UAE handed favourable draw for World Cup qualifiers

The UAE were given a promising draw for round three of Asian qualifying of the 2014 World Cup — placed in Group B with South Korea, Kuwait and Lebanon.

The Emirates were guaranteed to face at least one of Asia's major football powerhouses and were placed with South Korea, but will fancy their chances against a Kuwaiti side they defeated 3-0 in a friendly last year.

Completing the group is Lebanon, who the UAE comfortably beat 7-2 in a friendly made famous by Theyab Awana's back-heel penalty.

The UAE secured their passage to third round of qualifying after beating India 5-2 on aggregate after surviving monsoon conditions in Delhi.

The top two of each of Asia's five groups will move into the next round, which will consist of two groups of five. The top two of those groups will qualify for the World Cup finals.

The two third placed teams will meet in a play-off. The winner of that will then play the fifth-placed team from South American qualifying for a place in Brazil.

Asia qualifying

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

Africa qualifying

First round (Matches on Nov 11-15, 2011)
Match 1 Seychelles - Kenya
Match 2 Guinea Bissau - Togo
Match 3 Djibouti - Namibia
Match 4 Mauritius - Liberia
Match 5 Comoros - Mozambique
Match 6 Equatorial Guinea - Madagascar
Match 7 Somalia - Ethiopia
Match 8 Lesotho - Burundi
Match 9 Eritrea - Rwanda
Match 10 Swaziland - RD Congo
Match 11 Sao Tome - Congo
Match 12 Chad - Tanzania

Second roundd (Matches from June 1, 2012 to September 10, 2013)

GROUP A
Winner match 7
Central African Republic
Botswana
South Africa

GROUP B
Winner match 6
Sierra Leone
Cape Verde
Tunisia

GROUP C
Winner match 12
Gambia
Morocco
Ivory Coast

GROUP D
Winner match 8
Sudan
Zambia
Ghana

GROUP E
Winnermatch 11
Niger
Gabon
Burkina Faso

GROUP F
Winner match 3
Winner match 1
Malawi
Nigeria

GROUP G
Winner match 5
Zimbabwe
Guinea
Egypt

GROUP H
Winner match 9
Benin
Mali
Algeria

GROUP I
Winner match 10
Winner match 2
Libya
Cameroon

GROUP J
Winner match 4
Angola
Uganda
Senegal

Concacaf qualifying

Second round

Group A: El Salvador, Suriname, Cayman Islands, Dominican Republic
Group B: Trinidad, 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 Grenadines, Belize
Group F: Haiti, Antigua, Curacao, US Virgin Islands
- Matches played Sept 2 to Nov 15, 2011

Third rooundd (June 8 to Oct 16, 2012)
GROUP A
USA
Jamaica
Winner Group E
Winner Group F

GROUP B
Mexico
Costa Rica
Winner Group A
Winner Group B

GROUP C
Honduras
Cuba
Winner Group D
Winner Group C

Uefa qualifying

Group A: Croatia, Serbia, Belgium, Scotland, Macedonia, Wales
Group B: Italy, Denmark, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Armenia, Malta
Group C: Germany, Sweden, 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, Leichtenstein
Group H: England, Montenegro, Ukraine, Poland, Moldova, San Marino
Group I: Spain, France, Belarus, Georgia, Finland
- Nine group winners qualify for finals; eight best second-placed teams play-off with winners also progressing

Oceania qualifying

First round (Nov 21-26, 2011):
Cook Islands, Samoa, American Samoa, Tonga
- winner qualifies for 2nd rd

Second round
Group A: Vanuatu, New Caledonia, 1st rd winner, Tahiti
Group B: Fiji, New Zealand, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea

South American qualifying conists of nine teams in one group. The top four qualify for the finals outright with the fifth-placed team playing the Asian play-off winner in another play-off for qualification for Brazil 2014.