2014 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA)

The European zone of qualification for the 2014 FIFA World Cup saw 53 teams competing for 13 places in the finals in Brazil. The draw for the qualification groups was held during the World Cup Preliminary Draw at the Marina da Glória in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on 30 July 2011.
The qualification format was the same as 2010. The teams were drawn into eight groups of six teams and one group of five, with the nine group winners qualifying directly for the final tournament. The eight best runners-up were drawn in two-legged play-offs that determined the remaining four qualifying nations.
The qualification process started on 7 September 2012, over two months after the end of UEFA Euro 2012, and ended on 19 November 2013. Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, England, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Russia, Spain, and Switzerland qualified in the first round by winning their groups. Croatia, France, Greece, and Portugal qualified via the second round play-offs.

Format

All 53 UEFA national teams entered qualification, aiming to secure one of the 13 European Zone slots for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. The draw for the qualification groups was held at the World Cup Preliminary Draw at the Marina da Glória in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on 30 July 2011. The qualification format was the same as 2010. The teams were drawn into eight groups of six teams and one group of five, with the nine group winners qualifying directly for the final tournament. The eight best runners-up were drawn in two-legged play-offs that determined the remaining four qualifying nations.

Seeding

The July 2011 FIFA World Rankings were used to seed the teams. In consideration of the delicate political situations of the relationships between Armenia and Azerbaijan as well as relations between Russia and Georgia, UEFA requested that FIFA maintain the current UEFA policy not to draw these teams into the same qualification groups – although as Armenia and Azerbaijan were in the same pot they could not be drawn together anyway. The mechanism for keeping Russia and Georgia apart was confirmed by the FIFA Organising Committee on 29 July 2011.

First round

The matches were played between 7 September 2012 and 15 October 2013. An initial schedule that includes matches before this date was not ratified by FIFA. A win was awarded [|3] points, a draw was awarded [|1] point, and a loss 0. The team with the most points in each group secured direct qualification for the final tournament of the World Cup.

Summary

Group A	Group B	Group C	Group D	Group E	Group F	Group G	Group H	Group I

Groups

Tie-breaking criteria

If two teams had the same number of points the criteria below were used.

Tie-breaking criteria for group play

The ranking in each group is determined as follows:

a) greatest number of points obtained in all group matches;
b) goal difference in all group matches;
c) greatest number of goals scored in all group matches.

If two or more teams are equal on the basis of the above three criteria, their rankings shall be determined as follows:

d) greatest number of points obtained in the group matches between the teams concerned;
e) goal difference resulting from the group matches between the teams concerned;
f) greater number of goals scored in all group matches between the teams concerned;
g) greater number of goals scored away from home between the teams concerned

Group H

Second round

Group runners-up

The eight best group runners-up contested the second round, where they were paired into four two-legged fixtures. The four winners qualified for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Because one group had one team fewer than the others, matches against the last-placed team in each of the six-team groups were not included in this ranking. Teams were ranked by the following parameters in order:

Highest number of points
Goal difference
Highest number of goals scored

Matches

The second round draw took place at the headquarters of FIFA in Zurich on 21 October 2013. The October 2013 FIFA World Rankings were used to decide which of the teams would be seeded.

One team from pot 1 was paired with one from pot [|2] as shown below. The matches were played on 15 and 19 November 2013. Winners: Portugal, France, Greece and Croatia as shown in bold.

Qualified teams

The following 13 teams from UEFA qualified for the final tournament.

Team	Qualified as	Qualified on	Previous appearances in FIFA World Cup¹
			11
			17
			17
			9
			9
			9
			0
			13
			13
			2
			3
			5
			13

Discipline

In the qualification tournament, a player would be suspended for the subsequent match in the competition for either getting red card or accumulating two yellow cards in two different matches. UEFA's Control and Disciplinary body has the ability to increase the automatic one match ban for a red card. Single yellow card cautions would be erased prior to the play-off portion, and would not carry over. Single yellow cards and suspensions for yellow card accumulations do not carry over to the 2014 FIFA World Cup tournament matches. The following players were suspended during the final tournament – for one or more games – as a result of red cards or yellow card accumulations:

Player

Offences

Suspensions

sent off|2

Top goalscorers

Below are full goalscorer lists for all groups and the play-off rounds:

Group A
Group B
Group C
Group D
Group E
Group F
Group G
Group H
Group I
Play-offs