2014 World Cup Qualifying: The Final Stretch

The marathon qualifying process for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil that has seen over 800 matches played and 207 countries involved is nearing its grand conclusion. 21 teams including hosts Brazil have qualified already with the remaining eleven sides to be known by 20th November. The playoffs involve five pairings from Africa, four from Europe, and two intercontinental groupings.

Europe:

In Europe, all the talk has been on the blockbuster tie between Portugal and Sweden and their respective stars, Cristiano Ronaldo and Zlatan Ibrahimovic. They are arguably the two best players in the world at the moment and the World Cup will be poorer without one of those two names, but the reality is that there will be room for only one of them in Brazil. The first leg takes place in Portugal on Friday while the second leg is on 19th November.

France travel to Ukraine in the first leg in another exciting draw. Les Bleus had a horrendous draw in the group stage, with the presence of defending champions Spain in the five-team group making automatic qualification almost impossible. However, their trek to the 2014 World Cup won’t be a guarantee either against a Ukrainian side that has kept seven clean sheets in a row.

Iceland, one of the surprise sides of the entire qualification process are paired with Croatia. The Croatians are the clear favourites in the tie, but the team is in a state of flux and with the first leg in Reykjavik, it’s a chance for Iceland to put pressure on the Croats.

Finally, Greece has Romania in their path to Brazil as the Greeks only missed out on automatic qualification on goal differential having finished level on points with Bosnia.The Greeks come into the match in Athens having kept a whopping 11 clean sheets in their last 12 matches, a 3-1 loss to Bosnia the only exception.  The Romanians are no slouch, however, having pipped Turkey and Hungary for their spot in the playoff round.

Africa:

The opening legs of five continental playoffs were played last month. The return legs will determine which five African teams move on to Brazil next summer.

Ghana’s 6-1 demolition of Egypt last month means that the second leg is a mere formality. Bob Bradley’s Egypt will basically be playing for pride as it is seemingly impossible that they will win by five goals.

Elsewhere, Senegal must overcome a 3-1 deficit against the Ivory Coast if they want to qualify for Brazil. However, the Senegalese face a difficult task as their home leg won’t be in Senegal, but rather in Morocco, due to a FIFA ban that states Senegal cannot host the Ivory Coast following riots by home fans when the two teams met in 2012.
Nigeria are in the driver’s seat in their tie against Ethiopia as the Super Eagles have a 2-1 lead back home. But Ethiopia cannot be taken lightly as in the first leg they were the dominant team but defensive lapses cost them the match.

Cameroon and Tunisia will have everything to play for following their goalless draw in the first leg in Tunis. The Indomitable Lions appear to have the edge thanks to the first leg draw, though it could get tricky if Tunisia are able to grab an away goal.

Finally, history could be made in Algeria if Burkina Faso can keep their 3-2 advantage from the first leg. The West African nation would qualify for their first World Cup if they can hold on to their slim advantage, though the North Africans will take two away goals back home.

Intercontinental Play-offs:

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 at home in the first leg of a two-legged intercontinental play-off on Wednesday. The second leg against New Zealand takes place in Wellington on Wednesday, 20 November.

Uruguay thrashed Jordan 5-0 in Jordan to take control of their World Cup play-off tie and take a huge stride towards qualifying for next summer’s finals. Next week’s second leg should be no more than a formality at which Uruguay will book their place at the World Cup, where they will be one of the eight seeds.