2014 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA)

The European Zone of qualification for the 2014 FIFA World Cup saw 53 teams competing for 13 places at the finals in Brazil. 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.

2014 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA)
Tournament details
Dates7 September 2012 – 19 November 2013
Teams53 (from 1 confederation)
Tournament statistics
Matches played268
Goals scored749 (2.79 per match)
Attendance6,145,801 (22,932 per match)
Top scorer(s)Netherlands Robin van Persie
(11 goals)
2010
2018

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.[1]

The qualification process started on 7 September 2012, over two months after the end of UEFA Euro 2012, and ended on 19 November 2013. Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, England, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Russia, Spain, and Switzerland qualified in the first round by winning their groups. Croatia, France, Greece, and Portugal qualified via the second round play-offs.

Format

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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

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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.

Pot A
Team Rank
  Spain 1
  Netherlands 2
  Germany 3
  England 6
  Portugal 7
  Italy 8
  Croatia 9
  Norway 12
  Greece 13
Pot B
Team Rank
  France 16
  Montenegro 17
  Russia 18
  Sweden 19
  Denmark 21
  Slovenia 22
  Turkey 24
  Serbia 27
  Slovakia 29
Pot C
Team Rank
   Switzerland 30
  Israel 32
  Republic of Ireland 33
  Belgium 37
  Czech Republic 38
  Bosnia and Herzegovina 41
  Belarus 42
  Ukraine 45
  Hungary 47
Pot D
Team Rank
  Bulgaria 48
  Romania 53
  Georgia 57
  Lithuania 58
  Albania 59
  Scotland 61
  Northern Ireland 62
  Austria 66
  Poland 69
Pot E
Team Rank
  Armenia 70
  Finland 75
  Estonia 79
  Cyprus 80
  Latvia 84
  Moldova 85
  Macedonia 96
  Azerbaijan 111
  Faroe Islands 112
Pot F
Team Rank
  Wales 112
  Liechtenstein 118
  Iceland 121
  Kazakhstan 126
  Luxembourg 128
  Malta 173
  Andorra 203
  San Marino 203

First round

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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

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  Winner of each group qualified directly for the 2014 FIFA World Cup
  Other teams were eliminated after the first round
Group A Group B Group C Group D Group E Group F Group G Group H Group I
 
Belgium
 
Italy
 
Germany
 
Netherlands
 
Switzerland
 
Russia
 
Bosnia and Herzegovina
 
England
 
Spain
 
Croatia
 
Denmark
 
Sweden
 
Romania
 
Iceland
 
Portugal
 
Greece
 
Ukraine
 
France
 
Serbia
 
Scotland
 
Wales
 
Macedonia
 
Czech Republic
 
Bulgaria
 
Armenia
 
Malta
 
Austria
 
Republic of Ireland
 
Kazakhstan
 
Faroe Islands
 
Hungary
 
Turkey
 
Estonia
 
Andorra
 
Slovenia
 
Norway
 
Albania
 
Cyprus
 
Israel
 
Azerbaijan
 
Northern Ireland
 
Luxembourg
 
Slovakia
 
Lithuania
 
Latvia
 
Liechtenstein
 
Montenegro
 
Poland
 
Moldova
 
San Marino
 
Finland
 
Georgia
 
Belarus

Groups

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Tie-breaking criteria

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

Group A

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification            
1   Belgium 10 8 2 0 18 4 +14 26 Qualification to 2014 FIFA World Cup 1–1 2–1 2–0 1–1 1–0
2   Croatia 10 5 2 3 12 9 +3 17 Advance to second round 1–2 2–0 0–1 2–0 1–0
3   Serbia 10 4 2 4 18 11 +7 14 0–3 1–1 2–0 6–1 5–1
4   Scotland 10 3 2 5 8 12 −4 11 0–2 2–0 0–0 1–2 1–1
5   Wales 10 3 1 6 9 20 −11 10 0–2 1–2 0–3 2–1 1–0
6   Macedonia 10 2 1 7 7 16 −9 7 0–2 1–2 1–0 1–2 2–1
Source: [3]

