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2014 FIFA World Cup qualification

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The 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations. The 2014 FIFA World Cup featured 32 teams, with one place reserved for the host nation, Brazil. The remaining 31 places were determined by a qualification process, in which the other 207 teams, from the six FIFA confederations, competed. Most of the successful teams were determined within these confederations, with a limited number of inter-confederation play-offs occurring at the end of the process.

2014 FIFA World Cup qualification
Tournament details
Dates15 June 2011 – 20 November 2013
Teams203 (from 6 confederations)
Tournament statistics
Matches played820
Goals scored2,344 (2.86 per match)
Attendance17,854,160 (21,773 per match)
Top scorer(s)Belize Deon McCaulay
Netherlands Robin van Persie
Uruguay Luis Suárez
(11 goals each)
← 2010
2018 →

Bhutan, Brunei, Guam and Mauritania did not enter, and South Sudan joined FIFA after the qualification process started and therefore could not take part. The qualification process consisted of 820 matches, reduced from 828 after the late withdrawals of the Bahamas and Mauritius.[1][2][3][4]

The first qualification match, between Montserrat and Belize, was played on 15 June 2011, and the Belizean striker Deon McCaulay scored the first goal in qualification. Qualification ended on 20 November 2013, when Uruguay eliminated Jordan to become the final qualifier for the World Cup. Twenty-three of FIFA's 24 top-ranked countries eventually qualified.[5][6]

Qualified teams

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  Country qualified for World Cup
  Country failed to qualify
  Country did not enter World Cup
  Country not a FIFA member
Team Method of
qualification 		Date of
qualification 		Finals
appearance 		Consecutive
appearances 		Previous best
performance 		FIFA
Ranking
[nb 1]
  Brazil Host 30 October 2007 20th 20 Winners (1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, 2002) 11
  Japan AFC fourth round Group B winners 4 June 2013 5th 5 Round of 16 (2002, 2010) 44
  Australia AFC fourth round Group B runners-up 18 June 2013 4th 3 Round of 16 (2006) 57
  Iran AFC fourth round Group A winners 18 June 2013 4th 1 (last: 2006) Group stage (1978, 1998, 2006) 49
  South Korea AFC fourth round Group A runners-up 18 June 2013 9th 8 Fourth place (2002) 56
  Netherlands UEFA Group D winners 10 September 2013 10th 3 Runners-up (1974, 1978, 2010) 8
  Italy UEFA Group B winners 10 September 2013 18th 14 Winners (1934, 1938, 1982, 2006) 9
  Costa Rica CONCACAF fourth round runners-up 10 September 2013 4th 1 (last: 2006) Round of 16 (1990) 31
  United States CONCACAF fourth round winners 10 September 2013 10th 7 Third place (1930) 13
  Argentina CONMEBOL winners 10 September 2013 16th 11 Winners (1978, 1986) 3
  Belgium UEFA Group A winners 11 October 2013 12th 1 (last: 2002) Fourth place (1986) 5
   Switzerland UEFA Group E winners 11 October 2013 10th 3 Quarter-finals (1934, 1938, 1954) 7
  Germany UEFA Group C winners 11 October 2013 18th 16 Winners (1954, 1974, 1990) 2
  Colombia CONMEBOL runners-up 11 October 2013 5th 1 (last: 1998) Round of 16 (1990) 4
  Bosnia and Herzegovina UEFA Group G winners 15 October 2013 1st 1 — 16
  Russia UEFA Group F winners 15 October 2013 10th[nb 2] 1 (last: 2002) Fourth place (1966)[nb 3] 19
  England UEFA Group H Winners 15 October 2013 14th 5 Winners (1966) 10
  Spain UEFA Group I Winners 15 October 2013 14th 10 Winners (2010) 1
  Chile CONMEBOL third place 15 October 2013 9th 2 Third place (1962) 12
  Ecuador CONMEBOL fourth place 15 October 2013 3rd 1 (last: 2006) Round of 16 (2006) 22
  Honduras CONCACAF fourth round third place 15 October 2013 3rd 2 Group stage (1982, 2010) 34
  Nigeria CAF third round winners 16 November 2013 5th 2 Round of 16 (1994, 1998) 33
  Ivory Coast CAF third round winners 16 November 2013 3rd 3 Group stage (2006, 2010) 17
  Cameroon CAF third round winners 17 November 2013 7th 2 Quarter-finals (1990) 59
  Ghana CAF third round winners 19 November 2013 3rd 3 Quarter-finals (2010) 23
  Algeria CAF third round winners 19 November 2013 4th 2 Group stage (1982, 1986, 2010) 32
  Greece UEFA play-off winners 19 November 2013 3rd 2 Group stage (1994, 2010) 15
  Croatia UEFA play-off winners 19 November 2013 4th 1 (last: 2006) Third place (1998) 18
  Portugal UEFA play-off winners 19 November 2013 6th 4 Third place (1966) 14
  France UEFA play-off winners 19 November 2013 14th 5 Winners (1998) 21
  Mexico CONCACAF v OFC play-off winners 20 November 2013 15th 6 Quarter-finals (1970, 1986) 24
  Uruguay AFC v CONMEBOL play-off winners 20 November 2013 12th 2 Winners (1930, 1950) 6

