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2014 FIFA World Cup qualification

Tournament details
Dates	15 June 2011 – 20 November 2013
Teams	203 (from 6 confederations)
Tournament statistics
Matches played	820
Goals scored	2,303 (2.81 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Deon McCaulay Robin van Persie Luis Suárez (11 goals each)
← 2010 2018 →

The 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations. The 2014 FIFA World Cup featured 32 teams, with one place reserved for the host nation, Brazil. The remaining 31 places were determined by a qualification process, in which the other 207 teams, from the six FIFA confederations, competed. Most of the successful teams were determined within these confederations, with a limited number of inter-confederation play-offs occurring at the end of the process.

Bhutan, Brunei, Guam and Mauritania did not enter, and South Sudan joined FIFA after the qualification process started and therefore could not take part. The qualification process consisted of 820 matches, reduced from 824 after the late withdrawals of the Bahamas and Mauritius.^[1][2][3][4]

The first qualification match, between Montserrat and Belize, was played on 15 June 2011, and the Belizean striker Deon McCaulay scored the first goal in qualification. Qualification ended on 20 November 2013, when Uruguay eliminated Jordan to become the final qualifier for the World Cup. Twenty-three of FIFA's 24 top-ranked countries eventually qualified.^[5][6]

Qualified teams

  Country qualified for World Cup

  Country failed to qualify

  Country did not enter World Cup

  Country not a FIFA member

Team	Method of qualification	Date of qualification	Finals appearance	Consecutive appearances	Previous best performance	FIFA Ranking [nb 1]
Brazil	Host	30 October 2007	20th	20	Winners (1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, 2002)	11
Japan	AFC Fourth Round Group B Winners	4 June 2013	5th	5	Round of 16 (2002, 2010)	44
Australia	AFC Fourth Round Group B Runners-up	18 June 2013	4th	3	Round of 16 (2006)	57
Iran	AFC Fourth Round Group A Winners	18 June 2013	4th	1 (Last: 2006)	Group stage (1978, 1998, 2006)	49
South Korea	AFC Fourth Round Group A Runners-up	18 June 2013	9th	8	Fourth place (2002)	56
Netherlands	UEFA Group D Winners	10 September 2013	10th	3	Runners-up (1974, 1978, 2010)	8
Italy	UEFA Group B Winners	10 September 2013	18th	14	Winners (1934, 1938, 1982, 2006)	9
Costa Rica	CONCACAF Fourth Round Runners-up	10 September 2013	4th	1 (Last: 2006)	Round of 16 (1990)	31
United States	CONCACAF Fourth Round Winners	10 September 2013	10th	7	Third place (1930)	13
Argentina	CONMEBOL Round Robin Winners	10 September 2013	16th	11	Winners (1978, 1986)	3
Belgium	UEFA Group A Winners	11 October 2013	12th	1 (Last: 2002)	Fourth place (1986)	5
Switzerland	UEFA Group E Winners	11 October 2013	10th	3	Quarter-finals (1934, 1938, 1954)	7
Germany	UEFA Group C Winners	11 October 2013	18th	16	Winners (1954, 1974, 1990)	2
Colombia	CONMEBOL Round Robin Runners-up	11 October 2013	5th	1 (Last: 1998)	Round of 16 (1990)	4
Bosnia and Herzegovina	UEFA Group G Winners	15 October 2013	1st	1	–	16
Russia	UEFA Group F Winners	15 October 2013	10th[nb 2]	1 (Last: 2002)	Fourth place (1966)[nb 3]	19
England	UEFA Group H Winners	15 October 2013	14th	5	Winners (1966)	10
Spain	UEFA Group I Winners	15 October 2013	14th	10	Winners (2010)	1
Chile	CONMEBOL Round Robin Third Place	15 October 2013	9th	2	Third place (1962)	12
Ecuador	CONMEBOL Round Robin Fourth Place	15 October 2013	3rd	1 (Last: 2006)	Round of 16 (2006)	22
Honduras	CONCACAF Fourth Round Third Place	15 October 2013	3rd	2	Group stage (1982, 2010)	34
Nigeria	CAF Third Round Winners	16 November 2013	5th	2	Round of 16 (1994, 1998)	33
Ivory Coast	CAF Third Round Winners	16 November 2013	3rd	3	Group stage (2006, 2010)	17
Cameroon	CAF Third Round Winners	17 November 2013	7th	2	Quarter-finals (1990)	59
Ghana	CAF Third Round Winners	19 November 2013	3rd	3	Quarter-finals (2010)	23
Algeria	CAF Third Round Winners	19 November 2013	4th	2	Group stage (1982, 1986, 2010)	32
Greece	UEFA Play-off Winners	19 November 2013	3rd	2	Group stage (1994, 2010)	15
Croatia	UEFA Play-off Winners	19 November 2013	4th	1 (Last: 2006)	Third place (1998)	18
Portugal	UEFA Play-off Winners	19 November 2013	6th	4	Third place (1966)	14
France	UEFA Play-off Winners	19 November 2013	14th	5	Winners (1998)	21
Mexico	CONCACAF v OFC play-off Winners	20 November 2013	15th	6	Quarter-finals (1970, 1986)	24
Uruguay	AFC v CONMEBOL play-off Winners	20 November 2013	12th	2	Winners (1930, 1950)	6

