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2014 World Cup qualifying

The main 2014 World Cup qualifying draw took place in Rio on Saturday, July 30.

Click on any of the following links to see the draw in full.

AFRICA - ASIA - CONCACAF - OCEANIA - UEFA


The qualifying process for the 2014 World Cup began on June 15, 2011 when minnows Montserrat hosted Belize in Couva in the CONCACAF region.

A goal from Belize's Deon McCauley of Raymond Gentle-City Boys United in the 24th minute was the first in qualifying - and he went on to net a hat-trick too.

EUROPE: 13 places

European qualifying home page

Qualifying for 2014 followed exactly the same format as for 2010. There were eight groups of six teams and one group of five.

Each group winner qualified automatically, with the eight best runners-up facing a play-off to qualify. The record of the team finishing in sixth place in groups 1-8 was discounted to determine the best runners-up.

The qualifiers began in September 2012 and ran through to October 2013.

Click here for group-by-group details
Click here for final tables

Qualified nations
• Belgium
• Italy
• Germany
• Netherlands
• Switzerland
• Russia
• Bosnia-Herzegovina
• England
• Spain
• Greece
• Croatia
• Portugal
• France

SOUTH AMERICA: 4.5 places

South American qualifying home page

Brazil qualified automatically as hosts, which meant only nine nations took part. As in recent qualifying competitions, all teams played each other home and away with the top four nations making it to the finals. The fifth-placed team, Uruguay, had to play an inter-continental play-off.

The qualifiers began in October 2011 and ran through to October 2013.

Final CONMEBOL qualifying table

Qualified nations
• Argentina
• Colombia
• Chile
• Ecuador
• Uruguay

CONCACAF: 3.5 places

Concacaf qualifying home page

A somewhat modified, but still convoluted, system for 2014. The main seeds, including USA and Mexico, entered in Round Three.

Round One: Ties completed by July 17. Ten bottom ranked nations playing two-legged ties.
Round Two: 24 teams drawn into six groups of four teams. Played September 2 to November 15, 2011. Group winners advance to the Round Three.
Round Three: 12 teams drawn into three groups of four teams. Played June 8 to October 16, 2012. Top two teams advance to Round Four.
Round Four: One group of six teams. Played from February 6 to October 15, 2013. Top three teams qualified. Fourth placed team, Mexico, made the intercontinental play-off.

Qualified nations
• United States
• Costa Rica
• Honduras
• Mexico

AFRICA 5 places

African qualifying home page

A much-changed system in Africa, with the final round essentially taking the format of five play-off ties.

Round One: 12 home-and-away series. Played November 11-15, 2011.
Round Two: Ten groups of four teams. Played June 1, 2012 to September 10, 2013. The group winners advance to Round Three.
Round Three: Five two-legged ties. Played October 11-15 and November 15-19, 2013. Winners qualify for the finals.

Qualified nations
• Nigeria
• Ivory Coast
• Cameroon
• Ghana
• Algeria

ASIA 4.5 places

Asia qualifying home page

This follows the same format as for 2010. Australia, Iran, Japan and South Korea qualified automatically.

Round One: Eight two-legged ties featuring the 16 lowest-ranked teams in Asia.
Round Two: 15 two-legged ties played on July 23-28, 2011. Winners advance to Round Three.
Round Three: 20 teams will be drawn into five groups of four teams. Played September 2, 2011 to February 29, 2012. Group winners and runners-up advance to Round Four.
Round Four: Two groups of five teams. Played June 3, 2012 to March 26, 2013. Group winners and runners-up qualify.
Round Five: The teams finishing third in Round Four, Jordan and Uzbekistan faced a home-and-away play-off. The winner, Jordan, advanced to the intercontinental play-off.

Qualified nations
• Iran
• Japan
• South Korea
• Australia

OCEANIA 0.5 places

Oceania qualifying home page

A slightly modified qualifying competition.

Round One: The four lowest ranked teams played a league tournament between November 21-26, 2011. The winner of the tournament advanced to Round Two.
Round Two: Also the 2012 OFC Nations Cup, the Group Stage of this competition will act as World Cup qualifying for Oceania. The winner of Round One joins the seven top ranked nations in a league tournament with a semi-final and final. The four semi-finalists will go through. Played in June 2012.
Round Three: One four-team group playing on a home and away basis between September 7, 2012 and March 26, 2013. This was won by New Zealand who go through to intercontinental play-off.

Qualified nations
• No team

The pairings of the intercontinental play-offs were as follows:

Jordan v Uruguay
Mexico v New Zealand