Qualification process

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Marina da Glória in Rio de Janeiro hosted the qualification draw

The FIFA Executive Committee decided to approve the change of date for the preliminary draw of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, which was held six months earlier than in the past, to allow the confederations to begin their qualifying competitions in good time. The draw was held on 30 July 2011 at the Marina da Glória in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The distribution by confederation for the 2014 FIFA World Cup is:[7]

  • AFC (Asia): 4 or 5 places
  • CAF (Africa): 5 places
  • CONCACAF (North, Central American and Caribbean): 3 or 4 places
  • CONMEBOL (South America): 4 or 5 places (+ Brazil qualified automatically as host nation for a total of 5 or 6 places)
  • OFC (Oceania): 0 or 1 place(s)
  • UEFA (Europe): 13 places

UEFA and CAF have a guaranteed number of places, whereas the number of qualifiers from other confederations is dependent on play-offs between AFC's fifth-placed team and CONMEBOL's fifth-placed team, and between CONCACAF's fourth-placed team and OFC's first-placed team. A draw determined the pairings between the four teams involved.

Summary of qualification

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Confederation Available slots in finals Teams started Teams eliminated Teams qualified Qualifying start date Qualifying end date
AFC 4 or 5 43 39 4 29 June 2011 20 November 2013
CAF 5 52 47 5 11 November 2011 19 November 2013
CONCACAF 3 or 4 35 31 4 15 June 2011 20 November 2013
CONMEBOL 4+1 or 5+1 9+1 4 5+1 7 October 2011 20 November 2013
OFC 0 or 1 11 11 0 22 November 2011 20 November 2013
UEFA 13 53 40 13 7 September 2012 19 November 2013
Total 31+1 203+1 172 31+1 15 June 2011 20 November 2013

Tiebreakers

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For FIFA World Cup qualifying stages using a league format, the method used for separating teams level on points was the same for all confederations.[nb 4] If teams were even on points at the end of group play, the tied teams were ranked by:

  1. Goal difference in all group matches
  2. Greater number of goals scored in all group matches
  3. Greater number of points obtained in matches between the tied teams
  4. Goal difference in matches between the tied teams
  5. Greater number of goals scored in matches between the tied teams
  6. Greater number of away goals scored in matches between the tied teams if only two teams were tied

If teams were still equal after applying all listed tiebreakers, then a single play-off at a neutral venue was played. If scores were level after ninety minutes in the play-off, then two fifteen-minute periods of extra time and, if necessary, a penalty shoot-out would determine the winners.

For FIFA World Cup qualifying stages using a home-and-away knockout format, the team that had the higher aggregate score over the two legs progressed to the next round. In the event that aggregate scores finished level, the away goals rule was applied (i.e. the team that scored more goals away from home over the two legs progressed). If away goals were also equal, then thirty minutes of extra time were played, divided into two fifteen-minutes halves. The away goals rule was again applied after extra time (i.e. if there were goals scored during extra time and the aggregate score was still level, the visiting team qualified by virtue of more away goals scored). If no goals were scored during extra time, the tie was decided via a penalty shoot-out.

