# 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 (determined by records against the first-, third-, fourth- and fifth-placed teams in their groups to ensure equity between different groups) 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 (determined by records against the first-, third-, fourth- and fifth-placed teams in their groups to ensure equity between different groups) 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.
Pot A :
| Pot A TeamRank  Spain1  Netherlands2  Germany3  England6  Portugal7  Italy8  Croatia9  Norway12  Greece13 | Pot B TeamRank  France16  Montenegro17  Russia18  Sweden19  Denmark21  Slovenia22  Turkey24  Serbia27  Slovakia29 | Pot C TeamRank  Switzerland30  Israel32  Republic of Ireland33  Belgium37  Czech Republic38  Bosnia and Herzegovina41  Belarus42  Ukraine45  Hungary47 |
| Pot D TeamRank  Bulgaria48  Romania53  Georgia57  Lithuania58  Albania59  Scotland61  Northern Ireland62  Austria66  Poland69 | Pot E TeamRank  Armenia70  Finland75  Estonia79  Cyprus80  Latvia84  Moldova85  Macedonia96  Azerbaijan111  Faroe Islands112 | Pot F TeamRank  Wales112  Liechtenstein118  Iceland121  Kazakhstan126  Luxembourg128  Malta173  Andorra203  San Marino203 |

## 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 |
| Belgium | Italy | Germany | Netherlands | Switzerland | Russia | Bosnia and Herzegovina | England | Spain |
| Croatia | Denmark | Sweden | Romania | Iceland | Portugal | Greece | Ukraine | France |
| Serbia Scotland Wales Macedonia | Czech Republic Bulgaria Armenia Malta | Austria Republic of Ireland Kazakhstan Faroe Islands | Hungary Turkey Estonia Andorra | Slovenia Norway Albania Cyprus | Israel Azerbaijan Northern Ireland Luxembourg | Slovakia Lithuania Latvia Liechtenstein | Montenegro Poland Moldova San Marino | Finland Georgia Belarus |

### 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 (if the tie is only between two teams)

### Group A

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | | | | | | |
| 1 | Belgium | 10 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 18 | 4 | +14 | 26 | Qualification to 2014 FIFA World Cup | — | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 |
| 2 | Croatia | 10 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 12 | 9 | +3 | 17 | Advance to second round | 1–2 | — | 2–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 |
| 3 | Serbia | 10 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 18 | 11 | +7 | 14 | | 0–3 | 1–1 | — | 2–0 | 6–1 | 5–1 |
| 4 | Scotland | 10 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 12 | −4 | 11 | | 0–2 | 2–0 | 0–0 | — | 1–2 | 1–1 |
| 5 | Wales | 10 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 9 | 20 | −11 | 10 | | 0–2 | 1–2 | 0–3 | 2–1 | — | 1–0 |
| 6 | Macedonia | 10 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 7 | 16 | −9 | 7 | | 0–2 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 2–1 | — |

### Group B

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | | | | | | |
| 1 | Italy | 10 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 19 | 9 | +10 | 22 | Qualification to 2014 FIFA World Cup | — | 3–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 2–0 |
| 2 | Denmark | 10 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 17 | 12 | +5 | 16 | | 2–2 | — | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–4 | 6–0 |
| 3 | Czech Republic | 10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 13 | 9 | +4 | 15 | | 0–0 | 0–3 | — | 0–0 | 1–2 | 3–1 |
| 4 | Bulgaria | 10 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 14 | 9 | +5 | 13 | | 2–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | — | 1–0 | 6–0 |
| 5 | Armenia | 10 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 12 | 13 | −1 | 13 | | 1–3 | 0–1 | 0–3 | 2–1 | — | 0–1 |
| 6 | Malta | 10 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 5 | 28 | −23 | 3 | | 0–2 | 1–2 | 1–4 | 1–2 | 0–1 | — |

