Brasil 2014 Schedule

The 2014 FIFA World Cup finals in Brasil will feature sixty-four matches and will take place over the course of thirty-two days in June and July 2014.  The group stage features forty-eight matches.  The knockout stage features fifteen matches, and there is a third-place match as well.

Match times are given in Central Time (GMT-5).

12 June 2014
Croatia at Brasil 15:00 Sao Paulo

13 June 2014
Mexico vs. Cameroon 11:00 Natal
Spain vs. Netherlands 14:00 Salvador
Chile vs. Australia 17:00 Cuiaba

14 June 2014
Colombia vs. Greece 11:00 Belo Horizonte
Uruguay vs. Costa Rica 14:00 Fortaleza
England vs. Italy 17:00 Manaus
Cote d'Ivoire vs. Japan 20:00 Recife

15 June 2014
Switzerland vs. Ecuador 11:00 Brasilia
France vs. Honduras 14:00 Porto Alegre
Argentina vs. Bosnia and Herzegovina 17:00 Rio de Janeiro

16 June 2014
Germany vs. Portugal 11:00 Salvador
Iran vs. Nigeria 14:00 Curitiba
Ghana vs. United States of America 17:00 Natal

17 June 2014
Belgium vs. Algeria 11:00 Belo Horizonte
Mexico at Brasil 14:00 Fortaleza
Russia vs. South Korea 17:00 Cuiaba

18 June 2014
Australia vs. Netherlands 11:00 Porto Alegre
Spain vs. Chile 14:00 Rio de Janeiro
Cameroon vs. Croatia 17:00 Manaus

19 June 2014
Colombia vs. Cote d'Ivoire 11:00 Brasilia
Uruguay vs. England 14:00 Sao Paulo
Japan vs. Greece 17:00 Natal

20 June 2014
Italy vs. Costa Rica 11:00 Recife
Switzerland vs. France 14:00 Salvador
Honduras vs. Ecuador 17:00 Curitiba

21 June 2014
Argentina vs. Iran 11:00 Belo Horizonte
Germany vs. Ghana 14:00 Fortaleza
Nigeria vs. Bosnia and Herzegovina 17:00 Cuiaba

22 June 2014
Belgium vs. Russia 11:00 Rio de Janeiro
South Korea vs. Algeria 14:00 Porto Alegre
United States of America vs. Portugal 17:00 Manaus

23 June 2014
Netherlands vs. Chile 11:00 Sao Paulo
Australia vs. Spain 11:00 Curitiba
Croatia vs. Mexico 15:00 Recife
Cameroon at Brasil 15:00 Brasilia

24 June 2014
Italy vs. Uruguay 11:00 Natal
Costa Rica vs. England 11:00 Belo Horizonte
Greece vs. Cote d'Ivoire 15:00 Fortaleza
Japan vs. Colombia 15:00 Cuiaba

25 June 2014
Bosnia and Herzegovina vs. Iran 11:00 Salvador
Nigeria vs. Argentina 11:00 Porto Alegre
Ecuador vs. France 15:00 Rio de Janeiro
Honduras vs. Switzerland 15:00 Manaus

26 June 2014
United States of America vs. Germany 11:00 Recife
Portugal vs. Ghana 11:00 Brasilia
South Korea vs. Belgium 15:00 Sao Paulo
Algeria vs. Russia 15:00 Curitiba

28 June 2014
Winner Group A vs. Second Group B 11:00 Belo Horizonte (49)
Winner Group C vs. Second Group D 15:00 Rio de Janeiro (50)

29 June 2014
Winner Group B vs. Second Group A 11:00 Fortaleza (51)
Winner Group D vs. Second Group C 15:00 Recife (52)

30 June 2014
Winner Group E vs. Second Group F 11:00 Brasilia (53)
Winner Group G vs. Second Group H 15:00 Porto Alegre (54)

1 July 2014
Winner Group F vs. Second Group E 11:00 Sao Paulo (55)
Winner Group H vs. Second Group G 15:00 Salvador (56)

4 July 2014
Winner Match 53 vs. Winner Match 54 11:00 Rio de Janeiro (QF1)
Winner Match 49 vs. Winner Match 50 15:00 Fortaleza (QF2)

5 July 2014
Winner Match 55 vs. Winner Match 56 11:00 Brasilia (QF3)
Winner Match 51 vs. Winner Match 52 15:00 Salvador (QF4)

8 July 2014
Winner QF2 vs. Winner QF1 15:00 Belo Horizonte (SF1)

9 July 2014
Winner QF4 vs. Winner QF3 15:00 Sao Paulo (SF2)

12 July 2014
Loser SF1 vs. Loser SF2 15:00 Brasilia

13 July 2014
Winner SF1 vs. Winner SF2 14:00 Rio de Janeiro

Brasil 2014 Draw

The draw for the 2014 FIFA World Cup finals was held today in Bahia.  The thirty-two qualifiers have been split into eight groups of four.  Each team will play the other three teams in its group one time each for a total of three matches in the group stage.  The top two finishers in each group advance to the knockout stages of Brasil 2014.

