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) Robin van Persie (11 goals)
UEFA European Qualifiers
FIFA World Cup

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.[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. 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
  The eight best runners-up among all nine groups advanced to the second round (play-offs)
  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
Main article: 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA 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 —
Source:

Group B
Main article: 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA 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
Main article: 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA 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
Main article: 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA 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
Main article: 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA 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
Main article: 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA 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
Main article: 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA 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
Main article: 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA 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
Main article: 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA 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
Main article: 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA 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.[4] The October 2013 FIFA World Rankings were used to decide which of the teams would be seeded (shown below in brackets).[4]

Pot 1 Pot 2

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

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

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

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.[6] 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

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. "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. "Dates set for African and European qualifying draws". FIFA. 15 June 2013.
  5. "European hopefuls learn play-off fate". FIFA.com. 21 October 2013.
  6. "Regulations of the UEFA European Football Championship 2010–12" (PDF). UEFA. p. 27. Retrieved 18 June 2012.
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