### Group C

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | | | | | | |
| 1 | Germany | 10 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 36 | 10 | +26 | 28 | Qualification to 2014 FIFA World Cup | — | 4–4 | 3–0 | 3–0 | 4–1 | 3–0 |
| 2 | Sweden | 10 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 19 | 14 | +5 | 20 | Advance to second round | 3–5 | — | 2–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 |
| 3 | Austria | 10 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 20 | 10 | +10 | 17 | | 1–2 | 2–1 | — | 1–0 | 4–0 | 6–0 |
| 4 | Republic of Ireland | 10 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 16 | 17 | −1 | 14 | | 1–6 | 1–2 | 2–2 | — | 3–1 | 3–0 |
| 5 | Kazakhstan | 10 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 6 | 21 | −15 | 5 | | 0–3 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–2 | — | 2–1 |
| 6 | Faroe Islands | 10 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 4 | 29 | −25 | 1 | | 0–3 | 1–2 | 0–3 | 1–4 | 1–1 | — |

### Group D

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | | | | | | |
| 1 | Netherlands | 10 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 34 | 5 | +29 | 28 | Qualification to 2014 FIFA World Cup | — | 4–0 | 8–1 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 3–0 |
| 2 | Romania | 10 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 19 | 12 | +7 | 19 | Advance to second round | 1–4 | — | 3–0 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 4–0 |
| 3 | Hungary | 10 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 21 | 20 | +1 | 17 | | 1–4 | 2–2 | — | 3–1 | 5–1 | 2–0 |
| 4 | Turkey | 10 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 16 | 9 | +7 | 16 | | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | — | 3–0 | 5–0 |
| 5 | Estonia | 10 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 6 | 20 | −14 | 7 | | 2–2 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–2 | — | 2–0 |
| 6 | Andorra | 10 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 30 | −30 | 0 | | 0–2 | 0–4 | 0–5 | 0–2 | 0–1 | — |

### Group E

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | | | | | | |
| 1 | Switzerland | 10 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 17 | 6 | +11 | 24 | Qualification to 2014 FIFA World Cup | — | 4–4 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 |
| 2 | Iceland | 10 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 17 | 15 | +2 | 17 | Advance to second round | 0–2 | — | 2–4 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 |
| 3 | Slovenia | 10 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 14 | 11 | +3 | 15 | | 0–2 | 1–2 | — | 3–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 |
| 4 | Norway | 10 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 10 | 13 | −3 | 12 | | 0–2 | 1–1 | 2–1 | — | 0–1 | 2–0 |
| 5 | Albania | 10 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 9 | 11 | −2 | 11 | | 1–2 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 | — | 3–1 |
| 6 | Cyprus | 10 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 4 | 15 | −11 | 5 | | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 1–3 | 0–0 | — |

### Group F

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | | | | | | |
| 1 | Russia | 10 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 20 | 5 | +15 | 22 | Qualification to 2014 FIFA World Cup | — | 1–0 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 4–1 |
| 2 | Portugal | 10 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 20 | 9 | +11 | 21 | Advance to second round | 1–0 | — | 1–1 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 3–0 |
| 3 | Israel | 10 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 19 | 14 | +5 | 14 | | 0–4 | 3–3 | — | 1–1 | 1–1 | 3–0 |
| 4 | Azerbaijan | 10 | 1 | 6 | 3 | 7 | 11 | −4 | 9 | | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | — | 2–0 | 1–1 |
| 5 | Northern Ireland | 10 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 17 | −8 | 7 | | 1–0 | 2–4 | 0–2 | 1–1 | — | 1–1 |
| 6 | Luxembourg | 10 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 26 | −19 | 6 | | 0–4 | 1–2 | 0–6 | 0–0 | 3–2 | — |

### Group G

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | | | | | | |
| 1 | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 10 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 30 | 6 | +24 | 25 | Qualification to 2014 FIFA World Cup | — | 3–1 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 4–1 | 4–1 |
| 2 | Greece | 10 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 4 | +8 | 25 | Advance to second round | 0–0 | — | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 |
| 3 | Slovakia | 10 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 11 | 10 | +1 | 13 | | 1–2 | 0–1 | — | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 |
| 4 | Lithuania | 10 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 9 | 11 | −2 | 11 | | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | — | 2–0 | 2–0 |
| 5 | Latvia | 10 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 10 | 20 | −10 | 8 | | 0–5 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 2–1 | — | 2–0 |
| 6 | Liechtenstein | 10 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 4 | 25 | −21 | 2 | | 1–8 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | — |

