2014 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA)

2014 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA)
Tournament details
Dates 7 September 2012 – 19 November 2013
Teams 53 (from 1 confederation)
Tournament statistics
Matches played 268
Goals scored 749 (2.79 per match)
Top scorer(s) Netherlands Robin van Persie (11 goals)

The European Zone of qualification for the 2014 FIFA World Cup saw 53 teams competing for 13 places at the finals in Brazil. The qualification process started on 7 September 2012, over two months after the end of UEFA Euro 2012, and ended on 19 November 2013. There were nine winners of each qualifying group as well as the winners of four play-offs between group runners-up.

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

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.[1]

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.[1]

Teams were allocated to seeding pots as follows (July 2011 FIFA Rankings shown in brackets; the countries which eventually qualified for the final tournament are presented in bold):[2]

Pot 1 Pot 2 Pot 3

 Spain (1)
 Netherlands (2)
 Germany (3)
 England (6)
 Portugal (7)
 Italy (8)
 Croatia (9)
 Norway (12)
 Greece (13)

 France (15)
 Montenegro (17)
 Russia (18)
 Sweden (19)
 Denmark (21)
 Slovenia (22)
 Turkey (24)
 Serbia (27)
 Slovakia (29)

  Switzerland (30)
 Israel (32)
 Republic of Ireland (33)
 Belgium (37)
 Czech Republic (38)
 Bosnia and Herzegovina (41)
 Belarus (42)
 Ukraine (45)
 Hungary (47)

Pot 4 Pot 5 Pot 6

 Bulgaria (48)
 Romania (53)
 Georgia (57)
 Lithuania (58)
 Albania (59)
 Scotland (61)
 Northern Ireland (62)
 Austria (66)
 Poland (69)

 Armenia (70)
 Finland (75)
 Estonia (79)
 Cyprus (80)
 Latvia (83)
 Moldova (85)
 Macedonia (96)
 Azerbaijan (111)
 Faroe Islands (112)

 Wales (112)
 Liechtenstein (118)
 Iceland (121)
 Kazakhstan (126)
 Luxembourg (128)
 Malta (173)
 Andorra (203)
 San Marino (203)

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.

Summary

  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

Tie-breaking criteria

The ranking in each group is determined as follows:[3]

If two or more teams are equal on the basis of the above three criteria, their rankings shall be determined as follows:

Group A

Team
Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 Belgium 10 8 2 0 18 4 +1426
 Croatia 10 5 2 3 12 9 +317
 Serbia 10 4 2 4 18 11 +714
 Scotland 10 3 2 5 8 12 411
 Wales 10 3 1 6 9 20 1110
 Macedonia 10 2 1 7 7 16 97
  Belgium Croatia Republic of Macedonia Scotland Serbia Wales
Belgium  1–1 1–0 2–0 2–1 1–1
Croatia  1–2 1–0 0–1 2–0 2–0
Macedonia  0–2 1–2 1–2 1–0 2–1
Scotland  0–2 2–0 1–1 0–0 1–2
Serbia  0–3 1–1 5–1 2–0 6–1
Wales  0–2 1–2 1–0 2–1 0–3

Group B

Team
Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 Italy 10 6 4 0 19 9 +1022
 Denmark 10 4 4 2 17 12 +516
 Czech Republic 10 4 3 3 13 9 +415
 Bulgaria 10 3 4 3 14 9 +513
 Armenia 10 4 1 5 12 13 113
 Malta 10 1 0 9 5 28 233
  Armenia Bulgaria Czech Republic Denmark Italy Malta
Armenia  2–1 0–3 0–1 1–3 0–1
Bulgaria  1–0 0–1 1–1 2–2 6–0
Czech Republic  1–2 0–0 0–3 0–0 3–1
Denmark  0–4 1–1 0–0 2–2 6–0
Italy  2–2 1–0 2–1 3–1 2–0
Malta  0–1 1–2 1–4 1–2 0–2

Group C

Team
Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 Germany 10 9 1 0 36 10 +2628
 Sweden 10 6 2 2 19 14 +520
 Austria 10 5 2 3 20 10 +1017
 Republic of Ireland 10 4 2 4 16 17 114
 Kazakhstan 10 1 2 7 6 21 155
 Faroe Islands 10 0 1 9 4 29 251
  Austria Faroe Islands Germany Kazakhstan Republic of Ireland Sweden
Austria  6–0 1–2 4–0 1–0 2–1
Faroe Islands  0–3 0–3 1–1 1–4 1–2
Germany  3–0 3–0 4–1 3–0 4–4
Kazakhstan  0–0 2–1 0–3 1–2 0–1
Republic of Ireland  2–2 3–0 1–6 3–1 1–2
Sweden  2–1 2–0 3–5 2–0 0–0

