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The FIFA World Cup qualification is the process that a national association football team goes through to qualify for the FIFA World Cup Finals. The FIFA World Cup is the largest international team sport competition in the world with a qualification process required to reduce the large field of countries from 209 to just 32 for the World Cup Finals.
Qualifying tournaments are held within the six FIFA continental zones (2014 FIFA World Cup qualification commenced in 2011 and finished in late 2013.
The hosts of the World Cup receive an automatic berth. Unlike many other sports, results of the previous World Cups or of the continental championships are not taken into account. Until 2002, the defending champions also received an automatic berth, but starting from the 2006 World Cup this is no longer the case.
Over many years, the World Cup's qualification has evolved, from having no qualification at all in 1930, when the tournament was invitational and only 13 teams entered, to the current two-year process. The first World Cup qualifying match was played on 11 June 1933 when Sweden defeated Estonia 6–2 in Stockholm. The first ever goal in a World Cup qualifying match was scored 7 minutes into the game: it was scored according to some sources by Swedish captain Knut Kroon, or according to other sources by Estonian goalkeeper Evald Tipner (own goal).
While the number of teams which qualified for the finals has increased steadily, from 16 between 1934 and 1978, to 24 between 1982 and 1994, and finally to 32 starting from 1998, the qualification format has been basically the same throughout the history of the World Cup. The teams have been grouped continentally, and they competed for a fixed number of places, with one or two places awarded to the winners of intercontinental play-offs.
The table below lists the numbers of spots allocated by FIFA for each continent in each tournament. If no places were allocated to a continent, such as in the case of Oceania prior to 1966 and Africa in 1950, this does not indicate an exclusion of those continents by FIFA, but rather that no country of those continents made an entry to the aforementioned Cups.[1]
A large part of Africa was under colonial rule during part of the 20th century, mainly the first half of the century. As of 1954, only 3 African countries were affiliated to FIFA: Egypt, in 1923, Sudan, in 1948, and Ethiopia, in 1952.[2] Sudan and Ethiopia made entries for no Cup prior to 1958. Egypt made entries for the 1934, 1938 and 1954 Cups, though not for the 1930 and 1950 Cups. Though an African country, Egypt entered in 1938 and 1954 in the European group, therefore the table below gives no data about Africa for these two Cups.
Places in the intercontinental play-offs count as 0.5 spots. Numbers in bold represent the winners of the intercontinental play-offs. "+C" denotes an additional spot for defending champions. "+H" denotes an additional spot for hosts.
The number of teams entering the qualification process and the number of matches played have been steadily growing over time. Though an African country, Egypt entered in 1938 and 1954 into the European group, therefore being zero the below indicator as for Africa in these years.
Note: Only teams that played at least one match are considered for the purposes of first appearance. Teams that withdrew prior to the qualification, or that qualified to the World Cup automatically due to other teams' withdrawals, are not considered.
Last updated: All OFC and Canada as of October 26, 2015
Players in bold are still active.
(update of FIFA World Cup 2014 qualifiers in progress, last update: 18 May 2014)
Currently, 32 places are available in the final tournament. One of them is reserved for the host nation, but if two or more nations host the competition jointly, each is awarded a place. From 1934 to 2002, one berth was reserved for the winners of the previous World Cup. In November 2001, FIFA announced that the defending champion would no longer get automatic entry to the subsequent tournament, starting with the 2006 finals. This decision was made to address the issue of the returning champions being at a disadvantage to their fellow competitors due to having not played a competitive match in the previous two years.[3] The problem was amply demonstrated at the 2002 FIFA World Cup, as returning champions France tumbled out in the first round, finishing bottom of their group without scoring a single goal. 2002 winner Brazil qualified for 2006 at the top of their qualifiers group. However, Italy, defending champions from 2006, finished bottom of their group in 2010, despite playing in the qualifying matches. At Brazil 2014, 2010 champions Spain finished third in their group and failed to advance to the Round of 16, despite having qualified first of their group.
FIFA decides beforehand the number of spots awarded to each of the continental zones. For the 2018 World Cup, the following numbers are being used:[4]
The number of berths allocated per continent is widely debated, with the main point of contention being the extent to which berths should be allocated to regions based on sheer population vs. talent. A historically weaker continent, Africa has called for more places, as they are allocated only 5 in comparison to Europe's 13.[5]
These numbers vary slightly between tournaments (see above).
Qualification in all zones ends at approximately the same time, in September–November of the year preceding the finals.
The formats of the qualification tournaments differ between confederations and over time. The systems being used in 2014 are outlined below.
The CAF qualification process began with a preliminary round (to narrow the field of 52 entrants to 40 teams) in November 2011. Mauritania was the only team not to enter the qualifying draw.