Group B

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification            
1   Italy 10 6 4 0 19 9 +10 22 Qualification to 2014 FIFA World Cup 3–1 2–1 1–0 2–2 2–0
2   Denmark 10 4 4 2 17 12 +5 16 2–2 0–0 1–1 0–4 6–0
3   Czech Republic 10 4 3 3 13 9 +4 15 0–0 0–3 0–0 1–2 3–1
4   Bulgaria 10 3 4 3 14 9 +5 13 2–2 1–1 0–1 1–0 6–0
5   Armenia 10 4 1 5 12 13 −1 13 1–3 0–1 0–3 2–1 0–1
6   Malta 10 1 0 9 5 28 −23 3 0–2 1–2 1–4 1–2 0–1
Source: [4]

Group C

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification            
1   Germany 10 9 1 0 36 10 +26 28 Qualification to 2014 FIFA World Cup 4–4 3–0 3–0 4–1 3–0
2   Sweden 10 6 2 2 19 14 +5 20 Advance to second round 3–5 2–1 0–0 2–0 2–0
3   Austria 10 5 2 3 20 10 +10 17 1–2 2–1 1–0 4–0 6–0
4   Republic of Ireland 10 4 2 4 16 17 −1 14 1–6 1–2 2–2 3–1 3–0
5   Kazakhstan 10 1 2 7 6 21 −15 5 0–3 0–1 0–0 1–2 2–1
6   Faroe Islands 10 0 1 9 4 29 −25 1 0–3 1–2 0–3 1–4 1–1
Source: [5]

Group D

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification            
1   Netherlands 10 9 1 0 34 5 +29 28 Qualification to 2014 FIFA World Cup 4–0 8–1 2–0 3–0 3–0
2   Romania 10 6 1 3 19 12 +7 19 Advance to second round 1–4 3–0 0–2 2–0 4–0
3   Hungary 10 5 2 3 21 20 +1 17 1–4 2–2 3–1 5–1 2–0
4   Turkey 10 5 1 4 16 9 +7 16 0–2 0–1 1–1 3–0 5–0
5   Estonia 10 2 1 7 6 20 −14 7 2–2 0–2 0–1 0–2 2–0
6   Andorra 10 0 0 10 0 30 −30 0 0–2 0–4 0–5 0–2 0–1
Source: [6]

Group E

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification            
1    Switzerland 10 7 3 0 17 6 +11 24 Qualification to 2014 FIFA World Cup 4–4 1–0 1–1 2–0 1–0
2   Iceland 10 5 2 3 17 15 +2 17 Advance to second round 0–2 2–4 2–0 2–1 2–0
3   Slovenia 10 5 0 5 14 11 +3 15 0–2 1–2 3–0 1–0 2–1
4   Norway 10 3 3 4 10 13 −3 12 0–2 1–1 2–1 0–1 2–0
5   Albania 10 3 2 5 9 11 −2 11 1–2 1–2 1–0 1–1 3–1
6   Cyprus 10 1 2 7 4 15 −11 5 0–0 1–0 0–2 1–3 0–0
Source: [7]

Group F

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification            
1   Russia 10 7 1 2 20 5 +15 22 Qualification to 2014 FIFA World Cup 1–0 3–1 1–0 2–0 4–1
2   Portugal 10 6 3 1 20 9 +11 21 Advance to second round 1–0 1–1 3–0 1–1 3–0
3   Israel 10 3 5 2 19 14 +5 14 0–4 3–3 1–1 1–1 3–0
4   Azerbaijan 10 1 6 3 7 11 −4 9 1–1 0–2 1–1 2–0 1–1
5   Northern Ireland 10 1 4 5 9 17 −8 7 1–0 2–4 0–2 1–1 1–1
6   Luxembourg 10 1 3 6 7 26 −19 6 0–4 1–2 0–6 0–0 3–2
Source: [8]

