Injuries have disrupted France's preparations for the second leg of their play-off against Ireland, who will arrive fuelled by a sense of injustice as they fight to keep their World Cup dreams alive after just missing out to world champions Italy.
French anxiety will be shared by Portugal when they take a 1-0 advantage to what will be a hostile second leg in Bosnia, and Guus Hiddink's Russia might also be in for a raw night in Slovenia when they travel there with a 2-1 lead.
With Euro 2004 champions Greece drawing 0-0 at home to Ukraine on Saturday, all four of the remaining European slots for the South Africa tournament are up for grabs on what promises to be a nerve-wracking night.
France, beaten to automatic qualification by Serbia, and with question marks hanging over the future of coach Raymond Domenech, will be without defender Eric Abidal and midfielders Jeremy Toulalan and Abou Diaby against Ireland.
With Arsenal left back Gael Clichy and Bayern Munich playmaker Franck Ribery also absent for France, Ireland will not be daunted as they try to upset a higher-ranked team in a non-friendly match for the first time since 2001.
With wily Giovanni Trapattoni at the helm of Ireland, they will believe they still have a chance of causing a huge upset.
"It's 50-50. Anything can happen. I have seen in my time in Italy, in my time here with Ireland, many surprise results," Trapattoni said this week. "Start with a little deflection, 1-0 to us. Why not?"
Bosnia are striving to qualify for the World Cup finals for the first time, and Portugal, without the injured Cristiano Ronaldo, might be in for an ear-bashing in Zenica.
"How do we counter that atmosphere? By trying to keep the ball and playing, always being dangerous," said Portugal's Chelsea defender, Ricardo Carvalho.
His former Chelsea team-mate, Andriy Shevchenko, will know that Ukraine's clash with Greece, in Donetsk, represents his last chance of appearing in the World Cup, and his side will start as favourites to go through.
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