2014 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA)

Format

All 53 UEFA national teams entered qualification, aiming to secure one of the 13 European Zone slots for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. The draw for the qualification groups was held at the World Cup Preliminary Draw at the Marina da Glória in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on 30 July 2011. The qualification format was the same as 2010. The teams were drawn into eight groups of six teams and one group of five, with the nine group winners qualifying directly for the final tournament. The eight best runners-up (determined by records against the first-, third-, fourth- and fifth-placed teams in their groups to ensure equity between different groups) were drawn in two-legged play-offs that determined the remaining four qualifying nations.

Seeding

The July 2011 FIFA World Rankings were used to seed the teams. In consideration of the delicate political situations of the relationships between Armenia and Azerbaijan as well as relations between Russia and Georgia, UEFA requested that FIFA maintain the current UEFA policy not to draw these teams into the same qualification groups – although as Armenia and Azerbaijan were in the same pot they could not be drawn together anyway. The mechanism for keeping Russia and Georgia apart was confirmed by the FIFA Organising Committee on 29 July 2011.

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First round

The matches were played between 7 September 2012 and 15 October 2013. An initial schedule that includes matches before this date was not ratified by FIFA. A win was awarded 3 points, a draw was awarded 1 point, and a loss 0. The team with the most points in each group secured direct qualification for the final tournament of the World Cup.

Summary

Groups

Tie-breaking criteria

If two teams had the same number of points the criteria below were used.

Group A

Main article: 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group A

Group B

Main article: 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group B

Group C

Main article: 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group C

Group D

Main article: 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group D

Group E

Main article: 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group E

Group F

Main article: 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group F

Group G

Main article: 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group G

Group H

Main article: 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group H

Group I

Main article: 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group I

Second round

Main article: 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA second round

Group runners-up

The eight best group runners-up contested the second round, where they were paired into four two-legged (home-and-away) fixtures. The four winners qualified for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Because one group had one team fewer than the others, matches against the last-placed team in each of the six-team groups were not included in this ranking. Teams were ranked by the following parameters in order:

1. Highest number of points
2. Goal difference
3. Highest number of goals scored

Matches

The second round draw took place at the headquarters of FIFA in Zurich on 21 October 2013. The October 2013 FIFA World Rankings were used to decide which of the teams would be seeded (shown below in brackets).

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One team from pot 1 was paired with one from pot 2 as shown below. The matches were played on 15 and 19 November 2013. Winners: Portugal, France, Greece and Croatia as shown in bold.

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Qualified teams

The following 13 teams from UEFA qualified for the final tournament.

:1 Bold indicates champions for that year. Italic indicates hosts for that year. :2 Competed as Soviet Union. :3 Competed as West Germany. A separate team for East Germany also participated in qualifications during this time, having only competed in 1974.

Discipline

In the qualification tournament, a player would be suspended for the subsequent match in the competition for either getting red card or accumulating two yellow cards in two different matches. UEFA's Control and Disciplinary body has the ability to increase the automatic one match ban for a red card (e.g., for violent conduct). Single yellow card cautions would be erased prior to the play-off portion, and would not carry over. Single yellow cards and suspensions for yellow card accumulations do not carry over to the 2014 FIFA World Cup tournament matches. The following players were suspended during the final tournament – for one or more games – as a result of red cards or yellow card accumulations:

Top goalscorers

• NED Robin van Persie

• BIH Edin Džeko

• BIH Vedad Ibišević

• GER Mesut Özil

• POR Cristiano Ronaldo

• SWE Zlatan Ibrahimović

• ENG Wayne Rooney

• AUT David Alaba

• IRL Robbie Keane

• ISR Eden Ben Basat

• ISR Tomer Hemed

• POR Hélder Postiga

• BIH Zvjezdan Misimović

• FRA Franck Ribéry

• GER Marco Reus

• GRE Kostas Mitroglou

• ITA Mario Balotelli

• NED Jeremain Lens

• NED Rafael van der Vaart

• ROU Ciprian Marica

• RUS Aleksandr Kerzhakov

• SVN Milivoje Novaković

• TUR Umut Bulut

• TUR Burak Yılmaz

• UKR Andriy Yarmolenko

Below are full goalscorer lists for all groups and the play-off rounds:

• Group A
• Group B
• Group C
• Group D
• Group E
• Group F
• Group G
• Group H
• Group I
• Play-offs

References

References

1. (29 July 2011). "2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil – Preliminary Competition Format and Draw Procedures –". FIFA.
2. "Regulations 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil". FIFA.
3. "FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA) 2014, football - table and standings".
4. (2013-06-15). "Dates set for African and European qualifying draws". FIFA.
5. (21 October 2013). "European hopefuls learn play-off fate". FIFA.
6. "Regulations of the UEFA European Football Championship 2010–12". UEFA.