Group G

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification            
1   Bosnia and Herzegovina 10 8 1 1 30 6 +24 25 Qualification to 2014 FIFA World Cup 3–1 0–1 3–0 4–1 4–1
2   Greece 10 8 1 1 12 4 +8 25 Advance to second round 0–0 1–0 2–0 1–0 2–0
3   Slovakia 10 3 4 3 11 10 +1 13 1–2 0–1 1–1 2–1 2–0
4   Lithuania 10 3 2 5 9 11 −2 11 0–1 0–1 1–1 2–0 2–0
5   Latvia 10 2 2 6 10 20 −10 8 0–5 1–2 2–2 2–1 2–0
6   Liechtenstein 10 0 2 8 4 25 −21 2 1–8 0–1 1–1 0–2 1–1
Source: [9]

Group H

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification            
1   England 10 6 4 0 31 4 +27 22 Qualification to 2014 FIFA World Cup 1–1 4–1 2–0 4–0 5–0
2   Ukraine 10 6 3 1 28 4 +24 21 Advance to second round 0–0 0–1 1–0 2–1 9–0
3   Montenegro 10 4 3 3 18 17 +1 15 1–1 0–4 2–2 2–5 3–0
4   Poland 10 3 4 3 18 12 +6 13 1–1 1–3 1–1 2–0 5–0
5   Moldova 10 3 2 5 12 17 −5 11 0–5 0–0 0–1 1–1 3–0
6   San Marino 10 0 0 10 1 54 −53 0 0–8 0–8 0–6 1–5 0–2
Source: [9]

Group I

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification          
1   Spain 8 6 2 0 14 3 +11 20 Qualification to 2014 FIFA World Cup 1–1 1–1 2–0 2–1
2   France 8 5 2 1 15 6 +9 17 Advance to second round 0–1 3–0 3–1 3–1
3   Finland 8 2 3 3 5 9 −4 9 0–2 0–1 1–1 1–0
4   Georgia 8 1 2 5 3 10 −7 5 0–1 0–0 0–1 1–0
5   Belarus 8 1 1 6 7 16 −9 4 0–4 2–4 1–1 2–0
Source: [9]

Second round

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Group runners-up

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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

Pos Grp Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 G   Greece 8 6 1 1 9 4 +5 19 Advance to second round (play-offs)
2 I   France 8 5 2 1 15 6 +9 17
3 F   Portugal 8 4 3 1 15 8 +7 15
4 H   Ukraine 8 4 3 1 11 4 +7 15
5 C   Sweden 8 4 2 2 15 13 +2 14
6 E   Iceland 8 4 2 2 15 14 +1 14
7 D   Romania 8 4 1 3 11 12 −1 13
8 A   Croatia 8 3 2 3 9 8 +1 11
9 B   Denmark 8 2 4 2 9 11 −2 10
Source: [9]

Matches

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The second round draw took place at the headquarters of FIFA in Zurich on 21 October 2013.[10] The October 2013 FIFA World Rankings were used to decide which of the teams would be seeded (shown below in brackets).[10]

Pot 1 (seeded)
Team Pos
  Portugal 14
  Greece 15
  Croatia 18
  Ukraine 20
Pot 2 (unseeded)
Team Pos
  France 21
  Sweden 25
  Romania 29
  Iceland 46

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.[1][11] Winners: Portugal, France, Greece and Croatia as shown in bold.

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score 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

Qualified teams

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

Team Qualified as Qualified on Previous appearances in FIFA World Cup1
  Belgium Group A winners 11 October 2013 11 (1930, 1934, 1938, 1954, 1970, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002)
  Italy Group B winners 10 September 2013 17 (1934, 1938, 1950, 1954, 1962, 1966, 1970, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010)
  Germany Group C winners 11 October 2013 17 (1934, 1938, 19543, 19583, 19623, 19663, 19703, 19743, 19783, 19823, 19863, 19903, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010)
  Netherlands Group D winners 10 September 2013 9 (1934, 1938, 1974, 1978, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2006, 2010)
   Switzerland Group E winners 11 October 2013 9 (1934, 1938, 1950, 1954, 1962, 1966, 1994, 2006, 2010)
  Russia Group F winners 15 October 2013 9 (19582, 19622, 19662, 19702, 19822, 19862, 19902, 1994, 2002)
  Bosnia and Herzegovina Group G winners 15 October 2013 0 (debut)
  England Group H winners 15 October 2013 13 (1950, 1954, 1958, 1962, 1966, 1970, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010)
  Spain Group I winners 15 October 2013 13 (1934, 1950, 1962, 1966, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010)
  Greece Second round (play-off) winners 19 November 2013 2 (1994, 2010)
  Croatia Second round (play-off) winners 19 November 2013 3 (1998, 2002, 2006)
  Portugal Second round (play-off) winners 19 November 2013 5 (1966, 1986, 2002, 2006, 2010)
  France Second round (play-off) winners 19 November 2013 13 (1930, 1934, 1938, 1954, 1958, 1966, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010)
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

