Packing for Brazil
With all playoffs completed, we now know who’ll be at the greatest show on Earth in Brazil next year. The next step is the draw on December 6
THE 2010 Fifa World Cup in South Africa was ground-breaking. For the first time in the history of the tournament, a European side was crowned champions outside their own continent.
At the 2014 World Cup, history of a different kind will be made. When Brazil host the event, from June 12 until July 13, it will be the first time the competition has been held outside Europe for two consecutive editions.
The World Cup is coming back to South America after 36 years. Now that Europe’s winless run outside their own domain has been put to rest, can a team from the “Old Continent” wrestle away the grip that South Americans have over the trophy in their own back yard?
On the four occasions the World Cup has been held in this corner of the world, a South American nation has emerged victorious. Uruguay won the inaugural tournament — which they also hosted — in 1930 and won it again in 1950 at Rio de Janeiro’s Maracana Stadium. Brazil won their second title in Chile in 1962 and Argentina their first in 1978 when they played host.
The football map is far more compressed than it was three-and-a-half decades ago, so it is conceivable that home advantage no longer plays as important a role as it once did. In 2014, a trip to South America to take part in sport’s biggest competition isn’t as daunting as it may have been in 1978.
But before that happens, the final draw for the tournament will be held at Costa do Sauípe Resort, Mata de São João in Bahia, on December 6, and the 32 qualified teams will be divided into pots.
The seeded pot will contain hosts Brazil and the seven best-ranked qualified teams, according to the October 2013 Fifa rankings, including Spain, Germany, Argentina, Colombia, Belgium, Switzerland and Uruguay. The other pots will be decided by geographic and sporting criteria. The teams will then be divided into the all-important groups.
We look at the qualified teams.
FROM AFRICA Qualified: Algeria, Cameroon, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria.
Most impressive qualifiers: Ghana were the top scorers with 18 goals in six group matches and managed more points (15) than the other qualifiers in their region, although they suffered a 1-0 loss away against Zambia. But they made light work of overcoming one of the dominant sides, Egypt, in the playoffs, winning 7-3 on aggregate. Top scorers: Asamoah Gyan (Ghana), Mohamed Aboutrika, Mohamed Salah (both Egypt) — six goals. Did you know? Cameroon have qualified for the seventh time — a record for an African nation.
FROM ASIA Qualified: Australia, Iran, Japan, South Korea. Most impressive qualifiers: Japan qualified with the highest points tally from the group stages, but special mention must go to Iran, who managed to top their five-team group despite scoring just eight goals in eight matches. Their defence proved crucial, conceding only twice in 720 minutes of qualifying. Top scorer: Shinji Okazaki (Japan) — eight goals. Did you know? On their road to qualification, Iran kept 10 clean sheets in 16 games, conceding just seven goals.
FROM EUROPE Qualified: Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, England, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Russia, Switzerland, Spain. Most impressive qualifiers: Seven teams made it through the whole campaign without losing (Belgium, England, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain and Switzerland), but it is the records of the Germans and Dutch that stand out: played 10, won nine, drawn one, both amassing 28 points from a possible 30 and scoring 70 goals between them. Impressive stuff. Top scorer: Robin van Persie (Netherlands) — 11 goals Did you know? Greece kept eight clean sheets in their 10 qualifying matches — more than any other nation. FROM NORTH & CENTRAL AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN Qualified: Costa Rica, Honduras, United States, Mexico. Most impressive qualifiers: The US topped the qualifying group but Jurgen Klinsmann’s men were not without their problems, losing to Jamaica, Costa Rica and Honduras along the way. Top scorer: Deon McCauley (Belize) — 11 goals. Did you know? Mexico won just two of their 10 games in the final round of qualifying (drawn: five; lost three), scoring seven times. They scored five in the first leg of their playoff against New Zealand.
FROM SOUTH AMERICA Qualified: Argentina, Brazil (hosts), Colombia, Ecuador, Chile, Uruguay. Most impressive qualifiers: In the absence of Brazil, who qualify automatically as hosts, there was a three-way tussle at the top of the table between eventual winners Argentina, Colombia and Chile. The three sides all finished with nine wins from their 16 matches, but it was the combined firepower of Lionel Messi and Gonzalo Higuain, who between them scored 19 goals, which made the difference for Argentina. Top scorers: Luis Suarez (Uruguay) — 11 goals. Did you know? Ecuador had 201 shots at goal during qualifying, more than any other South American team, but only 72 were on target. — bbcsport.com and bleacherreport.com