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)

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.

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

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

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
TeamRank
 Spain1
 Netherlands2
 Germany3
 England6
 Portugal7
 Italy8
 Croatia9
 Norway12
 Greece13
Pot B
TeamRank
 France16
 Montenegro17
 Russia18
 Sweden19
 Denmark21
 Slovenia22
 Turkey24
 Serbia27
 Slovakia29
Pot C
TeamRank
  Switzerland30
 Israel32
 Republic of Ireland33
 Belgium37
 Czech Republic38
 Bosnia and Herzegovina41
 Belarus42
 Ukraine45
 Hungary47
Pot D
TeamRank
 Bulgaria48
 Romania53
 Georgia57
 Lithuania58
 Albania59
 Scotland61
 Northern Ireland62
 Austria66
 Poland69
Pot E
TeamRank
 Armenia70
 Finland75
 Estonia79
 Cyprus80
 Latvia84
 Moldova85
 Macedonia96
 Azerbaijan111
 Faroe Islands112
Pot F
TeamRank
 Wales112
 Liechtenstein118
 Iceland121
 Kazakhstan126
 Luxembourg128
 Malta173
 Andorra203
 San Marino203

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. 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

  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

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

Group A

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 —

Group B

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:

Group C

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:

Group D

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:

Group E

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:

Group F

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:

Group G

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:

Group H

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:

Group I

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:

Second round

Group runners-up

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:

Matches

The second round draw took place at the headquarters of FIFA in Zurich on 21 October 2013.[3] The October 2013 FIFA World Rankings were used to decide which of the teams would be seeded (shown below in brackets).[3]

Pot 1 (seeded)
TeamPos
 Portugal14
 Greece15
 Croatia18
 Ukraine20
Pot 2 (unseeded)
TeamPos
 France21
 Sweden25
 Romania29
 Iceland46

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][4] 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

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

Team Qualified as Qualified on Previous appearances in FIFA World Cup1
 BelgiumGroup A winners11 October 201311 (1930, 1934, 1938, 1954, 1970, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002)
 ItalyGroup B winners10 September 201317 (1934, 1938, 1950, 1954, 1962, 1966, 1970, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010)
 GermanyGroup C winners11 October 201317 (1934, 1938, 19543, 19583, 19623, 19663, 19703, 19743, 19783, 19823, 19863, 19903, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010)
 NetherlandsGroup D winners10 September 20139 (1934, 1938, 1974, 1978, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2006, 2010)
  SwitzerlandGroup E winners11 October 20139 (1934, 1938, 1950, 1954, 1962, 1966, 1994, 2006, 2010)
 RussiaGroup F winners15 October 20139 (19582, 19622, 19662, 19702, 19822, 19862, 19902, 1994, 2002)
 Bosnia and HerzegovinaGroup G winners15 October 20130 (debut)
 EnglandGroup H winners15 October 201313 (1950, 1954, 1958, 1962, 1966, 1970, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010)
 SpainGroup I winners15 October 201313 (1934, 1950, 1962, 1966, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010)
 GreeceSecond round (play-off) winners19 November 20132 (1994, 2010)
 CroatiaSecond round (play-off) winners19 November 20133 (1998, 2002, 2006)
 PortugalSecond round (play-off) winners19 November 20135 (1966, 1986, 2002, 2006, 2010)
 FranceSecond round (play-off) winners19 November 201313 (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

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.[5] 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 card Yellow-red 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 card Yellow-red card v Hungary Group D v Romania
Switzerland Tranquillo Barnetta Yellow card Yellow-red card v Slovenia Group E v Albania
Slovakia Viktor Pečovský Red card v Lithuania Group G v Liechtenstein
Lithuania Tadas Labukas Yellow card Yellow-red 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 card Yellow-red 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 card Yellow-red card v Ukraine Group H v San Marino
Finland Alexei Eremenko Yellow card Yellow-red card v Georgia Group I v Spain
Bulgaria Ivan Bandalovski Red card v Denmark Group B v Czech Republic
Slovenia Boštjan Cesar Yellow card Yellow-red card v Cyprus Group E v Albania
Liechtenstein Daniel Kaufmann Yellow card Yellow-red 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 card Yellow-red 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 card Yellow-red card v Ukraine Group H v Poland
Montenegro Vladimir Volkov Yellow card Yellow-red card v Ukraine Group H v Poland
Ukraine Roman Zozulya Red card v Montenegro Group H v San Marino
Italy Mario Balotelli Yellow card Yellow-red 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

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 "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. 1 2 "Dates set for African and European qualifying draws". FIFA. 15 June 2013. Archived from the original on 18 June 2013.
  4. ↑ "European hopefuls learn play-off fate". FIFA. 21 October 2013. Archived from the original on 21 October 2013.
  5. ↑ "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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