2014 FIFA World Cup BRAZIL TM
2014 FIFA World Cup™ preliminary competition
Team entries - 203 (208 minus 5: Brazil (qualified), Bhutan, Brunei Darussalam, Guam, Mauritania)
Drop-outs – 2 (Mauritius withdrew without playing a single match, Bahamas withdrew after playing two games)
Qualified – 1 (Brazil – host)
Team played – 202 (Including Bahamas who withdrew after playing two matches)
Matches – 806 (14 – annuled results)
Goals – 2308 (2,86 per match)
The World Cup preliminary competition celebrated another landmark anniversary: 80 years after the first qualifier between Sweden and Estonia in the race to qualify for the 1934 World Cup in Italy, a total of 203 associations registered to take part in the 2014 preliminary competition. After Mauritius’ withdrawal, 202 associations competed for a ticket to Brazil – a new record.
820 games, 2,350 goals, 101 red cards and 2,916 yellow cards later, the 31 teams that would join hosts Brazil at the 2014 World Cup were known. Once again, all previous world champions – Argentina, England, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Uruguay – qualified, although France had to come back from a 2-0 defeat in the first leg in Ukraine to claim a 3-2 aggregate victory, and Uruguay also needed the safety net of an intercontinental play-off, where they saw off the challenge of Jordan.
Bosnia and Herzegovina were the only team to come through the qualifiers for the very first time, finishing ahead of Greece in European Group B thanks to their superior goal difference. One team that made a return to football’s greatest stage was Belgium, who enjoyed an unbeaten campaign as they topped their group to qualify for the first time since 2002. In Asia, goal difference saw Korea Republic qualify alongside Japan, Iran and Australia. In Africa, both Ethiopia and Burkina Faso nearly caused a sensation but just missed out on qualifying for the first time after losing out in the play-offs, with experienced campaigners Nigeria, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana and Algeria all coming through unscathed. For once, there was no OFC team at the World Cup, with New Zealand falling to a 9-3 aggregate defeat at the hands of Mexico in an intercontinental play-off.
NORTH, CENTRAL AMERICA AND CARIBBEAN
Qualified teams
from
Africa:
Algeria, Cameroon, Cote D'Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria
Qualified teams from
Asia:
Australia, Iran, Japan, Korea Republic
Qualified teams
from
Europe:
Belgium, Bosnia And Herzegovina - newcomers to finals, Croatia, England, France, Germany Fr, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Switzerland
Qualified teams from
North, Central America and Caribbean:
Costa Rica, Honduras, Mexico, USA.
Qualified teams from
South America:
Argentina, Brazil - host, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, UArial Blackuay.
| Preliminaries tournament statistics | |
| Matches (neutral field) | 806 (29) |
| Goals Scored | 2308 |
| Host Goals Scored | 1306 (56,59%) |
| Guest Goals Scored | 896 (38,82%) |
| Neutral Goals Scored | 106 (0,05%) |
| Home win | 384 (47,64%) |
| Draws | 179 (22,21%) |
| Away win | 214 (26,55%) |
| Goals Scored (average per match) | 2,86 |
| High score (more than 3 goals) | 244 (30,27%) |
| No Score Draw | 49 (6,08%) |
| Attendance | 17 376 682 |
| Average viewers per match | 21 586 |
| Penalties awarded | 175 |
| Penalty goals | 158 |
| % Successful Penalty kicks | 90,29 % |
| Own goals | 42 |
| Cautions (on average) | 2954 (3,67) |
| Sent off (aver.) | 167 (0,21) - 96/71 |
| Players participated | 5663 |