Group D

Team
Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 Netherlands 10 9 1 0 34 5 +2928
 Romania 10 6 1 3 19 12 +719
 Hungary 10 5 2 3 21 20 +117
 Turkey 10 5 1 4 16 9 +716
 Estonia 10 2 1 7 6 20 147
 Andorra 10 0 0 10 0 30 300
  Andorra Estonia Hungary Netherlands Romania Turkey
Andorra  0–1 0–5 0–2 0–4 0–2
Estonia  2–0 0–1 2–2 0–2 0–2
Hungary  2–0 5–1 1–4 2–2 3–1
Netherlands  3–0 3–0 8–1 4–0 2–0
Romania  4–0 2–0 3–0 1–4 0–2
Turkey  5–0 3–0 1–1 0–2 0–1

Group E

Team
Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
  Switzerland 10 7 3 0 17 6 +1124
 Iceland 10 5 2 3 17 15 +217
 Slovenia 10 5 0 5 14 11 +315
 Norway 10 3 3 4 10 13 312
 Albania 10 3 2 5 9 11 211
 Cyprus 10 1 2 7 4 15 115
  Albania Cyprus Iceland Norway Slovenia Switzerland
Albania  3–1 1–2 1–1 1–0 1–2
Cyprus  0–0 1–0 1–3 0–2 0–0
Iceland  2–1 2–0 2–0 2–4 0–2
Norway  0–1 2–0 1–1 2–1 0–2
Slovenia  1–0 2–1 1–2 3–0 0–2
Switzerland   2–0 1–0 4–4 1–1 1–0

Group F

Team
Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 Russia 10 7 1 2 20 5 +1522
 Portugal 10 6 3 1 20 9 +1121
 Israel 10 3 5 2 19 14 +514
 Azerbaijan 10 1 6 3 7 11 49
 Northern Ireland 10 1 4 5 9 17 87
 Luxembourg 10 1 3 6 7 26 196
  Azerbaijan Israel Luxembourg Northern Ireland Portugal Russia
Azerbaijan  1–1 1–1 2–0 0–2 1–1
Israel  1–1 3–0 1–1 3–3 0–4
Luxembourg  0–0 0–6 3–2 1–2 0–4
Northern Ireland  1–1 0–2 1–1 2–4 1–0
Portugal  3–0 1–1 3–0 1–1 1–0
Russia  1–0 3–1 4–1 2–0 1–0

Group G

Team
Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 Bosnia and Herzegovina 10 8 1 1 30 6 +2425
 Greece 10 8 1 1 12 4 +825
 Slovakia 10 3 4 3 11 10 +113
 Lithuania 10 3 2 5 9 11 211
 Latvia 10 2 2 6 10 20 108
 Liechtenstein 10 0 2 8 4 25 212
  Bosnia and Herzegovina Greece Latvia Liechtenstein Lithuania Slovakia
Bosnia and Herzegovina  3–1 4–1 4–1 3–0 0–1
Greece  0–0 1–0 2–0 2–0 1–0
Latvia  0–5 1–2 2–0 2–1 2–2
Liechtenstein  1–8 0–1 1–1 0–2 1–1
Lithuania  0–1 0–1 2–0 2–0 1–1
Slovakia  1–2 0–1 2–1 2–0 1–1

Group H

Team
Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 England 10 6 4 0 31 4 +2722
 Ukraine 10 6 3 1 28 4 +2421
 Montenegro 10 4 3 3 18 17 +115
 Poland 10 3 4 3 18 12 +613
 Moldova 10 3 2 5 12 17 511
 San Marino 10 0 0 10 1 54 530
  England Moldova Montenegro Poland San Marino Ukraine
England  4–0 4–1 2–0 5–0 1–1
Moldova  0–5 0–1 1–1 3–0 0–0
Montenegro  1–1 2–5 2–2 3–0 0–4
Poland  1–1 2–0 1–1 5–0 1–3
San Marino  0–8 0–2 0–6 1–5 0–8
Ukraine  0–0 2–1 0–1 1–0 9–0

Group I

Team
Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 Spain 8 6 2 0 14 3 +1120
 France 8 5 2 1 15 6 +917
 Finland 8 2 3 3 5 9 49
 Georgia 8 1 2 5 3 10 75
 Belarus 8 1 1 6 7 16 94
  Belarus Finland France Georgia (country) Spain
Belarus  1–1 2–4 2–0 0–4
Finland  1–0 0–1 1–1 0–2
France  3–1 3–0 3–1 0–1
Georgia  1–0 0–1 0–0 0–1
Spain  2–1 1–1 1–1 2–0

Ranking of second-placed teams

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. As a result, eight matches played by each team counted for the purposes of the second-placed table.

The eight best runners-ups determined by the following parameters in this order:

  1. Highest number of points
  2. Goal difference
  3. Highest number of goals scored
Grp Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
G Greece 6|1|1|9|4|+519
I France 5|2|1|15|6|+917
F Portugal 4|3|1|15|8|+715
H Ukraine 4|3|1|11|4|+715
C Sweden 4|2|2|15|13|+214
E Iceland 4|2|2|15|14|+114
D Romania 4|1|3|11|12|−113
A Croatia 3|2|3|9|8|+111
B Denmark 2|4|2|9|11|−210

Second round

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.

