The eyes of the footballing world will be on Rio de Janeiro on 30 July at 3.00pm local time when the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™ Preliminary Draw, the first major Kick-Off Event ahead of the tournament itself, takes place.
The ceremony will be held close to the beautiful Copacabana beach, where four kilometres of white sand stretch across one of the most recognisable districts of Rio. Guests from around the world will convene at the Marina da Gloria harbour to watch the draw for the 2014 FIFA World Cup Preliminary Competition.
From Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, a total of 203 nations will participate in the campaign. Brazil qualify automatically as hosts and will therefore not be involved in the Preliminary Draw. Bhutan, Guam and Mauritania have also opted out, while Brunei Darussalam are currently suspended by FIFA and therefore prohibited from participating in the qualifying competition.
Same number of places
There will be no changes with regard to the allocation of places at Brazil 2014. As the FIFA Executive Committee confirmed at the beginning of March, Europe will receive 13 places, Africa 5, South America 4.5, Asia 4.5, North, Central America and Caribbean 3.5 and Oceania 0.5. There will however be a change to the draw for the play-offs between confederations. The draw for these play-offs will now take place at a press conference following the meeting of the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil Organising Committee on 29 July 2011 in Rio.
Four regions in the draw
The format for the South American qualifying competition has been confirmed: As Brazil do not need to qualify, the CONMEBOL Zone will consist of one group of nine teams all competing for the 4.5 places at the finals. Also confirmed is the first round of qualifying in Oceania, which will consist of all teams from the confederation, aside from New Zealand, facing one another as part of the South Pacific Games in New Caledonia in August. The qualifying draw for the four other confederations will be made in Brazil. However, the formats for these preliminary competitions must still be ratified by the FIFA Executive Committee, which will convene in Zurich on 27 May.
Experience it LIVE with FIFA.com
FIFA.com will be providing extensive coverage of the preliminary draw in Rio de Janeiro. As well as a Live Draw Application and the popular Fanchat, which allows fans from around the world to share their opinions, the official 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil website will be offering exclusive interviews with stars from the worlds of sport, politics and show business, as well as all the necessary information regarding the draw and colourful reports from in and around Rio.