The group stage consisted of 10 groups of 4, with the group winners advancing. The final stage will pair the 10 remaining teams in 5 knock-out ties, with the winners advancing to the World Cup finals.
Bhutan and Guam did not enter the AFC qualification process, while Brunei were suspended and therefore ineligible.
Qualifying has only been altered slightly from the 2010 method, with changes to the structure of the preliminary rounds – which were held before the main draw. As with the 2010 qualifying, two knock-out preliminary rounds reduced the 43 entrants to 20, followed by a first group stage with the top two sides from 5 groups of 4 advancing to a final group stage. The winners and runners-up of the two final groups of 5 advanced to the World Cup finals with the two third-placed sides, Jordan and Uzbekistan, playing off for the right to play in an inter-confederation play-off for a final World Cup spot.
The European qualification is unchanged from the 2010 system. The 53 national teams were divided into nine groups, with the group winners qualifying directly to the finals, and the best eight runners-up playing home-and-away ties for the remaining four places.[6]
The CONCACAF qualification process has changed significantly from the 2010 qualification cycle. A single preliminary round involved the 10 lowest ranked teams, reducing the 35 entrants to 30. The six highest ranked sides received byes in the first group stage, while the remaining 24 teams played in six groups of four, with the winners advancing to a second group stage. As in 2006 and 2010, the remaining 12 teams are playing in 3 semifinal groups of 4 teams with the top two in each group advancing to a final 6-team group.
The final round – often referred to as "the hexagonal" because of the number of teams involved – will see the top three teams advance to the World Cup finals, while the fourth placed side will enter an inter-confederation play-off for a final World Cup spot.
Qualification in Oceania was held as part of two further competitions. The first stage took place at the 2011 Pacific Games, with the top 3 eligible teams advancing to a final round group stage with New Zealand. The winner of the final group stage (which also acted as the 2012 OFC Nations Cup) will enter an inter-confederation play-off for a World Cup spot.
As in recent qualification series CONMEBOL qualification consists of a single group of all entrants not automatically qualified for the finals. Brazil, as hosts of the 2014 finals, qualified automatically and are not competing in qualifying.
The top 4 teams from the 9 teams group will advance to the World Cup finals, while the fifth placed team will enter an inter-confederation play-off for a World Cup spot.
Unlike previous tournaments, the pairings for the two play-offs were determined by an open draw on 30 July 2011, a day prior to the main draw. Intercontinental play-offs are played as home-and-away ties.
Qualification tournaments generally consist of a number of stages, made up of groups or knock-out ties.
In all group tournaments, three points are awarded for a win, one for a draw, and none for a loss. FIFA has set the order of the tie-breakers for teams that finish level on points:
Where teams are still not able to be separated, the following tie-breakers are used:
Where teams are still equal, then a play-off on neutral ground, with extra time and penalties if necessary will be played if FIFA deems such a play-off able to be fitted within the coordinated international match calendar. If this is not deemed feasible, then the result will be determined by the drawing of lot.
Note that this order of tie-breaker application has not always been applied. While it was used in the 2010 qualifiers, the qualification for the 2006 World Cup used the head-to-head comparison prior to goal difference (although this system was – where applicable – used in the 2006 finals themselves). If these rules had applied in 2006, then Nigeria would have qualified rather than Angola.
Most knock-out qualifiers (such as the inter-confederation play-offs, the second round of UEFA qualifying and many preliminary ties) are played over two legs. The team that scores a greater aggregate number of goals qualifies. Away goals rule applies. If these rules fail to determine the winner, extra time and penalty shootouts are used.
Occasionally – usually when one entrant lacks adequate facilities to host international matches – ties are played over a single leg, in which case matches level after 90 minutes will go to extra time and then to a penalty shootout if required.
Alternatively, "home" matches can be played in neutral countries, or occasionally one team will host both matches. In the latter case the visiting team will still be considered as the "home" team for one of the legs – which may determine which side advances under the away goals rule, as occurred in CONCACAF qualification in 2010.
United States, Mexico City, New Spain, North America, Spanish Empire
European Union, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Canada
United Kingdom, European Union, Italy, Canada, Spain
Argentina, Mexico, India, Venezuela, Russia
Germany, FIFA World Cup, West Germany, 1954 FIFA World Cup, 1974 FIFA World Cup
2010 FIFA World Cup, 2002 FIFA World Cup, 2014 FIFA World Cup, 2006 FIFA World Cup, Brazil
Italy national football team, Germany national football team, Czechoslovakia national football team, Rome, Italy
Uruguay, Argentina national football team, Montevideo, Argentina, United States men's national soccer team
Deportivo Saprissa, Costa Rica, Costa Rica national football team, FC Seoul, Puerto Rico national football team
Germany national football team, Belgium national football team, France national football team, Brazil national football team, Norway national football team