The only side not involved in the qualifiers will be the Brazilian hosts, who are the most successful team when it comes to the World Cup – with five trophies to their name so far, the latest triumph coming in 2002. The top scorer that year was Brazilian legend Ronaldo, and the former striker was present in Rio to assist FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke with the draw, in addition to a handful of other Brazilian greats.
In the European section current World Cup holders Spain were drawn alongside France, winners in 1998. The two teams last met in the World Cup in Germany 2006, a match in which the French prevailed 3-1 on route to the final. Fabio Capello’s England were handed a reasonably kind draw, as they were handed ties against Montenegro, Ukraine, Poland, Moldova and San Marino.
Italy, who currently sit second in the all-time World Cup table, just a single trophy behind Brazil, were drawn against Denmark, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Armenia and Malta. Similarly to the English, the Italian fans will be expecting qualification as group winners. The same could be said of three-time winners Germany and three-time runners-up Holland, who were both handed favourable groups. Germany’s toughest opponent comes in the shape of Sweden, who failed to qualify for the last World Cup, and the main challenger to the Dutch is likely to be Turkey, who also failed to reach South Africa in 2010.
The seeding in the African qualifying draw meant that most of the more successful nations were kept apart, however Côte d'Ivoire, a side currently boasting players such as Chelsea’s Didier Drogba and Arsenal’s Gervinho , were paired with Morocco – a country who became the first African nation to win a World Cup finals match in 1986. Manchester City striker Emmanuel Adebayor and his Togo team may also end up facing Africa’s most successful World Cup side Cameroon, who have qualified for a record six finals.
In the Asian section two of the continent’s World Cup 2010 representatives were paired together in Group C. Japan, who advanced past the group stage for the second occasion in South Africa, and Korea DPR will compete for the right to travel to Brazil in three years time along with Uzbekistan and Syria. China will be keen to qualify from their section, which contains Jordan, Iraq and Singapore, especially since they have yet to build upon their only ever World Cup finals appearance back in 2002. Australia on the other hand have competed in the last two tournaments, and will be keen to continue their participation after being drawn with Saudi Arabia, Oman and Thailand.
The South American qualifying group remains the same each year, apart from the absence on this occasion of hosts Brazil. Argentina and Uruguay, both with two World Cup trophies to their name, will be among the favourites to progress to the 2014 tournament, in addition to sides such as Chile, Paraguay and Columbia.
The CONCACAF zone, consisting of North and Central American nations as well as representatives from the Caribbean, has paired Mexico and Costa Rica together, as well as the USA and Jamaica. Both the Mexicans and the Americans have hosted the finals themselves in the past 25 years, and they will each be expected to compete in Brazil in 2014. The third group in this section contains 2010 finalists Honduras, who will aim to emulate their surprise qualification to the tournament in South Africa, which was their first finals appearance in almost three decades.
Finally in Oceania and the only unbeaten team from the 2010 World Cup, New Zealand, will be confident of progressing from their group of Fiji, Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea.
Qualification from the Oceania is not entirely straightforward though, as group winners must progress to eventually face CONCACAF opposition in a play-off match which decides who will advance to the World Cup finals in 2014. A second play-off will also take place between sides from Asia and South America.
There promises to be a long and arduous road ahead for many of the countries hopeful of qualifying for the World Cup in Brazil, but for the successful nations the endeavour will all seem worthwhile if they can compete in South America in three years time.
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