12 of the 32 teams subsequently failed to qualify for the 2018 finals: Algeria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cameroon, Chile, Ecuador, Ghana, Greece, Honduras, Italy, Ivory Coast, Netherlands and United States.

Qualification process

Marina da Glória in Rio de Janeiro hosted the qualification draw

The FIFA 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, 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 FIFA World Cup is:^[7]

• 
  AFC (Asia): 4 or 5 places


• 
  CAF (Africa): 5 places


• 
  CONCACAF (North, Central American and Caribbean): 3 or 4 places


• 
  CONMEBOL (South America): 4 or 5 places (+ Brazil qualified automatically as host nation for a total of 5 or 6 places)


• 
  OFC (Oceania): 0 or 1 place(s)


• 
  UEFA (Europe): 13 places

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

After the first round of 2014 FIFA World Cup finals, the percentage of teams from each confederation that passed through to the round of 16 was as follows:

• 
  AFC (Asia): 0% (0 of 4 places)


• 
  CAF (Africa): 40% (2 of 5 places)


• 
  CONCACAF (North, Central American and Caribbean): 75% (3 of 4 places)


• 
  CONMEBOL (South America): 83% (5 of 6 places)


• 
  OFC (Oceania): n/a (0 of 0 places)


• 
  UEFA (Europe): 46% (6 of 13 places)

Summary of qualification

Confederation	Teams started	Teams that secured qualification	Teams that were eliminated	Total places in finals	Qualifying start date	Qualifying end date
AFC	43	4	39	4	29 June 2011	20 November 2013
CAF	52	5	47	5	11 November 2011	19 November 2013
CONCACAF	35	4	31	4	15 June 2011	20 November 2013
CONMEBOL	9+1	5+1	4	5+1	7 October 2011	20 November 2013
OFC	11	0	11	0	22 November 2011	20 November 2013
UEFA	53	13	40	13	7 September 2012	19 November 2013
Total	203+1	31+1	172	31+1	15 June 2011	20 November 2013

Tiebreakers

For FIFA World Cup qualifying stages using a league format, the method used for separating teams level on points is the same for all Confederations.^{[nb 4]} 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.

For FIFA World Cup qualifying stages using a home-and-away knockout format, the team that has the higher aggregate score over the two legs progresses to the next round. In the event that aggregate scores finish level, the away goals rule is applied, i.e. the team that scored more goals away from home over the two legs progresses. If away goals are also equal, then thirty minutes of extra time are played, divided into two fifteen-minutes halves. The away goals rule is again applied after extra time, i.e. if there are goals scored during extra time and the aggregate score is still level, the visiting team qualifies by virtue of more away goals scored. If no goals are scored during extra time, the tie is decided by penalty shoot-out.