Seeding and draw

The second round draw took place at the headquarters of FIFA in Zurich on 21 October 2013.[4] The October 2013 FIFA World Rankings were used to decide which of the teams would be seeded (shown below in brackets).[4]

The following teams participated in the second round:[5][6]

Pot 1 Pot 2

 Portugal (14)
 Greece (15)
 Croatia (18)
 Ukraine (20)

 France (21)
 Sweden (25)
 Romania (29)
 Iceland (46)

Matches

The matches were played on 15 and 19 November 2013.[1][7]

Team 1 Agg. 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

Attendance

Team Highest Lowest Average
Group A 47,369 6,500 26,869
Group B 37,027 3,517 18,573
Group C 72,369 4,300 30,007
Group D 53,329 723 26,686
Group E 30,712 1,600 10,583
Group F 54,212 1,324 23,127
Group G 26,211 1,112 9,150
Group H 86,645 736 31,559
Group I 78,329 12,607 38,985

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.[8] 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
Republic of Ireland Keith Andrews Yellow cardYellow cardRed card UEFA Euro 2012 v Italy Group C v Kazakhstan
Armenia Roman Berezovsky Red card UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying v Republic of Ireland Group B v Malta
Wales James Collins Red card v Belgium Group A v Serbia
Andorra Marc Vales Yellow cardYellow cardRed card v Hungary Group D v Romania
Switzerland Tranquillo Barnetta Yellow cardYellow cardRed card v Slovenia Group E v Albania
Slovakia Viktor Pečovský Red card v Lithuania Group G v Liechtenstein
Lithuania Tadas Labukas Yellow cardYellow cardRed card v Slovakia Group G v Greece
Montenegro Savo Pavićević Red card v Poland Group H v San Marino
Poland Ludovic Obraniak Red card v Montenegro Group H v Moldova
Bulgaria Svetoslav Dyakov Yellow cardYellow cardRed card v Armenia Group B v Denmark
Armenia Gevorg Ghazaryan Red card v Bulgaria Group B v Italy
Armenia Marcos Pizzelli Red card v Bulgaria Group B v Italy
Estonia Enar Jääger Red card v Turkey Group D v Hungary
Iceland Sölvi Ottesen Red card v Cyprus Group E v Albania
England Steven Gerrard Yellow cardYellow cardRed card v Ukraine Group H v San Marino
Finland Alexei Eremenko Yellow cardYellow cardRed card v Georgia Group I v Spain
Bulgaria Ivan Bandalovski Red card v Denmark Group B v Czech Republic
Slovenia Boštjan Cesar Yellow cardYellow cardRed card v Cyprus Group E v Albania
Liechtenstein Daniel Kaufmann Yellow cardYellow cardRed card v Latvia Group G v Latvia
Serbia Nenad Tomović Red card v Macedonia Group A v Croatia
Italy Pablo Osvaldo Red card v Denmark Group B v Malta
Albania Andi Lila Yellow cardYellow cardRed card v Norway Group E v Norway
Spain Gerard Piqué Red card 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup v Brazil Group I v Finland
Montenegro Savo Pavicevic Yellow cardYellow cardRed card v Ukraine Group H v Poland
Montenegro Vladimir Volkov Yellow cardYellow cardRed card v Ukraine Group H v Poland
Ukraine Roman Zozulia Red card v Montenegro Group H v San Marino
Italy Mario Balotelli Yellow cardYellow cardRed card v Czech Republic Group B v Bulgaria
Sweden Andreas Granqvist Red card v Faroe Islands Group C v Republic of Ireland
Croatia Josip Šimunić Red card v Serbia Group A v Belgium
Group A v Scotland

Goalscorers

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

11 goals
10 goals
8 goals

7 goals
6 goals

5 goals

4 goals

3 goals

2 goals

1 goal

1 own goal

References

  1. 1 2 3 "2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil – Preliminary Competition Format and Draw Procedures –" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 29 July 2011. Retrieved 23 January 2012.
  2. "FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking – July 2011 (UEFA)". FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 27 July 2011. Retrieved 23 January 2012.
  3. "Regulations 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil" (PDF). FIFA. p. 27. Retrieved 8 June 2013.
  4. 1 2 "Dates set for African and European qualifying draws". FIFA. 2013-06-15.
  5. "World Cup play-off seeds confirmed". uefa.com. 17 October 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2013.
  6. "European play-off draw procedures explained". FIFA.com. 17 October 2013.
  7. "European hopefuls learn play-off fate". FIFA.com. 21 October 2013.
  8. "Regulations of the UEFA European Football Championship 2010–12" (PDF). UEFA. p. 27. Retrieved 18 June 2012.

External links

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