FIFA: World Cup qualifying draws made in Brazil

Just a little over a year after Spain won the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, the draws for the qualifying rounds of the next FIFA World Cup have been made. Host nation Brazil invited stars past and present such as Ronaldo, Cafu and Neymar to conduct the draw along with FIFA General Secretary Jerome Valcke in Rio de Janeiro. There was no draw for South American qualifying as the nine countries who will compete in qualifying will face each other in a round-robin home-and-away fixture list. There were draws for each of the remaining five continents and Stoppage Time – International Football Blog lists each of the draw results below for your information.

AFRICA (Teams separated by a slash mark and in bold are to be decided)

GROUP A: South Africa, Botswana, Central African Republic, Somalia/Ethiopia
GROUP B: Tunisia, Cape Verde Islands, Sierra Leone, Equatorial Guinea/Madagascar
GROUP C: Ivory Coast, Morocco, Gambia, Chad/Tanzania 
GROUP  D: Ghana, Zambia, Sudan, Lesotho/Burundi 
GROUP E: Burkina Faso, Gabon, Niger, Sao Tome e Principe/Congo 
GROUP F: Nigeria, Malawi, Seychelles/Kenya, Djibouti/Namibia
GROUP G: Egypt, Guinea, Zimbabwe, Comoros/Mozambique
GROUP H: Algeria, Mali, Benin, Eritrea/Rwanda
GROUP I: Cameroon, Libya, Guinea-Bissau/Togo, Swaziland/Congo DR 
GROUP J: Senegal, Uganda, Angola, Mauritius or Liberia 

Asian champions Japan face Uzbekistan, Syria and North Korea

ASIA

GROUP A: China, Jordan, Iraq, Singapore
GROUP B: Korea Republic, Kuwait, UAE, Lebanon
GROUP C: Japan, Uzbekistan, Syria, Korea DPR
GROUP D: Australia, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Thailand
GROUP E: Iran, Qatar, Bahrain, Indonesia

EUROPE

GROUP A: Croatia, Serbia, Belgium, Scotland, Macedonia, Wales
GROUP B: Italy, Denmark, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Armenia, Malta.
GROUP C: Germany, Sweden, Republic of Ireland, Austria, Faroe Islands, Kazakhstan.
GROUP D: Netherlands, Turkey, Hungary, Romania, Estonia, Andorra.
GROUP E: Norway, Slovenia, Switzerland, Albania, Cyprus, Iceland.
GROUP F: Portugal, Russia, Israel, Northern Ireland, Azerbaijan, Luxembourg
GROUP G: Greece, Slovakia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Lithuania, Latvia, Liechtenstein
GROUP H: England, Montenegro, Ukraine, Poland, Moldova, San Marino
GROUP I: Spain, France, Belarus, Georgia, Finland

NORTH AND CENTRAL AMERICA (Round 2)

GROUP A: El Salvador, Surinam, Cayman Islands, Dominican Republic
GROUP B: Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Barbados, Bermuda
GROUP C: Panama, Dominica, Nicaragua, Bahamas
GROUP D: Canada, St. Kitts and Nevis, Puerto Rico, St Lucia
GROUP E: Grenada, Guatemala, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize
GROUP F: Haiti, Antigua & Barbuda, Curaçao, US Virgin Islands

Mexico will be the favourites to qualify from North and Central America

NORTH AND CENTRAL AMERICA (Round 3)

Group A: USA, Jamaica, Group E winner, Group F winner
Group B: Mexico, Costa Rica, Group A winner, Group B winner
Group C: Honduras, Cuba, Group D winner, Group C winner

OCEANIA (Teams separated by a slash in bold to be decided)

GROUP A: Vanuatu, New Caledonia, American Samoa/Cook Islands/Samoa/Tonga/Tahiti 
GROUP B: Fiji, New Zealand, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea

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