Confederation qualification

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

As in the 2010 format, the third stage consisted 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 played a further group stage during 2012. The top two teams in each group qualified for the 2014 World Cup directly, while the two third-placed teams engaged in a play-off tie for a chance to qualify via a further inter-confederation qualifying tie against a team from CONMEBOL.

The qualification process began with 43 national teams (out of 46 AFC members; Bhutan, Brunei and Guam did not enter) vying for four and a half spots. 4 nations have qualified: Japan, Australia, Iran and Korea Republic. Jordan beat Uzbekistan in round 5 and played Uruguay, the fifth-placed team from CONMEBOL, for the right to qualify, where they were eliminated.

Final positions (Fourth Round)

Group A Team v t e Pld Pts  Iran 8 16  South Korea 8 14  Uzbekistan 8 14  Qatar 8 7  Lebanon 8 5

Group B Team v t e Pld Pts  Japan 8 17  Australia 8 13  Jordan 8 10  Oman 8 9  Iraq 8 5

Play-off for 5th place (Fifth Round)

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Jordan	2–2 (9–8p)	Uzbekistan	1–1	1–1 (a.e.t.)

CAF

52 out of the 53 national associations affiliated to CAF entered the qualifying tournament to determine the continent's five slots for the next World Cup (only Mauritania failed to enter, while South Sudan joined FIFA after the start of qualifying).

Qualification 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 joined the remaining 28 CAF entrants in the second round, which consisted of 10 groups of four. The winners of each group – held between June 2012 and September 2013 – advanced to a third round of 5 two-legged knockout ties. The five winners of these ties – held in October and November 2013 – advanced to the 2014 FIFA World Cup finals.

Third round

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Ivory Coast	4–2	Senegal	3–1	1–1
Ethiopia	1–4	Nigeria	1–2	0–2
Tunisia	1–4	Cameroon	0–0	1–4
Ghana	7–3	Egypt	6–1	1–2
Burkina Faso	3–3 (a)	Algeria	3–2	0–1

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. However, these proposals were abandoned. CONCACAF once again used 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, with the six group winners joining the nations ranked 1–6 in Round 3. There were three groups of four teams and the top two teams in each group advanced to Round 4. These six nations formed one group, with the top three teams qualifying and Mexico, the fourth-placed team, advancing to the inter-continental play-off against New Zealand, the top team from the OFC.

A total of 35 national teams began the qualification process vying for three and a half spots. 31 nations were eliminated and the Bahamas withdrew (because their stadium was not completed in time for the competition).^[9]

Final positions (Fourth Round)

Team v t e Pld Pts  United States 10 22  Costa Rica 10 18  Honduras 10 15  Mexico 10 11  Panama 10 8  Jamaica 10 5

CONMEBOL

As Brazil has already qualified as host, the remaining nine CONMEBOL teams took part in a double round-robin group, playing each other twice (home and away) using the same schedule as previous qualification tournaments (each team had a bye on the date they would normally be scheduled to play Brazil). The top four teams qualified automatically, whereas Uruguay, the fifth-placed team, proceeded to the inter-confederational play-off against Jordan, the fifth placed team from Asia.

Final positions

Team v t e Pld Pts  Argentina 16 32  Colombia 16 30  Chile 16 28  Ecuador 16 25  Uruguay 16 25  Venezuela 16 20  Peru 16 15  Bolivia 16 12  Paraguay 16 12

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.^[10] The winners of the group, Samoa, joined the remaining 7 OFC teams in the 2012 OFC Nations Cup, which also doubled as the second qualifying round. The four semi-finalists of the OFC Nations Cup advanced to the third round, which consisted of a double round-robin held on a home-and-away basis between 7 September 2012 and 26 March 2013.

New Zealand, as the winners of the third round, proceeded to the inter-confederation play-off against Mexico, the fourth-placed team from CONCACAF, where they were eliminated by a strong Mexico side who beat them 9–3 over two legs.

