FIFA World Cup 2014 Brazil

With the last version of the FIFA World Cup (South Africa 2010) getting mixed reviews, it is now time to look forward to the next edition. The FIFA World Cup in 2014 will be the 20th edition of the tournament that started in 1930, and has now become the most watched international sports tournament of all time. Billions of people tune in to watch the matches, and the excitement levels and the passion of the countries is there for all to see.

Brazil is the leading winner of the competition, amassing the title an impressive 5 times. The last time the World Cup was held on their home soil was in 1950, and they managed to reach the final, losing out to Uruguay. Brazil has developed a reputation for producing the most skillful and panache filled teams, and indeed, watching them is sheer bliss. The list of soccer players that Brazil has given the world is mammoth, with the likes of Pele, Garrincha, Zico, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and Kaka to name a few.

2014 World Cup Qualification

There are 207 teams within the FIFA Confederation who will compete for a place in the World Cup finals, and this qualification process is a long and drawn out affair. 32 teams will be competing in the finals, and there are 31 spots up for grabs. Brazil, being the host nation, get automatic qualification. Amazingly, Brazil has made an appearance at each and every single edition of the World Cup so far, so this will be their 20th consecutive appearance in the competition. The qualifying matches will begin in the year 2012, after Euro 2012 ends. Some South American nations though, will begin their qualification process as early as the fall of 2011.

Each of the 6 confederations of FIFA will distribute the various countries into different groups and they will play a series of home and away matches against each other in a round robin format. Some teams will even have to play a final play-off to confirm their entry into the tournament.

The Stadiums

There are 12 cities where the soccer matches will take place, and these were chosen completely on merit after 16 cities applied for the same. The final will be played in the Maracana in Rio de Janiero, the same stadium where the 1950 final was played. Interestingly, this match holds the record for the most spectators for a world cup match, at 200,000 people. Here are all the stadiums where the matches will be held.

Stadium Name	City	Capacity
Estadio do Maracana	Rio de Janiero	76,525
Estadio Mane Garrincha (Estadio Nacional de Brasilia)	Brasilia	71,500
Mineirao (Estadio Governador Magalahes Pinto)	Belo Horizonte	69,950
Estadio Placido Aderaldo Castelo (Gigante da Boa Vista)	Fortaleza	66,700
Estadio Beira-Rio (Estadio Jose Pinheiro Borda)	Porto Alegre	62,000
Bahia Arena	Salvador	55,000
Arena da Amazonia (Estadio Vivaldo Lima)	Manaus	50,000
New Corinthians Stadium	Sao Paulo	48,000
Arena Pantanal	Cuiaba	42,500
Arena da Baixada	Curitiba	41,375
Arena das Dunas	Natal	Undecided
Arena Cidade da Copa	Recife	Undecided

Hosting a World Cup is a very big deal for any country, because it helps their infrastructure and tourism immensely. Almost all of these stadiums are getting a complete revamp because of the Word Cup, and a few of them are new stadiums which are being built from scratch.

The Predictions

To predict the results of the FIFA World Cup in 2014 is very difficult right now because it is so far away. A lot can change between now and then, but one thing that can be guaranteed is that Brazil will be overwhelming favorites to clinch their 6th World Cup. Home advantage plays a large role in these tournaments, and Brazil can never be discounted as favorites in any case. Argentina will also be looking to make a mark since they will have no problem acclimatizing with the weather conditions, and they will have a then 27 year old Lionel Messi playing at the peak of his powers. If current world champions Spain can keep up their impressive level, they too will be firm favorites. A major discouraging factor for them is that their midfield lynchpin, Xavi Hernandez, would be 36 by then and definitely past his best. The youthful Germany team that scintillated and wowed us in South Africa will also be up there with a firm shout to win the tournament.

The next FIFA World Cup 2014 is going to be an exciting 30 days of great football and controversial clashes between some of the biggest names in the footballing world. The recent bidding debacle of Russia 2018 and Qatar 2022 has left a sour taste in the mouths of football fans, but as we inch nearer to the 2014, this will be forgotten and we will get more and more tantalized by the prospect of a great footballing and samba carnival.