Confederation qualification

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AFC

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Main article: 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC)

Qualification began with two sets of two-leg knockout qualification rounds – the first held on 29 June and 2 July and 3 July 2011 and the second on 23 and 28 July – reducing the number of teams in the main draw to 20. The draw for the first two rounds of qualifiers was held in Kuala Lumpur on 30 March 2011.

As in the 2010 format, the third stage consisted of 5 groups of 4 teams (with matches held between September 2011 and February 2012) with the top 2 in each group advancing to 2 groups of 5 that played a further group stage during 2012. The top two teams in each group qualified for the 2014 World Cup directly, while the two third-placed teams engaged in a play-off tie for a chance to qualify via a further inter-confederation qualifying tie against a team from CONMEBOL.

The qualification process began with 43 national teams (out of 46 AFC members; Bhutan, Brunei and Guam did not enter) vying for four and a half spots. 4 nations have qualified: Japan, Australia, Iran and Korea Republic. Jordan beat Uzbekistan in round 5 and played Uruguay, the fifth-placed team from CONMEBOL, for the right to qualify, where they were eliminated.

Final positions (fourth round)

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Main article: 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC fourth round

Group A
Team
 Pld Pts
  Iran 8 16
  South Korea 8 14
  Uzbekistan 8 14
  Qatar 8 7
  Lebanon 8 5
Source: [9]

Group B
Team
 Pld Pts
  Japan 8 17
  Australia 8 13
  Jordan 8 10
  Oman 8 9
  Iraq 8 5
Source: [9]

Play-off for 5th place (fifth round)

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Main article: 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC fifth round
Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Jordan   2–2 (9–8p)   Uzbekistan 1–1 1–1 (a.e.t.)

CAF

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Main article: 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification (CAF)

52 out of the 53 national associations affiliated to CAF entered the qualifying tournament to determine the continent's five slots for the next World Cup (only Mauritania failed to enter, while South Sudan joined FIFA after the start of qualifying).

Qualification began with a first round of 12 two-legged knockout ties, which were held between 11 and 16 November 2011. The ties involved the 24 lowest-ranked teams according to FIFA world rankings. The 12 winners joined the remaining 28 CAF entrants in the second round, which consisted of 10 groups of four. The winners of each group – held between June 2012 and September 2013 – advanced to a third round of 5 two-legged knockout ties. The five winners of these ties – held in October and November 2013 – advanced to the 2014 FIFA World Cup finals.

Third round

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Main article: 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification – CAF third round
Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Ivory Coast   4–2   Senegal 3–1 1–1
Ethiopia   1–4   Nigeria 1–2 0–2
Tunisia   1–4   Cameroon 0–0 1–4
Ghana   7–3   Egypt 6–1 1–2
Burkina Faso   3–3 (a)   Algeria 3–2 0–1

CONCACAF

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Main article: 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONCACAF)

In May 2010, the CONCACAF Executive Committee announced a possible change in its qualifying format for the 2014 World Cup, which would start with a preliminary knockout stage followed by three group phases. However, these proposals were abandoned. CONCACAF once again used a six-team final stage (known colloquially as "the Hexagonal"). The ten lowest-ranked nations played two-legged ties, with the five winners joining the nations ranked 7–25 in Round 2. There were six groups of four teams, with the six group winners joining the nations ranked 1–6 in Round 3. There were three groups of four teams and the top two teams in each group advanced to Round 4. These six nations formed one group, with the top three teams qualifying and Mexico, the fourth-placed team, advancing to the inter-continental play-off against New Zealand, the top team from the OFC.

A total of 35 national teams began the qualification process vying for three and a half spots. 31 nations were eliminated and the Bahamas withdrew (because their stadium was not completed in time for the competition).[10]

Final positions (fourth round)

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Main article: 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification – CONCACAF fourth round
Pos Team
 Pld Pts
1   United States 10 22
2   Costa Rica 10 18
3   Honduras 10 15
4   Mexico 10 11
5   Panama 10 8
6   Jamaica 10 5
Source: [11]

CONMEBOL

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Main article: 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONMEBOL)

As Brazil had already qualified as host, the remaining nine CONMEBOL teams took part in a double round-robin group, playing each other twice (home and away) using the same schedule as previous qualification tournaments (each team had a bye on the date they would normally be scheduled to play Brazil). The top four teams qualified automatically, whereas Uruguay, the fifth-placed team, proceeded to the inter-confederational play-off against Jordan, the fifth placed team from Asia.

