Monday, November 18, 2013
Fifa 2014 World Cup: Who is there & who is in the play-offs?
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1:19 AM
With the group stages of qualifying over, the final 11 teams at next summer's World Cup finals in Brazil will be decided this week in the play-offs.
Next summer's tournament will feature 32 teams, with the draw for eight groups of four to take place at the Costa do Sauipe resort in the Brazilian state of Bahia on 6 December.
BBC Sport takes a look at the definite qualifiers and the play-off contenders across the six Fifa confederations.
View the fixtures on our fixtures pages.
Africa
Nigeria were the first African team to qualify for the finals
Definitely there: Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Cameroon
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.
On 16 November, Nigeria booked their place with a 4-1 aggregate win over Ethiopia. while Ivory Coast overcame Senegal 4-2. The following day, Cameroon thrashed Tunisia 4-1 after a goalless first leg.
The remaining play-offs take place on Tuesday. Algeria will be hoping to overcome a 3-2 deficit against Burkina Faso, while Ghana should progress comfortably, having beaten Egypt 6-1 in the first leg.
Asia
Jordan beat Uzbekistan 9-8 on penalties to reach an intercontinental play-off with Uruguay
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
Roman Zozulya opened the scoring as Ukraine beat France 2-0
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 second legs taking place on 19 November.
In Friday's first legs, Iceland - a nation with a population less than that of Cardiff or Coventry - went down to 10 men but managed to hold on in Reykjavik and keep alive their hopes of reaching a first major finals.
Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo upstaged Sweden counterpart Zlatan Ibrahimovic in Lisbon, with the Real Madrid forward's flying header edging out the Swedes in a 1-0 win.
Ukraine, who finished as runners-up behind England in Group H, shocked France in Kiev with a 2-0 win which saw both sides reduced to 10 men.
Second in Group I behind Spain, 1998 champions France now need to find their play-off pedigree, which saw them beat the Republic of Ireland to qualify for the 2010 World Cup thanks to Thierry Henry's controversial handball in Paris.
And Greece produced a superb performance to beat Romania 3-1, with Konstantinos Mitroglou scoring twice.
North & Central America and Caribbean
Former Barcelona defender Rafael Marquez scored against New Zealand
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
New Zealand are hoping to reach the finals for the second successive tournament
Definitely there: None.
Still to be decided: New Zealand easily won the final group stage to qualify for their play-off against Mexico, but have it all to do after being hammered in the first leg.
South America
Will Liverpool striker Luis Suarez be Uruguay's key man?
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.
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