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Pot allocations for the Preliminary Draw



The pot allocations for the Preliminary Draw for the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™ were announced today at a media conference involving FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter and FIFA Secretary-General Jerome Valcke at the Marina da Gloria, Rio de Janeiro, the location for Saturday’s event.

The pot allocations are based on July’s FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking which was announced today at 10.00 CET (N.B. The March Ranking positions were used for the CONCACAF allocations). However, the Asian Zone allocations will only be known following Thursday’s qualifying matches.

The Preliminary Draw begins at 15.00 local time (20.00 CET) on Saturday, with the FIFA Secretary-General acting as the Master of Ceremonies.

During the media conference the dates for the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup and the 2014 FIFA World Cup were announced.

The 2013 event will take place between 15 and 30 June, while the FIFA World Cup will be held from 12 June to 13 July 2014.


Pot Allocations:
http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/tour...llocations.pdf

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Modern qualifiers add to dramatic history



The preliminary draw for the FIFA World Cup™ has produced some truly unforgettable fixtures over the years. The hand of fate has no favourites and cares little for hierarchies, meaning that teams are often faced with seemingly insurmountable obstacles on the road to the finals. It is this unpredictability that has helped create so many classic matches.

In the second of a two-part series, FIFA.com looks back at some of the most memorable matches from past qualifying campaigns, including times when fancied teams realised that their journey to the finals might not be as straightforward as they had hoped.

One step from changing history
Few could forget the great Dutch side of Germany 1974, but did you know that they very nearly failed to qualify for the tournament at all? The Netherlands finished level with Belgium at the top of their qualifying group, with only goal difference putting them through to the finals. In the same campaign, England’s hopes of qualifying were shattered by a Poland side that featured the talents of Grzegorz Lato and Wadyslaw Zmuda.

Elsewhere, Mexico lost 4-0 to Trinidad and Tobago in one of the biggest upsets in FIFA World Cup qualifying history. In the end, though, it was Haiti who qualified for the 1974 finals, beating the Soca Warriors 2-1 in Port-au-Prince along the way.

The preliminary draw for Argentina 1978 produced another heavyweight clash, this time with Italy and England sharing the same qualifying group. The campaign was once again to end in tears for the Three Lions, whose failure to qualify was made all the more painful by the fact that only goal difference denied them a place at the finals. There was no such disappointment for Spain, however, as they finally overcame their bogey team, Yugoslavia, to secure a trip to Argentina.

With the number of teams increased to 24 for the Spain 1982 finals, the preliminaries were more competitive than ever before. Two-time runners-up the Netherlands were handed a group that included near rivals Belgium and a talented French side, and the sands of time caught up with the Dutch, as they failed to qualify for the main event. In the North, Central America and Caribbean Zone, Mexico were once again left to reflect on what might have been. The competition was held in Honduras, where a Mexican side featuring Hugo Sanchez finished behind the hosts and El Salvador to miss out on a finals berth.

The Mexico 1986 qualifying competition featured a match between Scotland and Wales that remains one of the most memorable encounters in FIFA World Cup qualifying history. The match ended in a draw, which was enough to secure Scotland a play-off against Australia, but ended in tragedy with the death of legendary manager Jock Stein.

The road to Italy 1990 proved to be a rocky one for France. The Mexico 1986 semi-finalists never recovered from a poor start and finished the qualifying campaign behind Yugoslavia and Scotland. Four years later, in another unforgettable encounter, France conceded a last-minute goal to lose 2-1 at home to Bulgaria when a draw would have been enough to see them through to USA 1994.

Revenge and joy
It was also during the USA 1994 preliminaries that Japan suffered one of the biggest blows in their football history, conceding a last-minute goal against Iran to send Korea Republic to the finals. The Samurai Blue exacted revenge four years later, however, with a now-legendary 2-0 win against their arch rivals in Seoul. In South America, Bolivia achieved an historic qualification for USA 1994 by beating Brazil 2-0, with both goals coming in the last two minutes.

The biggest story in qualifying for Korea/Japan 2002 was the Netherlands’ failure to reach the finals, losing out as they did to Luis Figo’s Portugal and Roy Keane’s Republic of Ireland. Elsewhere, England inflicted a 5-1 defeat on Germany in Munich that ultimately forced their old rivals into the play-offs. In Africa, Senegal sprung a major surprise by qualifying from a group that featured some of the continent’s most feared opponents.

Germany 2006’s preliminary competition produced an enthralling four-way tussle between France, Switzerland, Israel and Republic of Ireland. The group was decided almost right at the very end, with France eventually clinching top spot and with it a place at the finals. However, the real drama was to be found in the African section. With the exception of Tunisia, all of the teams that qualified for Korea/Japan 2002 failed to reach the showpiece event in Germany.