Final positions

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Pos Team
 Pld Pts
1   Argentina 16 32
2   Colombia 16 30
3   Chile 16 28
4   Ecuador 16 25
5   Uruguay 16 25
6   Venezuela 16 20
7   Peru 16 15
8   Bolivia 16 12
9   Paraguay 16 12
Source: FIFA

OFC

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Main article: 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification (OFC)

The four lowest-ranked nations (American Samoa, Cook Islands, Samoa, and Tonga) competed in the first round of qualifying: a single round-robin tournament in Apia, Samoa, from 22 to 26 November 2011.[12] The winners of the group, Samoa, joined the remaining 7 OFC teams in the 2012 OFC Nations Cup, which also doubled as the second qualifying round. The four semi-finalists of the OFC Nations Cup advanced to the third round, which consisted of a double round-robin held on a home-and-away basis between 7 September 2012 and 26 March 2013.

New Zealand, as the winners of the third round, proceeded to the inter-confederation play-off against Mexico, the fourth-placed team from CONCACAF, where they were eliminated by a strong Mexico side who beat them 9–3 over two legs.

Final positions (third round)

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Main article: 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification – OFC third round
Team
 Pld Pts
  New Zealand 6 18
  New Caledonia 6 12
  Tahiti 6 3
  Solomon Islands 6 3
Source: [13]

UEFA

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Main article: 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA)

The European qualification games started in September 2012, after Euro 2012. All 53 national associations affiliated with UEFA took part in the qualification process. In round one, teams competed in eight groups of six teams and a single group of five teams. The nine group winners qualified, while the eight best runners-up – ranked according to all their games except for games against the sixth-placed team in their group – entered into the play-offs for the four remaining spots.

Final positions (first round)

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Main article: 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA) § First round
Group A
Pos Team
 Pld Pts
1   Belgium 10 26
2   Croatia 10 17
3   Serbia 10 14
4   Scotland 10 11
5   Wales 10 10
6   Macedonia 10 7
Source: [14]
Group B
Pos Team
 Pld Pts
1   Italy 10 22
2   Denmark 10 16
3   Czech Republic 10 15
4   Bulgaria 10 13
5   Armenia 10 13
6   Malta 10 3
Source: [15]
Group C
Pos Team
 Pld Pts
1   Germany 10 28
2   Sweden 10 20
3   Austria 10 17
4   Republic of Ireland 10 14
5   Kazakhstan 10 5
6   Faroe Islands 10 1
Source: [16]
Group D
Pos Team
 Pld Pts
1   Netherlands 10 28
2   Romania 10 19
3   Hungary 10 17
4   Turkey 10 16
5   Estonia 10 7
6   Andorra 10 0
Source: [17]
Group E
Pos Team
 Pld Pts
1    Switzerland 10 24
2   Iceland 10 17
3   Slovenia 10 15
4   Norway 10 12
5   Albania 10 11
6   Cyprus 10 5
Source: [18]
Group F
Pos Team
 Pld Pts
1   Russia 10 22
2   Portugal 10 21
3   Israel 10 14
4   Azerbaijan 10 9
5   Northern Ireland 10 7
6   Luxembourg 10 6
Source: [19]
Group G
Pos Team
 Pld Pts
1   Bosnia and Herzegovina 10 25
2   Greece 10 25
3   Slovakia 10 13
4   Lithuania 10 11
5   Latvia 10 8
6   Liechtenstein 10 2
Source: [20]
Group H
Pos Team
 Pld Pts
1   England 10 22
2   Ukraine 10 21
3   Montenegro 10 15
4   Poland 10 13
5   Moldova 10 11
6   San Marino 10 0
Source: [20]
Group I
Pos Team
 Pld Pts
1   Spain 8 20
2   France 8 17
3   Finland 8 9
4   Georgia 8 5
5   Belarus 8 4
Source: [20]

Second round

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Main article: 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA second round

The Second Round was contested by the top eight runners-up. The second round draw took place at the headquarters of FIFA in Zürich, Switzerland, on 21 October.[21] October 2013 FIFA World Rankings were used to decide which of the teams were seeded.[21] The matches were played on 15 and 19 November 2013.

