2014 world cup calendar
| 2014 | ||
|---|---|---|
| 12 June – 13 July | 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil (TM) | Brazil |
| 16-28 August | Youth Olympic Football Tournaments Nanjing 2014 – Girls | China |
| 16-28 August | Youth Olympic Football Tournaments Nanjing 2014 – Boys | China |
| 10-20 December | FIFA Club World Cup Morocco 2014 | Morocco |
Leekens: Every team is capable
Georges Leekens, Belgium coach
It’s a group where every team is capable of beating everyone else, but also of losing points to everyone else.Croatia and Serbia are two very difficult opponents. We mustn’t underestimate Macedonia to ensure we don’t drop points. Scotland and Wales can play good football. We need to be prepared to try and beat everyone, because it’s something you have to be able to do if you want to qualify. So I’m fairly happy. Everyone will have to be at their best.
Craig Levein, Scotland manager
It could have been worse. With a draw like this we’ll have a lot of homework to do in preparation for the matches, and I wouldn’t dare to make any predictions at this early stage. I have faith in my team. They’re talented and have a collective determination to succeed, but we’ll have to work very hard. Belgium are probably the toughest opponent from pot three. We’ll also be up against two very good teams in Croatia and Serbia. All of these opponents will provide very tough challenges for my team. There was a lot of intrigue before the draw, and we were quickly paired with fellow home nation Wales. That will be a particularly exciting tie for the fans.
Dejagah doubtful for Uzbekistan clash
Tehran: Iran forward Ashkan Dejagah is likely to miss Iran’s World Cup 2014 qualifier match against Uzbekistan on June 3, The Tehran Times reported.
Dejagah, who plays his club football for Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga, suffered a hamstring injury while playing against Werder Bremen on Saturday prompting speculations of whether the striker would be fit enough to feature in Carlos Queiroz’s squad for the trip to Tashkent.
“Dejagah may return sooner than the Wolfsburg’s doctors have diagnosed. It is not impossible; it depends on his body’s ability to recover. But he will likely miss the match against Uzbekistan,” said Parhan Khanlari, the Iran national football team’s doctor.
Dejagah, who also played international football for Germany in age-group competitions, made his debut against Qatar earlier this year and scored a brace.
After travelling to Uzbekistan on June 3, Iran will take on Qatar on 12 June at home where Dejagah is expected to be fit.
DPRK soar in FIFA Rankings
Zurich: DPR Korea, following their heroics in the recent AFC Challenge Cup in Nepal, moved 25 places in the April FIFA World Rankings.
The Koreans successfully defended the AFC Challenge Cup title in March beating all the sides en route to the final where they defeated Turkmenistan 2-1.
The Challenge Cup champions are 86th worldwide with 377 points and their ranking has improved record-breaking 25 spots. Despite an early exit from the 2014 FIFA World Cup, DPR Korea have already secured a place for the Asian Cup finals to be held in Australia in 2015 by virtue of winning the Challenge Cup.
Australia dropped down to 21 in the ranking but still are the best-ranked Asian team – 9 spot ahead of Japan who climbed three spots up from the March ranking.
AFC Challenge Cup participating Philippines, after claiming the historic third-place in the tournament, moved eight points up from the previous rankings to 148th place, one point above fellow Challenge Cup participating Nepal. Turkmenistan, the runner-up to DPR Korea in Challenge Cup, also took a massive stride of 24 spots as they are at 142nd place with 222 points.
Match schedule for 2014 FIFA World
The Match Schedule for the 20th edition of the FIFA World Cup™ was announced in Zurich on 20 October 2011. The 64 matches will be played in 12 cities across the country. Sao Paulo will witness the Opening Match on 12 June 2014 while Rio de Janeiro will be the venue for the Final of the world’s most prestigious football tournament. The FIFA Executive Committee had confirmed in its meeting earlier the proposal by the Brazilian Organizing Committee.
Hosts Brazil will be seeded as A1 and will therefore play the opening match in Sao Paulo and the remaining two group matches in Fortaleza and Brasilia.
To see the full match schedule please click on the link on the right.
In addition, the kick-off times have been set as follows (all Brasilia local time):
Opening Match: 17.00
Group Stage matches: 13.00, 16.00, 19.00, 22.00
Round of 16/Quarter-finals: 13.00, 17.00
Semi-finals: 17.00
Match for Third Place: 17.00
Final: 16.00
Venues confirmed for the FIFA Confederations Cup 2013
Furthermore, the venues for the FIFA Confederations Cup 2013 have been announced. The champions of the six confederations as well as hosts Brazil and world champions Spain will participate in the Festival of Champions, which will be played between 15 and 30 June 2013. Currently, four host cities and four key matches have been confirmed, while the full match schedule to be confirmed in June 2012.
Five teams have already qualified for the tournament in 2013: the Asian champions Japan, CONCACAF Gold Cup winners Mexico, South American champions Uruguay, as well as Spain and Brazil.
Opening Match: Brasilia
Semi-final matches: Belo Horizonte, Fortaleza
Final: Rio de Janeiro
Approved Host Cities
Brasilia
Belo Horizonte
Fortaleza
Rio de Janeiro
Conditionally approved Host Cities
Recife
Salvador
FIFA World Cup 2014 Betting Online