### Group H

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | | | | | | |
| 1 | England | 10 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 31 | 4 | +27 | 22 | Qualification to 2014 FIFA World Cup | — | 1–1 | 4–1 | 2–0 | 4–0 | 5–0 |
| 2 | Ukraine | 10 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 28 | 4 | +24 | 21 | Advance to second round | 0–0 | — | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 9–0 |
| 3 | Montenegro | 10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 18 | 17 | +1 | 15 | | 1–1 | 0–4 | — | 2–2 | 2–5 | 3–0 |
| 4 | Poland | 10 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 18 | 12 | +6 | 13 | | 1–1 | 1–3 | 1–1 | — | 2–0 | 5–0 |
| 5 | Moldova | 10 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 12 | 17 | −5 | 11 | | 0–5 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | — | 3–0 |
| 6 | San Marino | 10 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 1 | 54 | −53 | 0 | | 0–8 | 0–8 | 0–6 | 1–5 | 0–2 | — |

### Group I

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | | | | | |
| 1 | Spain | 8 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 14 | 3 | +11 | 20 | Qualification to 2014 FIFA World Cup | — | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 |
| 2 | France | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 15 | 6 | +9 | 17 | Advance to second round | 0–1 | — | 3–0 | 3–1 | 3–1 |
| 3 | Finland | 8 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 9 | −4 | 9 | | 0–2 | 0–1 | — | 1–1 | 1–0 |
| 4 | Georgia | 8 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 10 | −7 | 5 | | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | — | 1–0 |
| 5 | Belarus | 8 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 16 | −9 | 4 | | 0–4 | 2–4 | 1–1 | 2–0 | — |

## Second round
### Group runners-up

The eight best group runners-up contested the second round, where they were paired into four two-legged (home-and-away) 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
| Pos | Grp | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | G | Greece | 8 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 4 | +5 | 19 | Advance to second round (play-offs) |
| 2 | I | France | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 15 | 6 | +9 | 17 | Advance to second round (play-offs) |
| 3 | F | Portugal | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 15 | 8 | +7 | 15 | Advance to second round (play-offs) |
| 4 | H | Ukraine | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 11 | 4 | +7 | 15 | Advance to second round (play-offs) |
| 5 | C | Sweden | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 15 | 13 | +2 | 14 | Advance to second round (play-offs) |
| 6 | E | Iceland | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 15 | 14 | +1 | 14 | Advance to second round (play-offs) |
| 7 | D | Romania | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 11 | 12 | −1 | 13 | Advance to second round (play-offs) |
| 8 | A | Croatia | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 8 | +1 | 11 | Advance to second round (play-offs) |
| 9 | B | Denmark | 8 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 9 | 11 | −2 | 10 | |

### 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 (shown below in brackets).
Pot 1 (seeded) :
| Pot 1 (seeded) TeamPos  Portugal14  Greece15  Croatia18  Ukraine20 | Pot 2 (unseeded) TeamPos  France21  Sweden25  Romania29  Iceland46 |
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.
| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Portugal | 4–2 | Sweden | 1–0 | 3–2 |
| Ukraine | 2–3 | France | 2–0 | 0–3 |
| Greece | 4–2 | Romania | 3–1 | 1–1 |
| Iceland | 0–2 | Croatia | 0–0 | 0–2 |

