AFRICA
Definitely there: None.
Still to be decided: The final round of qualification in Africa sees the 10 group winners meet in five two-legged play-off ties, with the victors qualifying for Brazil 2014.
The first legs saw Algeria beaten 3-2 in Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast beat Senegal 3-1, Ethiopia lose 2-1 at home to Nigeria, Tunisia and Cameroon play out a goalless draw, and Ghana thrash Egypt 6-1.
The second legs take place between 16 and 19 November. Read more after the cut.
ASIA
Definitely there: Australia, Iran, Japan, South Korea.
Still to be decided: Jordan have a mountain to climb to reach their first World Cup.
The Middle East nation won the right to a two-legged tie against Uruguay, the fifth-placed team from South American qualifying, by beating Uzbekistan in September.
The sides met in Amman in Wednesday's first leg, where Uruguay took a 5-0 lead ahead of the second leg in Montevideo on 20 November.
EUROPE
Definitely there: Belgium, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Switzerland, England, Spain, Russia, Bosnia-Hercegovina.
Still to be decided: Four teams will progress from the play-offs after finishing as runners-up in the group stages, with the first legs taking place on 15 November.
In Friday's first legs, Iceland host Croatia in Reykjavik, with Tottenham midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson hoping to help his nation - which at 328,000 has a population less than that of Cardiff or Coventry - reach their first major finals. Croatia are looking to reach their fourth finals in five attempts since independence, having missed out on the tournament in South Africa three years ago.
In Lisbon, Portugal face Sweden with both sides' key players in fine form.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored four times during the group stage and has been superb for Real Madrid this season, scoring his 23rd hat-trick for the club in a 5-1 win over Real Sociedad last weekend.
Sweden captain Zlatan Ibrahimovic also hit a treble at the weekend, firing all three goals in a 3-1 win for Paris St-Germain over Nice.
Ukraine, who finished as runners-up behind England in Group H, take on France in Kiev. Second in Group I behind Spain, 1998 champions France have play-off pedigree, having beaten the Republic of Ireland to qualify for the 2010 World Cup thanks to Thierry Henry's controversial handball in Paris.
And Greece host Romania in Piraeus, with the Romanians hoping to reach the finals for the first time since 1998 - when they beat Glenn Hoddle's England in the group stages.
The second legs all take place on Tuesday 19 November.
North & Central America and Caribbean
Definitely there: Costa Rica, United States, Honduras.
Still to be decided: Mexico, who finished fourth in qualifying, went a long way towards booking their place in Rio when they thrashed Oceania winners New Zealand 5-1 in the first leg of a two-legged intercontinental play-off on Wednesday.
Mexico, who have qualified for every World Cup bar one since 1982 - they failed to reach the 1990 finals in Italy - were close to missing out on a play-off place when they lost 2-1 to Costa Rica, scraping through thanks to a late USA winner that denied Panama fourth place.
The second leg against New Zealand takes place in Wellington on Wednesday, 20 November.
OCEANIA
Definitely there: None.
Still to be decided: New Zealand easily won the final group stage to qualify for a play-off match against Mexico, the fourth-placed side from North & Central America and the Caribbean. 1st leg result: Mexico 5 New Zealand 1
SOUTH AMERICA
Definitely there: Argentina, Brazil (hosts), Colombia, Ecuador, Chile.
Still to be decided: Uruguay hold a huge 5-0 lead over Jordan from the Asia qualifying group in their two-legged play-off.
Uruguay ended up level on points with Ecuador but finished fifth in the group because of an inferior goal difference.
They reached the semi-finals of the last World Cup in South Africa, where Arjen Robben's goal gave the Netherlands a 3-2 win.
No comments:
Post a Comment