Group runners-up

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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: [20]
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

Inter-confederation play-offs

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Main article: 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification (inter-confederation play-offs)

There were two scheduled inter-confederation playoffs to determine the final two qualification spots to the finals. The first legs were played on 13 November 2013, and the second legs were played on 20 November 2013.[22]

AFC v CONMEBOL

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Main article: 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC–CONMEBOL play-off)
Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Jordan   0–5   Uruguay 0–5 0–0

CONCACAF v OFC

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Main article: 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONCACAF–OFC play-off)
Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Mexico   9–3   New Zealand 5–1 4–2

Top goalscorers

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There were 2,344 goals scored in 820 matches, for an average of 2.86 goals per match.

11 goals

10 goals

9 goals

8 goals

Below are goalscorer lists for all confederations and the inter-confederation play-offs:

Notes

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  1. ^ The rankings are shown as of 17 October 2013. These are the rankings used for the final draw.
  2. ^ This is Russia's third appearance at the FIFA World Cup; however, FIFA considers Russia as the successor team of the Soviet Union.
  3. ^ Russia's best result is group stage in 1994 and 2002; however, FIFA considers Russia as the successor team of the Soviet Union.
  4. ^ The rules for separating teams level on points were decided by FIFA and can be found in article 18 part 6d to 6g of the FIFA Regulations 2014 World Cup Brazil.[8]

References

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  1. ^ "2014 FIFA World Cup – Statistics". FIFA. Archived from the original on 17 November 2007. Retrieved 4 December 2013.
  2. ^ "Rio ready to welcome the world". FIFA. 26 July 2011. Archived from the original on 20 December 2013. Retrieved 4 December 2013.
  3. ^ "Bahamas withdraw from 2014 World Cup Qualifiers". FIFA. 22 August 2011. Archived from the original on 6 November 2011. Retrieved 13 October 2011.
  4. ^ "Mauritius withdraw from FIFA World Cup qualifiers". FIFA. 31 October 2011. Archived from the original on 2 November 2011. Retrieved 31 October 2011.
  5. ^ Ukraine, who were ranked 20th, did not qualify.
  6. ^ "Who has the hardest World Cup 2014 draw?". The Guardian. 18 December 2013. Retrieved 20 December 2013.
  7. ^ "Qualifiers". FIFA. Archived from the original on 2 March 2008. Retrieved 8 October 2011.
  8. ^ "Regulations 2014 World Cup Brazil". FIFA. Archived from the original on 6 November 2011. Retrieved 20 May 2011.
  9. ^ a b "FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC) 2014, football - table and standings". soccer365.me. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
  10. ^ Johnson, Kelsie (22 August 2011). "Unfinished Work Forces BFA to Pull out of Qualifiers". The Nassau Guardian. Retrieved 9 August 2013.
  11. ^ "FIFA World Cup qualification (CONCACAF) 2014, football - table and standings". soccer365.me. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
  12. ^ "Pacific Games no longer part of qualification". OFC. 29 June 2011. Archived from the original on 3 January 2012. Retrieved 23 November 2013.
  13. ^ "FIFA World Cup qualification (OFC) 2014, football - tables and standings". soccer365.me. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
  14. ^ "FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA) 2014, football - table and standings". soccer365.me. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
  15. ^ "FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA) 2014, football - table and standings". soccer365.me. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
  16. ^ "FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA) 2014, football - table and standings". soccer365.me. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
  17. ^ "FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA) 2014, football - table and standings". soccer365.me. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
  18. ^ "FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA) 2014, football - table and standings". soccer365.me. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
  19. ^ "FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA) 2014, football – table and standings". soccer365.me. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
  20. ^ a b c d "FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA) 2014, football - table and standings". soccer365.me. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
  21. ^ a b "Dates set for African and European qualifying draws". FIFA. 15 June 2013. Archived from the original on 18 June 2013. Retrieved 15 June 2013.
  22. ^ "International match Calendar 2013–2018" (PDF). FIFA. 1 May 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 August 2013. Retrieved 23 November 2013.
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