## Qualified teams

The following 13 teams from UEFA qualified for the final tournament.
| Team | Qualified as | Qualified on | Previous appearances in FIFA World Cup |
| Belgium | Group A winners | 11 October 2013 | 11 (1930, 1934, 1938, 1954, 1970, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002) |
| Italy | Group B winners | 10 September 2013 | 17 (1934, 1938, 1950, 1954, 1962, 1966, 1970, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010) |
| Germany | Group C winners | 11 October 2013 | 17 (1934, 1938, 1954, 1958, 1962, 1966, 1970, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010) |
| Netherlands | Group D winners | 10 September 2013 | 9 (1934, 1938, 1974, 1978, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2006, 2010) |
| Switzerland | Group E winners | 11 October 2013 | 9 (1934, 1938, 1950, 1954, 1962, 1966, 1994, 2006, 2010) |
| Russia | Group F winners | 15 October 2013 | 9 (1958, 1962, 1966, 1970, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1994, 2002) |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | Group G winners | 15 October 2013 | 0 (debut) |
| England | Group H winners | 15 October 2013 | 13 (1950, 1954, 1958, 1962, 1966, 1970, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010) |
| Spain | Group I winners | 15 October 2013 | 13 (1934, 1950, 1962, 1966, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010) |
| Greece | Second round (play-off) winners | 19 November 2013 | 2 (1994, 2010) |
| Croatia | Second round (play-off) winners | 19 November 2013 | 3 (1998, 2002, 2006) |
| Portugal | Second round (play-off) winners | 19 November 2013 | 5 (1966, 1986, 2002, 2006, 2010) |
| France | Second round (play-off) winners | 19 November 2013 | 13 (1930, 1934, 1938, 1954, 1958, 1966, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010) |
    $^1$ Bold indicates champions for that year. Italic indicates hosts for that year.
    $^2$ Competed as Soviet Union.
    $^3$ Competed as West Germany. A separate team for East Germany also participated in qualifications during this time, having only competed in 1974.

## 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 (e.g., for violent conduct). 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 |
| Keith Andrews | UEFA Euro 2012 v Italy | Group C v Kazakhstan |
| Roman Berezovsky | UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying v Republic of Ireland | Group B v Malta |
| James Collins | v Belgium | Group A v Serbia |
| Marc Vales | v Hungary | Group D v Romania |
| Tranquillo Barnetta | v Slovenia | Group E v Albania |
| Viktor Pečovský | v Lithuania | Group G v Liechtenstein |
| Tadas Labukas | v Slovakia | Group G v Greece |
| Savo Pavićević | v Poland | Group H v San Marino |
| Ludovic Obraniak | v Montenegro | Group H v Moldova |
| Svetoslav Dyakov | v Armenia | Group B v Denmark |
| Gevorg Ghazaryan | v Bulgaria | Group B v Italy |
| Marcos Pizzelli | v Bulgaria | Group B v Italy |
| Enar Jääger | v Turkey | Group D v Hungary |
| Sölvi Ottesen | v Cyprus | Group E v Albania |
| Steven Gerrard | v Ukraine | Group H v San Marino |
| Alexei Eremenko | v Georgia | Group I v Spain |
| Ivan Bandalovski | v Denmark | Group B v Czech Republic |
| Boštjan Cesar | v Cyprus | Group E v Albania |
| Daniel Kaufmann | v Latvia | Group G v Latvia |
| Nenad Tomović | v Macedonia | Group A v Croatia |
| Pablo Osvaldo | v Denmark | Group B v Malta |
| Andi Lila | v Norway | Group E v Norway |
| Gerard Piqué | 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup v Brazil | Group I v Finland |
| Savo Pavicevic | v Ukraine | Group H v Poland |
| Vladimir Volkov | v Ukraine | Group H v Poland |
| Roman Zozulya | v Montenegro | Group H v San Marino |
| Mario Balotelli | v Czech Republic | Group B v Bulgaria |
| Andreas Granqvist | v Faroe Islands | Group C v Republic of Ireland |
| Josip Šimunić | v Serbia | Group A v Belgium |
| Josip Šimunić | v Serbia | Group A v Scotland |

## Top goalscorers

There were 749 goals scored in 268 matches, for an average of 2.79 goals per match.
11 goals
* Robin van Persie
10 goals
* Edin Džeko
8 goals
* Vedad Ibišević
* Mesut Özil
* Cristiano Ronaldo
* Zlatan Ibrahimović
7 goals
* Wayne Rooney
6 goals
* David Alaba
* Robbie Keane
* Eden Ben Basat
* Tomer Hemed
* Hélder Postiga
5 goals
* Zvjezdan Misimović
* Franck Ribéry
* Marco Reus
* Kostas Mitroglou
* Mario Balotelli
* Jeremain Lens
* Rafael van der Vaart
* Ciprian Marica
* Aleksandr Kerzhakov
* Milivoje Novaković
* Umut Bulut
* Burak Yılmaz
* Andriy Yarmolenko
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