News Americas, RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil, Fri. July 29, 2011: The official count down to the 2014 World Cup will begin tomorrow, July 30th, as the preliminary draw gets underway in Rio de Janeiro.
It will undoubtedly be a mega celebration as Latin American giants Brazil gear up to host the cup, set from June 12 to 13 July 2014.
At 15.00 local time (20.00 CET), the Draw Show will begin and the eyes of the footballing world will focus on the fates of the teams hoping to qualify for the finals in just under three years time.
No fewer than 824 matches are scheduled for the preliminary competition of the 2014 FIFA World Cup with the equivalent of at least 74,160 minutes of football deciding which 31 nations will join hosts Brazil at the showpiece competition.
Setting all this in motion will be Saturday’s Preliminary Draw, undoubtedly a giant step on the road to Brazil 2014.
Preliminary pot draws were announced on Wednesday. The Asian, North, Central America and Caribbean, Oceanian and South American Zones all have a place open to them via a two legged play-off, a draw will be made to see which confederations are paired together.
Brazil, the host nation, does not need to qualify, the South American Zone will consist of nine teams competing for 4.5 places from a single group. All nine teams will be placed in one group and will play each other on a home and away basis between October 7, 2011 and October 15, 2013. The top four teams qualify for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, while the fifth-placed team advances to an intercontinental play-off.
See full list at https://www.fifa.com/mm/document/tournament/preliminarydraw/01/48/03/97/prelimdrawpotallocations.pdf.
FIFA.com will be providing extensive coverage of the preliminary draw in Rio de Janeiro.