Final positions (Third Round)

Team v t e Pld Pts  New Zealand 6 18  New Caledonia 6 12  Tahiti 6 3  Solomon Islands 6 3

UEFA

The European qualification games started in September 2012, after Euro 2012. All 53 national associations affiliated with UEFA took part in the qualification process. In round one, teams competed in eight groups of six teams and a single group of five teams. The nine group winners qualified, while the eight best runners-up – ranked according to all their games except for games against the sixth-placed team in their group – entered into the play-offs for the four remaining spots.

Final positions (First Round)

Group A Team v t e Pld Pts  Belgium 10 26  Croatia 10 17  Serbia 10 14  Scotland 10 11  Wales 10 10  Macedonia 10 7	Group B Team v t e Pld Pts  Italy 10 22  Denmark 10 16  Czech Republic 10 15  Bulgaria 10 13  Armenia 10 13  Malta 10 3	Group C Team v t e Pld Pts  Germany 10 28  Sweden 10 20  Austria 10 17  Republic of Ireland 10 14  Kazakhstan 10 5  Faroe Islands 10 1
Group D Team v t e Pld Pts  Netherlands 10 28  Romania 10 19  Hungary 10 17  Turkey 10 16  Estonia 10 7  Andorra 10 0	Group E Team v t e Pld Pts   Switzerland 10 24  Iceland 10 17  Slovenia 10 15  Norway 10 12  Albania 10 11  Cyprus 10 5	Group F Team v t e Pld Pts  Russia 10 22  Portugal 10 21  Israel 10 14  Azerbaijan 10 9  Northern Ireland 10 7  Luxembourg 10 6
Group G Team v t e Pld Pts  Bosnia and Herzegovina 10 25  Greece 10 25  Slovakia 10 13  Lithuania 10 11  Latvia 10 8  Liechtenstein 10 2	Group H Team v t e Pld Pts  England 10 22  Ukraine 10 21  Montenegro 10 15  Poland 10 13  Moldova 10 11  San Marino 10 0	Group I Team v t e Pld Pts  Spain 8 20  France 8 17  Finland 8 9  Georgia 8 5  Belarus 8 4

Second round

The Second Round was contested by the top eight runners-up. The second round draw took place at the headquarters of FIFA in Zürich, Switzerland, on 21 October.^[11] October 2013 FIFA World Rankings were used to decide which of the teams were seeded.^[11] The matches were played on 15 and 19 November 2013.

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Portugal	4–2	Sweden	1–0	3–2
Ukraine	2–3	France	2–0	0–3
Greece	4–2	Romania	3–1	1–1
Iceland	0–2	Croatia	0–0	0–2

Inter-confederation play-offs

There were two scheduled inter-confederation playoffs to determine the final two qualification spots to the finals. The first legs were played on 13 November 2013, and the second legs were played on 20 November 2013.^[12]

AFC v CONMEBOL

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Jordan	0–5	Uruguay	0–5	0–0

CONCACAF v OFC

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Mexico	9–3	New Zealand	5–1	4–2

Top goalscorers

There were 2,286 goals scored over 816 games, for an average of 2.80 goals per game.^[13]

11 goals

• 
  Deon McCaulay
  


• 
  Robin van Persie
  


• 
  Luis Suárez
  

10 goals

• 
  Peter Byers
  


• 
  Lionel Messi
  


• 
  Edin Džeko
  


• 
  Oribe Peralta
  


• 
  Blas Pérez
  

9 goals

• 
  Gonzalo Higuaín
  


• 
  Radamel Falcao
  


• 
  Jerry Bengtson
  

8 goals

• 
  Vedad Ibišević
  


• 
  Álvaro Saborío
  


• 
  Mesut Özil
  


• 
  Shinji Okazaki
  


• 
  Georges Gope-Fenepej
  


• 
  Cristiano Ronaldo
  


• 
  Zlatan Ibrahimović
  


• 
  Clint Dempsey
  

Notes

References

External links

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


• Live Preliminary Draw