Italy were the European team drawn into Pot 2 and were then matched up with Uruguay from Pot X.  The draw out of Pot 2 was jagged, with Chile being drawn first and getting shoved into Group B with Brasil preventing them from Group A.  Next, Cameroon, the third team drawn from Pot 2, found themselves in Group A.  Ecuador came next out of the magically bowl, but with Group C occupied by Colombia and Group D already having its second team in Italy, Ecuador bounced all the way to Group E.  Whoever predicted the groups would be filled in the order D-B-A-E-C deserves a cookie at the very least.  The rest of the draw provided less confusion but just as much drama.

Group A
Brasil
Croatia
Mexico
Cameroon

Brasil will be expected to ease into the knockout stages against three underperforming sides that all managed barely to squeak into the finals.  Croatia will be without the suspended Mario Mandzukic in their opening match, but they were unlikely to grab points against Brasil in any case.  Cameroon's own former players are not optimistic about their chances, as seen in this interview with former captain Patrick Mboma (http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/news/newsid=2225545/index.html).  Can Mexico become the dominant side they were in 2011 and 2012 or will they remain the paper giants we saw in 2013?  The crucial match will be between Croatia and Mexico, though Mexico will now be favored with Croatian captain Josip Simunic suspended for the entire tournament.

Group B
Spain
Netherlands
Chile
Australia

An Australia side that has been in turmoil since qualifying in June will be put out of their misery quickly in this section.  Three teams from the top 10 in the ELO rankings are present in this group.  Netherlands disappointed at their last major tournament, the UEFA Euro 2012, but they had an undeniable offense in qualifying for Brasil 2014.  They flattened Hungary 8-1 in one match.  Spain have lost only three competitive matches since the UEFA Euro 2008 finals.  Chile were the second-best side in South American qualifying, and the standings would have reflected that had they just been able to avoid red cards in two matches against Colombia.  If Chile behave themselves and finish matches with eleven players on the pitch, there is no reason that they should not expect to go far.

Group C
Colombia
Greece
Cote d'Ivoire
Japan

This group is so even that all four sides must be at once celebratory and wary.  Cote d'Ivoire finally miss taking part in the Group of Death, and the golden generation will be looking to right the wrongs of major tournaments and opportunities passed with a berth in the knockout stages for the first time at a FIFA World Cup.  Ultra defensive Greece, who unlike Cote d'Ivoire actually won their continental title in the past decade, are also looking for a first round of 16 berth in a third appearance at the finals.  Japan are the class of Asia, but they looked outclassed at the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup.  Colombia are glad to be placed in a group with teams of such pedigree as Colombia will be making their first appearance on the global stage since 1998.  Colombia will be looking to wipe the disappointments of their quarterfinal exit to Peru at 2011 Copa America away.  Freddy Guarin is suspended for Colombia's opener against Greece.

Group D
Uruguay
Costa Rica
Italy
England

Uruguay were perhaps the team least deserving of a seed based on the fact that two teams below them in the CONMEBOL standings were not seeded, yet here Uruguay find themselves amongst the seeds.  Perhaps it is fitting that they were the team dealt the most difficult group of the opening round.  Uruguay's 1-0 victory at Venezuela in June began the resurgence that saw them catapult back into playoff contention, and after thrashing Jordan on the road they are back at the site of their triumph at Brasil 1950.  Italy tied Uruguay at the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup and qualified with games to spare, but sadly for the Azzurri, they failed to win either of their final two qualifiers, preventing them from obtaining a seed.  Italy also managed only a draw against England when the teams met at the UEFA Euro 2012.  Costa Rica are a team that deserve respect, a team which won all five home matches in the CONCACAF Fourth Round to finish second in that group.  Note that the Ticos, the side most used to warm weather, will be playing all three of their group matches outside of the four southernmost (and coldest) cities.  Note that the Ticos also earned a draw at Uruguay in qualifying for South Africa 2010 after losing the first leg of their playoff at home.

