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Each of the 32 places available for next year’s FIFA World Cup have now been taken after the completion of the European and African qualifying legs last night.
Uruguay became the final team to qualify after a 0-0 draw with Jordan in their second leg yesterday. However, they had pretty much sealed the deal after the first leg itself which they convincingly won 5-0.
Here’s the lowdown on who’s in and who’s out for next year’s World Cup.
AFRICA
Ghanaian Michael Essein (L) and Egyptian Mohamed Nagi Gedo (R) vie for the ball during the FIFA World Cup 2014 African zone football qualifier second leg play-off on November 19, 2013 in Cairo, Egypt
Qualified: Algeria, Cameroon, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria.
Ghana were the most impressive of the five teams as they scored 18 goals in their 6 group matches en route to qualifying, with a only a 0-1 reverse away at Zambia to show in the loss column. They also had the highest points of all the teams (15) and in playoff against Egypt, came through comfortably winning 7-3 on aggregate, against one of the top sides in the continent.
Cameroon are making a 7th appearance at the World Cup finals – a record for an African nation.
Algeria rode their luck a bit to get there after coming through against Burkina Faso on away goals after the tie finished 3-3 on aggregate.
Countries to miss out: Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Congo, Congo DR, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Guinea, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Malawi, Mali, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
Top scorers: Asamoah Gyan (Ghana), Mohamed Aboutrika, Mohamed Salah (both Egypt) – 6 goals each
ASIA
Keisuke Honda of Japan celebrates scoring 1-2 during the international friendly match between Belgium and Japan on November 19, 2013 in Brussels, Belgium
Qualified: Australia, Iran, Japan, South Korea.
Jordan can join that group, but only following a miracle, as they go into their second leg match against Uruguay already 0-5 down on aggregate following a mauling in the home leg last Wednesday.
Japan and Iran stood out in the qualifying campaign. The Blue Samurais were one of the first teams to book their place at the World Cup and they also tallied the highest number of points.
Iran were also impressive, mainly for their superb defensive record, as they scored just 8 goals in 8 matches and yet managed to top their group. They conceded only two goals in 720 minutes of football action at one stretch. Iran conceded just 7 goals in all and kept 10 clean sheets in their 16 games.
Australia managed to sneak in despite not performing all that well. Pitted against Iraq, Japan, Oman and Jordan, the Socceroos managed only three wins and the campaign ended with their manager Holger Osieck getting sacked. Ange Postecoglou has now taken over the managerial reigns.
Countries that missed out: Iraq, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Uzbekistan, Jordan
Top scorer: Shinji Okazaki (Japan) – 8 goals
EUROPE
Robin van Persie finished as the top scorer in the European qualifying section
Qualified: Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, England, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Russia, Switzerland, Spain.
Seven of these teams made it through undefeated – Belgium, England, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain and Switzerland – but the Germans and the Dutch were simply brilliant and the best of the lot. Both had identical records of played 10, won 9 and drawn 1, collecting 28 from a possible 30 points on offer. Between them, the two countries scored 70 goals.
Amongst the minnows, Greece were impressive, keeping 8 clean sheets in their 10 qualifying games and the form of young striker Kostas Mitroglou was exciting to watch.
France left it really late to qualify; not only did they have to come through the playoffs, they also had to come back from a 0-2 deficit after the first leg against Ukraine. They did in the end, becoming the first team in history to ever come back from such a deficit in World Cup qualifiers.
Countries who missed out: Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Faroe Islands, Finland, Georgia, Hungary, Iceland, Israel, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, Norway, Northern Ireland, Poland, Republic of Ireland, Romania, San Marino, Scotland, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Turkey, Ukraine, Wales.
Top scorer: Robin van Persie (Netherlands) – 11 goals
CONCACAF (North and Central America)
Mexico are through after a 9-3 aggregate win over New Zealand
Qualified: Costa Rica, Honduras, United States, Mexico.
The United States, coached by Jürgen Klinnsmann, were the top team in qualifying, although on a relative note. They were beaten by Honduras, Jamaica and Costa Rica along the way.
Traditional powerhouses Mexico also endured a trying qualification as they put in one of their worst performances ever that saw them take the playoffs route to the World Cup. Having qualified for all, but one (USA ’94), of the World Cups since 1982, Mexico were on the brink of elimination after losing 2-1 to Costa Rica; they won just 2 games through their 10 group games in the final round. They had rivals USA to thank, as the Americans scored a late winner to deny Panama fourth place. They put New Zealand to the sword in the qualifiers, emerging 9-3 winners on aggregate.
Countries that missed out: Jamaica, Panama (from final group stage).
Top scorer: Deon McCauley (Belize) – 11 goals
OCEANIA
Qualified: None.
With New Zealand losing to Mexico in the playoffs, the Oceania region will see no representatives at next year’s World Cup.
Other countries to miss out: New Caledonia, Solomon Islands, Tahiti.
SOUTH AMERICA
Argentina eventually took top spot after fending off the challenge from Colombia and Chile
Qualified: Argentina, Brazil (hosts), Colombia, Ecuador, Chile, Uruguay
With Brazil out of the picture, having qualified as hosts, Argentina found some new faces battling with them for top honours in the CONMEBOL region. Colombia and Chile mounted a sustained challenge for the top spot as each of the three teams secured 9 wins in the qualifiers. However, Argentina nudged slightly ahead with a better overall standing with their strike force of Lionel Messi, Sergio Aguero and Gonzalo Higuain hitting top gear.
Third-place finishers last time around, Uruguay almost did not make it after a horrendous start to their campaign which saw them fail to win even once in their first five games away, including heavy defeats in Bolivia and Colombia. They remained unbeaten at home though, and that ensured that they finished fifth in the standings, giving them a playoff against Jordan. They too are through after the completion of their playoff tie against Jordan last evening.
Top scorers: Luis Suarez (Uruguay) – 11 goals
Countries that missed out: Bolivia, Paraguay, Peru, Venezuela.
