visitors have dropped Adrian Mutu? JS

10) Senegal set to fight back?

These Elephants want to forget. The memories of past failures weigh heavily on them. The team that was supposed to dominate Africa for a decade and become a serious world power has so far fallen short of expectations, two lost Africa Cup of Nations finals and two honourable but brief World Cup appearances being all they have been able to achieve. They go into the second leg of their play-off as well fancied as ever, being 3-1 up from the first leg and enjoying the advantage of taking on Senegal in Casablanca rather than Dakar, as the Senegalese are still banned from playing at home following violence after the last time these teams met there. The Ivorians know their passage to Brazil could already have been secured if they had not squandered so many chances in the first leg, Gervinho marring an otherwise thrilling display with a particularly slack miss and Yaya Touré shooting wildly, too, before Papiss Cissé gave Senegal hope in the fifth minute of stoppage time. Needing to win well, Senegal will not be as passive as they were in the first half in Abidjan but even if they manage to score, it is difficult to envisage them keeping the Ivorians at bay, unless the Elephants contribute to their own downfall. Again. PD