The 2014 FIFA World Cup Preliminary Draw results in full

The 2014 World Cup Preliminary Draw took place at the Marina da Gloria in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on Saturday 30 July 2011.



Brazil's all time World Cup top scorer with 15 goals, Ronaldo is seen taking part in the draw





This is the road to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. 5 times World Cup champion, Brazil will host the 20th World Cup soccer tournament from June 12 to July 13 in 2014.

FIFA.com rounds up the results from the Preliminary Draw which took place at the Marina da Gloria in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on Saturday 30 July 2011.



There are no such things as automatic qualifications for the host, Brazil and World Cup defending champion, Spain.

Instead Brazil (the 5 times champion in 1958, 1962, 1970, 1994 and 2002) has to slug it out with 8 other South American countries including arch rival and number 1 nemesis, Argentina (the 1978 and 1986 champion) and Uruguay (the 2 times Champion, 1930 and 1950 World Cup winners and 15 times Copa America Champion including the 2011 edition).

Spain, the 2010 World Cup Champion is pitted in the same group as France, the 1998 champion in the qualification round.


Intercontinental play-offs
Asia – South America
North, Central America and the Caribbean - Oceania


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: Côte 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

From what i can see in the African Zone Draw, minnows teams like Comoros, Mauritius, Uganda, Eritrea, Rwanda, Gabon, Djibouti, Burundi, Lesotho, Madagascar, Ethiopia and what more the war-ravaged Somalia have little or no chance at all to advance beyond the qualifications stage. However no African nation has ever win the World Cup.


Instead traditional strong teams like Cameroon (who reached the World Cup Quarter Final in 1990) , Senegal (who reached the Quarter Final in 2002), Ghana (who reached the quaterfinal in 2010), Algeria (who up-setted West Germany in 1982), Egypt (the African Champion), Cote d'Ivoire (who boasts world class players such as Didier Drogba and Salomon Kalou), Nigeria (who has many immensely talented world class players such as Nwanko Kanu, Victor Ipkeba, Rasheed Yekini and Daniel Amokachi) and South Africa can all qualify to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.





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

In the Asian Zone qualifications stage, traditional power-house teams like Australia, Japan, Korea Republic (who qualified in every World Cup final since 1986), North Korea (who had a disastrous World Cup in 2010), Saudi Arabia, Iran and Qatar (the 2022 World Cup host) can all qualify to the World Cup final in Brazil. No Asian team has ever win the World Cup.

The best achievement by an Asian team was in the 2002 World Cup in Korea/Japan where South Korea progressed all the way into the semi final before being beaten 0-1 by Germany, the eventual runners-up. However things might change for Asian teams this time as anything can happen in football. Look at the Japanese female soccer team who created history by becoming the first ever Asian country to win the FIFA Women World Cup in Germany in July 2011.




North, Central America and the Caribbean Zone Draw (Round Two)
Group A: El Salvador, Surinam, Cayman Islands, Dominican Republic
Group B: Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Barbados, Bermuda
Group C: Panama, Dominica, Nicaragua, Bahamas
Group D: Canada, St. Kitts and Nevis, Puerto Rico, St Lucia
Group E: Grenada, Guatemala, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize
Group F: Haiti, Antigua and Barbuda, Curacao, US Virgin Islands

The North, Central America and Caribbean Zone always produce zero teams that can advance all the way to the final round of the World Cup. Canada made it to the 1986 World Cup in Mexico. The rest of the teams in this zone can kiss good bye to their World Cup ambitions, no way can they progress beyond this round.





North, Central America and the Caribbean 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

This group above are traditionally dominated by none other than USA and Mexico who have qualified to the World Cup, on many occassions. Others would find it very hard to progress beyond this round.





Oceanian Zone Draw
Group A: Vanuatu, New Caledonia, American Samoa/Cook Islands/Samoa or Tonga, Tahiti
Group B: Fiji, New Zealand, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea

Only New Zealand can progress from this Oceanian Zone Draw. However in rugby, no teams in the world can beat the likes of New Zealand Fiji, Samoa and Tonga who are all rugby dominance nations. For the record New Zealand qualified to the 1982 World Cup in Spain and the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.





European Zone Draw
Group A: Croatia, Serbia, Belgium, Scotland, Macedonia, Wales
Group B: Italy, Denmark, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Armenia, Malta.
Group C: Germany, 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

The European Zone Draw is very interesting to watch. We have previous World Champions slugging it out among themselves including Italy (the 4 times champion in 1934, 1938, 1982 and 2006), Germany (the 3 times winner in 1954, 1974, 1990), Netherlands (1974, 1978 and 2010 runners-up), England the 1966 champion, France the 1998 champion and 2010 and current champion, Spain.

Look at Group I, 2 World Champions, Spain and France are in the same group.

Let's see what happens then. Thanks for reading. Best Regards and Cheers.