THE ROAD TO RUSSIA: 2014
The 20th edition of the World Cup was held from June 12 to July 13 in Brazil, the second time it staged the competition after 1950, and it was the fifth edition held in South America.
Thirty-one national teams advanced through qualification to join the host nation in the finals (with Bosnia and Herzegovina as only debutants). A total of 64 matches were played in 12 venues located in as many host cities across Brazil.
For the first time at a World Cup finals, match officials used goal-line technology, as well as vanishing foam for free kicks.
Every World Cup-winning team since the first tournament in 1930 — Argentina, Brazil, England, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Uruguay — qualified for this tournament. Spain, the title holders, were eliminated at the group stage, along with England and Italy. Uruguay were eliminated in the round of 16, and France exited in the quarter-finals.
Brazil, who had won the 2013 Fifa Confederations Cup, lost to Germany 7-1 in the semi-finals and eventually finished in fourth place.
In the final, Germany defeated Argentina 1-0 to win the tournament and secure their fourth world title, the first after the German reunification in 1990, when as West Germany they also beat Argentina in the World Cup final. Germany became the first European team to win a World Cup staged in the Americas, and this result marked the first time that nations from the same continent had won three consecutive tournaments (following Italy in 2006 and Spain in 2010).
A record-equalling number of 171 goals were scored by 116 players in 64 matches at an average of 2.67 goals per match. The same number of goals were also scored in the 1998 World Cup in France. There were also five self goals in this tournament. James Rodriguez of Colombia topped the list with six goals. Germany's Thomas Muller, against Portugal and Switzerland's Xherdan Shaqiri, against Honduras, scored a hat trick each in this World Cup.
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STANDINGS (TOP 10) 1. Germany, 2. Argentina, 3. Netherlands, 4. Brazil, 5. Colombia, 6. Belgium, 7. France , 8. Costa Rica, 9. Chile, 10. Mexico.