2014 FIFA World Cup qualification

The 2014 FIFA World Cup will feature 32 teams. One place was allocated to the hosts, Brazil, but no automatic place is given to the defending champions, Spain. The remaining 31 places will be determined by a qualification process, in which entrants from among the other 207 teams from the six FIFA confederations will compete. Most qualification will be determined within these confederations, with a limited number of inter-confederation play-offs occurring at the end of the process. Brunei, Bhutan, Guam and Mauritania did not enter.^[1] The first qualification match was played on 15 June 2011 and the Belizean striker Deon McCaulay scored the first goal of the tournament. As of 26 November 2011, 136 teams remain in contention for 31 remaining qualification places. The originally published schedule would have consisted of 824 qualifying matches,^[2] but the withdrawal of the Bahamas and Mauritius means only 816 will be required.^[3][4]

Qualified teams

Confederation qualification processes

The Executive Committee decided to approve the change of date for the preliminary draw of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, which was held six months earlier than in the past, in order to allow the confederations to begin their qualifying competitions in good time. The draw was held on 30 July 2011 at the Marina da Glória in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The distribution by confederation for the 2014 World Cup will be:^[5]

• Europe (UEFA): 13 places
• Africa (CAF): 5 places
• Asia (AFC): 4 or 5 places
• South America (CONMEBOL) 4 or 5 places (+ Brazil qualified automatically as host nation for a total of 5 or 6 places)
• North, Central American and Caribbean (CONCACAF): 3 or 4 places
• Oceania (OFC): 0 or 1 place

UEFA and CAF have a guaranteed number of places, whereas the number of qualifiers from other confederations is dependent on play-offs between Asia's fifth-placed team and CONMEBOL's fifth-placed team, and between CONCACAF's fourth-placed team and Oceania's first-placed team. A draw determined the pairings between the four teams involved.

Summary of qualification

Tiebreakers

For FIFA World Cup qualifying stages the method used for separating teams level on points is the same for all Confederations, as decided by FIFA itself.^[6] If teams are even on points at the end of group play, the tied teams will be ranked by:

1. goal difference in all group matches
2. greater number of goals scored in all group matches
3. greater number of points obtained in matches between the tied teams
4. goal difference in matches between the tied teams
5. greater number of goals scored in matches between the tied teams
6. greater number of away goals scored in matches between the tied teams if only two teams are tied

If teams are still equal then a single play-off at a neutral venue will be played. If scores are level after 90 minutes in the play-off, then two 15-minutes periods of extra time and (if required) a penalty shoot-out would determine the winner.

AFC

Qualification began with two sets of two-leg knockout qualification rounds – the first held on 29 June and 2 July and 3 July 2011 and the second on 23 and 28 July – reducing the number of teams in the main draw to 20. As in the 2010 format, the third stage consists of 5 groups of 4 teams (with matches held between September 2011 and February 2012) with the top 2 in each group advancing to 2 groups of 5 that will play a further group stage during 2012. The top two teams in each group qualify for the 2014 finals directly, with the two third-placed teams engaging in a play-off tie for a chance to qualify via a further inter-confederation qualifying tie against a team from CONMEBOL.

The draw for the first two rounds of qualifiers was held in Kuala Lumpur on 30 March 2011.^[7]

The qualification process began with 43 national teams vying for four and a half spots. As of 15 November 2011, 29 nations have been eliminated, leaving 14 teams still in contention.

Current stage (Third Round)

CAF

52 out of the 53 national associations affiliated to CAF will take part in the qualifying series to determine the continent’s five slots for the next World Cup. The proposed format, announced on 16 May 2011, began with a first round of 12 two-legged knockout ties, which were held between 11 and 16 November 2011. The ties involved the 24 lowest-ranked teams according to FIFA world rankings. The 12 winners will join the remaining 28 CAF entrants in the second round, which will consist of 10 groups of four. The winners of each group – held between June 2012 and September 2013 – will advance to a third round of 5 two-legged knockout ties. The five winners of these ties – held in October and November 2013 – will advance to the 2014 FIFA World Cup finals.

The qualification process began with 52 national teams vying for five spots. As of 16 November 2011, 12 nations have been eliminated, leaving 40 teams still in contention.

Current stage (Second Round)

CONCACAF

In May 2010, the CONCACAF Executive Committee announced a possible change in its qualifying format for the 2014 World Cup, which would start with a preliminary knockout stage followed by three group phases.^[8] However, these proposals have since been abandoned. CONCACAF is currently planning to once again use a six-team final stage (known colloquially as "the Hexagonal"). The ten lowest-ranked nations played two-legged ties, with the five winners joining the nations ranked 7–25 in Round 2. There were six groups of four teams, and the six group winners will join the nations ranked 1–6 in Round 3. There will be three groups of four teams and the top two teams in each group advance to Round 4. The six nations will form one group with the top three nations qualifying and the fourth-placed team advancing to the inter-continental play-off against the top team from the OFC.

35 national teams began the qualification process vying for three and a half spots. As of 15 November 2011, 22 nations have been eliminated and the Bahamas have withdrawn, leaving 12 nations still in contention.

Current stage (Third Round)

CONMEBOL

As the host nation, Brazil has qualified automatically. The remaining nine teams will play in a single league, commencing in October 2011, consisting of two matches between each nation. The top four teams will qualify for the World Cup, whilst the fifth placed team will proceed to the inter-confederational play-offs against a team from AFC.

OFC

The four lowest-ranked nations (American Samoa, Cook Islands, Samoa, and Tonga) competed in the first round of qualifying: a single round-robin tournament in Apia, Samoa, from 22–26 November 2011.^[9] The winner of the group, Samoa, joined the remaining 7 OFC teams in the 2012 OFC Nations Cup, which will also double as the second qualifying round. The four semi-finalists of the Nations Cup will advance to Round Three, consisting of a double round-robin held on a home-and-away basis, which will take place between 7 September 2012 and 26 March 2013.

The winner of round three will then compete in a two-legged play-off against a team from CONCACAF for the right to play in the 2014 FIFA World Cup finals.

Eleven national teams began this qualification process vying for half a place. As of 26 November 2011, 3 nations have been eliminated, leaving 8 teams still in contention.

Current stage (Second Round)

The winner of the First Round group stage, Samoa, advanced to the 2012 OFC Nations Cup, which serves as the second round of qualifying for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. The four semi-finalists from this tournament will advance to the Third Round.

UEFA

The European qualification games will start in September 2012, after Euro 2012.

All 53 national associations affiliated with UEFA will take part in the qualification process, with thirteen qualifying places up for grabs. There will be eight groups of six teams and a single group of five teams. The nine group winners qualify, while the eight best runners-up – ranked according to all their games except for games against the sixth-placed team in their group – will play-off for the four remaining spots.

Current stage (First Round)

Inter-confederation play-offs

Top goalscorers

As of 26 November 2011, there have been 697 goals scored over 216 games, for an average of 3.23 goals per game. Players highlighted in bold are still active in the competition.

11 goals

• Deon McCaulay

8 goals

• Peter Byers

7 goals

• Lê Công Vinh

6 goals

5 goals

References

External links

• 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil matches and results at FIFA.com
• Live Preliminary Draw