Interestingly, the qualifying campaign for South Africa 2010 created the fewest surprises, although it is worth noting England’s concern at being drawn alongside Croatia – the side that denied them a place at UEFA EURO 2008. As it turned out, their fears were groundless and Fabio Capello’s men qualified with relative ease.

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INTERCONTINENTAL PLAY-OFF DRAW

Asia v South America
CONCACAF v Oceania

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AFRICAN ZONE DRAW

Group A: South Africa, Botswana, Central African Republic, Somalia or Ethiopia
Group B: Tunisia, Cape Verde Islands, Sierra Leone, Equatorial Guinea or Madagascar
Group C: Cote d'Ivoire, Morocco, Gambia, Chad or Tanzania
Group D: Ghana, Zambia, Sudan, Lesotho or Burundi
Group E: Burkina Faso, Gabon, Niger, Sao Tome e Principe or Congo
Group F: Nigeria, Malawi, Seychelles or Kenya, Djibouti or Namibia
Group G: Egypt, Guinea, Zimbabwe, Comoros or Mozambique
Group H: Algeria, Mali, Benin, Eritrea or Rwanda
Group I: Cameroon, Libya, Guinea-Bissau or Togo, Swaziland or Congo DR
Group J: Senegal, Uganda, Angola, Mauritius or Liberia

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ASIAN ZONE DRAW

Group A: China, Jordan, Iraq, Singapore
Group B: Korea Republic, Kuwait, UAE, Lebanon
Group C: Japan, Uzbekistan, Syria, Korea DPR
Group D: Australia, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Thailand
Group E: Iran, Qatar, Bahrain, Indonesia

Asia have 4.5 places in the finals, meaning the group winners and runners-up qualify, with the third-placed teams playing off to go to the intercontinental play-off.

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CONCACAF Zone Draw (round three)
Group A: USA, Jamaica, Winner of R2 Grp E, Winner of R2 Grp F
Group B: Mexico, Costa Rica, Winner of R2 Grp A, Winner of R2 Grp B
Group C: Honduras, Cuba, Winner of R2 Grp D, Winner of R2 Grp C

Remember, the top two teams in each group go through to a league, with the top three in that league qualifying and the fourth-placed team going into the Intercontinental Play-Off.


CONCACAF Zone Draw (round two)
Group A: El Salvador, Surinam, Cayman Islands, Dominican Republic
Group B: Trinidad & Tobago, Guyana, Barbados, Bermuda
Group C: Panama, Dominica, Nicaragua, Bahamas
Group D: Canada, St. Kitts & Nevis, Puerto Rico, St Lucia
Group E: Grenada, Guatemala, St Vincent/ Grenadines, Belize
Group F: Haiti, Antigua and Barbuda, Curacao, US Virgin Island

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Group A: Croatia, Serbia, Belgium, Scotland, Macedonia, Wales

Group B: Italy, Denmark, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Armenia, Malta.

Group C: Germamy, Sweden, Republic of Ireland, Austria, Faroe Islands, Kazakhstan

Group D: Netherlands, Turkey, Hungary, Romania, Estonia, Andorra

Group E: Norway, Slovenia, Switzerland, Albania, Cyprus, Iceland

Group F: Portugal, Russia, Israel, Northern Ireland, Azerbaijan, Luxembourg

Group G: Greece, Slovakia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Lithuania, Latvia, Lichtenstein

Group H: England , Montenegro, Ukraine, Poland, Moldova, San Marino

Group I: Spain, France, Belarus, Georgia, Finland

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13 teams will qualify for the 2014 World Cup . The nine group winners will qualify directly to the 2014 FIFA World Cup. The 8 best group runners-up will contest the second round play-offs. The 8 teams will be paired into 4 home-and-away series. The 4 winners will qualify for the World Cup.

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South America have 4.5 places for the finals with hosts Brazil qualifying automatically. The nine other countries play in one league with the top four qualifying and the fifth going to the intercontinental play-off

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The qualifiers, which got under way on 15 June , will be concluded by 19 November 2013, by the way, with the complete match schedule announced in October. The 2014 World Cup will be played 12 June-13 July.

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Ronaldinho stars in Flamengo win

Flamengo went second in the Campeonato Brasileiro with a 2-0 win over Gremio.

Thiago Neves opened the scoring in the 27th minute and Ronaldinho continued his good form by bagging the second in the 72nd minute, lifting his side above Sao Paulo