Group E
Switzerland
Ecuador
France
Honduras

How easily the world forgets that Switzerland are the only team to have defeated both Brasil and Spain in the past four years, otherwise known as the two top-ranked outfits in the ELO rankings.  Ecuador have home continent advantage, but it is unknown whether the emotions that will swirl as they play to honor the late Cristian Benitez will boost or hinder their performance at Brasil 2014.  France scraped by Ukraine in the UEFA Playoffs to get in, but this team is likely to be more united than the French side that fell to pieces in the dressing room at South Africa 2010.  Honduras, playing in their third finals, will perhaps never see a clearer path to the knockout stages and will be relishing their chances to get through.  Honduras and Ecuador will get a rematch of their ill-tempered 2-2 draw in a friendly last month that saw each side reduced to ten men.

Group F
Argentina
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Iran
Nigeria

Argentina, the power team in qualifying out of the power continent playing a tournament on the power continent, will be heavy favorites to get out of this group.  Argentina just beat Bosnia in a friendly last month.  Iran are a team that legitimately should not even be at Brasil 2014 given that but for egregious refereeing errors against Uzbekistan in 2012, Uzbekistan would have qualified in their place.  However, as Uzbekistan, a much stronger and more entertaining side are undeservedly not going to Brasil, the least Iran can do to honor them is to play decent football.  Bosnia are a joy to watch in attack, but they are unproven and appear much more susceptible to being dealt an early exit than they did early in 2013.  Home losses to Slovakia in qualifying and to the United States of America in a friendly, plus their difficulty in scoring one goal against Lithuania to qualify on the final matchday may have shaken their confidence.  They are the only side making a debut at a FIFA World Cup finals at Brasil 2014.  Nigeria, the 2013 African Cup of Nations winners, played three matches at Brasil this past summer at the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup.  With a healthy Emmanuel Emenike returning to guide them past Ethiopia in the final round of qualifying, the Super Eagles look poised to swoop into the knockout stages.

Group G
Germany
Portugal
Ghana
United States of America

The overblown Ghana-United States rivalry is back in full force.  Nevermind that Ghana failed to score from open play in the group stage of South Africa 2010 or that Germany crushed them 4-0 in their third match.  Somehow, Ghana actually created its first deserved goals of the tournament in their Round of 16 victory against the Yanks.  This after defeating the United States in the group stage at Germany 2006.  This after United States defeated Portugal at Korea/Japan 2002 in the group stage.  This after Germany defeated United States in the quarterfinals of Korea/Japan 2002.  This after Germany defeated Portugal for third place at Germany 2006 and in the group stage at the UEFA Euro 2012.  To say these teams are familiar with one another would be rather truthful.  Ghana finally have the Ayew brothers Jordan and Andre back in the fold, as well as Asamoah Gyan and Kevin-Prince Boateng, both of whom have returned from international retirement.  The Yanks won the 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup and finished first in qualifying.  Portugal were miserable in qualifying, failing to beat Israel in two matches, but they found out that Cristiano Ronaldo has the capability of carrying them through two matches against Sweden.  Can he do it for three matches at Brasil 2014?  Germany, perhaps the best footballing country in the history of football with five FIFA World Cups to their name (three men's, two women's) always go deep in tournaments, and their current youth movement has advanced at a stellar rate.  It is no coincidence that two teams from the German domestic Bundesliga advanced to the 2013 UEFA Champions League final.

Group H
Belgium
Algeria
Russia
South Korea

Belgium, making their first appearance at a major tournament since Korea/Japan 2002, will be absolutely delighted with their group stage draw.  Les Diables Rouges are heavy favorites to advance out of this group because the outbreak of young Belgian talents in the past three years has astronomical.  South Korea did not even celebrate their qualification as they lost their final qualifier at home to Iran and backed into the finals on goal differential against the aforementioned unlucky Uzbekistan side.  Do not expect them to celebrate at Brasil either.  Russia are the clear favorites to come out of the group alongside Belgium, having just pipped Portugal to win their qualifying group, but disturbing results like the loss away to Northern Ireland should prevent people from being overly confident in the Russian team.  Algeria were fortunate to get through their equal in Burkina Faso on the most controversial of tiebreakers: the away-goals rule.  For a team that sat back and played for a draw in their final group match of South Africa 2010 when a win was needed, it is tough to see enough ambition to push them into the knockout stages.

As always, I am contractually obliged to give ridiculously early predictions about who will advance.  Let's go with Brasil and Mexico, Spain and Chile, Colombia and Cote d'Ivoire, Italy and Uruguay, Switzerland and Ecuador, Argentina and Nigeria, Germany and United States, and Belgium and Russia.  Very astute observation: I did include all six CONMEBOL teams.

