Drawing board
203 nations learned their initial fate as the qualification draw for the 2014 World Cup was held Saturday in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Six groups were allotted in the second round of CONCACAF qualifying where Canada was placed in Group D along with Puerto Rico, St. Lucia , and St. Kitts & Nevis. Matches are scheduled to begin in early September. The winners of each group will advance to the next stage of CONCACAF qualifying. Should Canada advance, they would placed in a group with Honduras and Cuba.
In European qualifying, defending World Cup champions Spain were placed in Group I with 1998 World Cup winners France along with Belarus, Georgia, and Finland. Meanwhile, England joins Group H with Ukraine, Montenegro, Poland, Moldova, and San Marino. A total of 13 countries from UEFA will qualify; the nine group winners plus the eight runners-up will battle for the four remaining spots.
The following is the list of groups in UEFA qualifying for the 2014 World Cup:
Group A: Croatia, Serbia, Belgium, Scotland, FYR Macedonia, Wales
Group B: Italy, Denmark, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Armenia, Malta
Group C: Germany, Sweden, Rep. 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
