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The first qualification match, between Montserrat and Belize, was played on 15 June 2011, and the Belizean striker Deon McCaulay scored the first goal in qualification. Qualification ended on 20 November 2013, when Uruguay eliminated Jordan to become the final qualifier for the World Cup. Twenty-three of FIFA's 24 top-ranked countries ...
The group comprised Belgium, Croatia, Macedonia, Scotland, Serbia and Wales . The group winners, Belgium, qualified directly for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Croatia placed among the eight best runners-up and advanced to the play-offs, where they were drawn to play home-and-away matches against Iceland. [1] [2] They drew the first match and won the ...
FIFA recognises Serbia as the official successor of the Yugoslav teams, and thus inherits all the records of Yugoslavia. Including their predecessors' records, Serbia have qualified for thirteen FIFA World Cup finals tournaments, last failing to do so in 2014 .
World CupRoundOpponentScore2–33–30–20–2Jul 30, 2011 · Scotland and Wales were drawn together in Group A, and will play Croatia, Serbia, Belgium, and another former Yugoslav republic, Macedonia. Northern Ireland are up against Portugal, Russia,...
- The Qualifiers
- Goals
- Top Matches
- Moments to Forget
Africa
Five African teams qualified for the World Cup finals - Cameroon, Ghana, Algeria, Ivory Coast and Nigeria. Each side came through a group stage before winning a play-off to travel to Brazil.
Asia
Four teams from the Asia region qualified for the World Cup finals - Australia, Iran, Japan and South Korea. Iran had to get through three rounds of qualifying, while the three others had to triumph in two rounds.
Europe
Thirteen European teams have qualified for the World Cup finals. Belgium, Bosnia-Hercegovina, England, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Russia, Switzerland and current World Cup holders Spain all qualified as group winners. Croatia, France, Greece and Portugal all had to come through the play-offs.
Top scorers
Luis Suarez and Robin van Persie finished the qualifying campaign with 11 goals each, making them the joint top scorers of the 32 teams that reached the World Cup finals. Uruguay's Suarez scored nearly half of his country's goals in qualifying as they secured their spot via a play-off with Jordan, while Van Persie's goals helped Netherlands finish top of their group with a +29 goal difference.
Top shots
Whet your appetite ahead of the World Cup by watching some of the best strikes from the qualifiers. The video starts with a sensational hit from Juan Carlos Marino, a 30-yard drive which helped Peru earn a point against Bolivia. Other highlights include Serbia's Aleksandar Kolarov's superb goal against Wales and an overhead kick from Juan Carlos Garcia for Honduras.
Top free-kicks
Wales' Gareth Bale's stunner against Serbia features in our top 10 free-kicks from the qualifiers, as does Argentine Lionel Messi's low drive against Uruguay. You can also see Ivan Rakitic's winner for Croatia against Macedonia, a 40-yard floating free-kick that left goalkeeper Martin Bogatinov stunned.
Sweden 3-5 Germany
An eight-goal thriller between Sweden and Germany in qualifying for the finals saw the Germans come from behind to win 5-3 in Solna. Tobias Hysen scored his first of a brace early on for Sweden, before Alexander Kacaniklic made it two, then Mesut Ozil and substitute Mario Gotze scored either side of the break and a fine hat-trick from Andre Schurrle capped off the win for Germany. The Germans qualified top of their group, with Sweden losing out to Portugalin a play-off.
Switzerland 4-4 Iceland
Iceland came back from a 4-1 second-half deficit to steal a dramatic point away to Switzerland. The hosts looked to be cruising to victory, but were undone by Johann Gudmundsson's hat-trick and sensational added-time equaliser. Despite the setback, Switzerland still topped their group and will be one of the seeded teams at this year's World Cup, while Iceland finished second but were bundled out in the play-offs.
Colombia 3-3 Chile
Colombia produced a fantastic comeback against Chile, in a match that ended 3-3, and qualified for the finals - the first time they have reached a World Cup since France 1998. They kick off their World Cup campaign against Greece on Saturday, 14 June.
Worst gaffes
We pick out some of the mores embarrassing moments for players during qualification. Armenia's Araz Ozbiliz features as he somehow manages to kick the corner flag rather than the ball, Jamaica's Alvas Powell gets himself into a spot of trouble with a throw-in while Portugal goalkeeper Rui Patricio plays his way into trouble.
The strange and unusual
Watch some of the more odd moments from the global qualifying campaign. The moments revisited include Scotland kicking off the second half of their game in Macedoniabefore the home goalkeeper Tome Pacovski made it back onto the pitch, and some incredible weather as USA hosted Costa Rica in snow-hit Colorado. Argentina's Javier Mascherano red card for kicking out in Ecuador, and Italy's Mario Balotelli's furious outburst after being sent off against the Czech Republic are also included. Finall...
Nov 20, 2013 · Most impressive qualifiers: Seven teams made it through the whole campaign without losing (Belgium, England, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain and Switzerland), but it is the records of the...
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Sep 8, 2012 · 2014 World Cup qualifying: Scotland 0-0 Serbia - BBC Sport. By Alasdair Lamont BBC Scotland at Hampden Park. 8 September 2012 Football. Scotland and Serbia fought out a disappointing draw, with...