Group Analyses:
http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/final-draw/news/newsid=2240026/index.html?intcmp=newsreader_news_box_1

A: http://espnfc.com/news/story/_/id/1637698?cc=5901
B: http://espnfc.com/news/story/_/id/1640340?cc=5901
C: http://espnfc.com/news/story/_/id/1640367?cc=5901
D: http://espnfc.com/news/story/_/id/1640368?cc=5901
E: http://espnfc.com/news/story/_/id/1640369?cc=5901
F: http://espnfc.com/news/story/_/id/1640370?cc=5901
G: http://espnfc.com/news/story/_/id/1640371?cc=5901
H: http://espnfc.com/news/story/_/id/1640372?cc=5901

Official Brasil 2014 Draw Procedure

FIFA has announced the draw procedure for Friday's final draw.  The teams will be split into four pots, but not all pots will be of equal size.  Pot One contains the eight seeded teams, Pot Two contains the five CAF teams and the remaining two CONMEBOL teams, Pot Three contains the four CONCACAF and the four AFC teams, and Pot Four contains the remaining nine UEFA teams.  In lieu of a special pot for the extra UEFA team, there will be a Pot X containing the four seeded CONMEBOL teams.

Before the rest of the draw occurs, one team from Pot Four will be drawn and then removed from Pot Four.  This European team will then be drawn with a team from Pot X to determine with which South American seed it will be paired.  Then, the draw begins in earnest.

Brasil will be assigned to position 1 in Group A.  The other seven seeds will be drawn into position 1 in their groups.  The European team chosen ahead of the draw will be placed in the group alongside their Pot X companion.  Pot Two is then drawn with the teams placed into groups in alphabetical order (Group A, then Group B, C, et cetera) as drawn with the added caveat that Chile and Ecuador cannot end up in the same group as a Pot X seed.  Pots Three and Four follow the same procedure as Pot Two except all eight groups will be available to all teams.  Lastly, within each group the teams from Pots Two, Three, and Four will then go through another random draw to determine their positions within their respective groups in order to determine the order of the fixtures within each group.

Pot One
Belgium
Germany
Spain
Switzerland

Pot X Subgroup
Brasil
Argentina
Colombia
Uruguay

Pot Two
Algeria
Cameroon
Cote d'Ivoire
Ghana
Nigeria

Subgroup Protected from Pot X teams
Chile
Ecuador

Pot Three
Australia
Japan
Iran
South Korea
Costa Rica
Honduras
Mexico
United States of America

Pot Four
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Croatia
England
France
Greece
Italy
Netherlands
Portugal
Russia

Here were the results of my new sample draw following the confirmed draw procedure.

A1 Brasil                               B1 Switzerland                  C1 Spain                               D1 Argentina

A2 Iran                                  B2 Mexico                           C2 Ghana                             D2 South Korea

A3 Bosnia                            B3 Algeria                            C3 United States              D3 Cote d’Ivoire

A4 Portugal                         B4 England                          C4 Russia                             D4 Croatia

 

E1 Belgium                          F1 Colombia                       G1 Germany                      H1 Uruguay

E2 Ecuador                          F2 Japan                               G2 Italy                                 H2 Netherlands

E3 Honduras                       F3 Greece                           G3 Australia                        H3 Nigeria

E4 France                             F4 Cameroon                     G4 Chile                               H4 Costa Rica

The European team drawn from Pot Four before the draw was Bosnia.  Bosnia drew Brasil out of Pot X, so I immediately threw Bosnia into Group A because Brasil were automatically placed in spot A1.  Next, I drew the Pot One seeded teams in this order: Switzerland, Spain, Argentina, Colombia, Germany, and Uruguay.  Pot Two came next.  They were drawn in this order: Algeria, Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire, Cameroon (skipped over E to give Chile and Ecuador space), Nigeria (skipped over E and G to give Chile and Ecuador space), Ecuador, and Chile.  Pot Three was drawn in this order: Iran, Mexico, United States, South Korea, Honduras, Japan, Australia, and Costa Rica.  Pot Four fell out in this order: Portugal, England, Russia, Croatia, France, Greece, Italy, and Netherlands.  Finally, positions 2, 3, and 4 in each group were drawn to give the diagram above.

Video of Announcement:
http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/final-draw/news/newsid=2238114/index.html?intcmp=newsreader_news_caption

News Reports:
http://www.mlssoccer.com/worldcup/2014/news/article/2013/12/03/world-cup-2014-tough-groups-await-brazil-after-united-states-concacaf-placed?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=News&utm_campaign=Unpaid
http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/fifa-world-cup-2014-draw-2879583