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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.[12] The following players were suspended during the final tournament – for one or more games – as a result of red cards or yellow card accumulations:

Player Offences Suspensions
  Keith Andrews     UEFA Euro 2012 v Italy Group C v Kazakhstan
  Roman Berezovsky   UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying v Republic of Ireland Group B v Malta
  James Collins   v Belgium Group A v Serbia
  Marc Vales     v Hungary Group D v Romania
  Tranquillo Barnetta     v Slovenia Group E v Albania
  Viktor Pečovský   v Lithuania Group G v Liechtenstein
  Tadas Labukas     v Slovakia Group G v Greece
  Savo Pavićević   v Poland Group H v San Marino
  Ludovic Obraniak   v Montenegro Group H v Moldova
  Svetoslav Dyakov     v Armenia Group B v Denmark
  Gevorg Ghazaryan   v Bulgaria Group B v Italy
  Marcos Pizzelli   v Bulgaria Group B v Italy
  Enar Jääger   v Turkey Group D v Hungary
  Sölvi Ottesen   v Cyprus Group E v Albania
  Steven Gerrard     v Ukraine Group H v San Marino
  Alexei Eremenko     v Georgia Group I v Spain
  Ivan Bandalovski   v Denmark Group B v Czech Republic
  Boštjan Cesar     v Cyprus Group E v Albania
  Daniel Kaufmann     v Latvia Group G v Latvia
  Nenad Tomović   v Macedonia Group A v Croatia
  Pablo Osvaldo   v Denmark Group B v Malta
  Andi Lila     v Norway Group E v Norway
  Gerard Piqué   2013 FIFA Confederations Cup v Brazil Group I v Finland
  Savo Pavicevic     v Ukraine Group H v Poland
  Vladimir Volkov     v Ukraine Group H v Poland
  Roman Zozulya   v Montenegro Group H v San Marino
  Mario Balotelli     v Czech Republic Group B v Bulgaria
  Andreas Granqvist   v Faroe Islands Group C v Republic of Ireland
  Josip Šimunić   v Serbia Group A v Belgium
Group A v Scotland

Top goalscorers

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There were 749 goals scored in 268 matches, for an average of 2.79 goals per match.

11 goals

10 goals

8 goals

7 goals

6 goals

5 goals

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

References

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  1. ^ a b "2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil – Preliminary Competition Format and Draw Procedures –" (PDF). FIFA. 29 July 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 September 2011. Retrieved 23 January 2012.
  2. ^ "Regulations 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil" (PDF). FIFA. p. 27. Archived (PDF) from the original on 30 October 2012. Retrieved 8 June 2013.
  3. ^ "FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA) 2014, football - table and standings". soccer365.me. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
  4. ^ "FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA) 2014, football - table and standings". soccer365.me. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
  5. ^ "FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA) 2014, football - table and standings". soccer365.me. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
  6. ^ "FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA) 2014, football - table and standings". soccer365.me. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
  7. ^ "FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA) 2014, football - table and standings". soccer365.me. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
  8. ^ "FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA) 2014, football – table and standings". soccer365.me. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
  9. ^ a b c d "FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA) 2014, football - table and standings". soccer365.me. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
  10. ^ a b "Dates set for African and European qualifying draws". FIFA. 15 June 2013. Archived from the original on 18 June 2013.
  11. ^ "European hopefuls learn play-off fate". FIFA. 21 October 2013. Archived from the original on 21 October 2013.
  12. ^ "Regulations of the UEFA European Football Championship 2010–12" (PDF). UEFA. p. 27. Archived (PDF) from the original on 15 February 2010. Retrieved 18 June 2012.
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