2014 World Cup draw: Team-by-team guide
Goal takes a look at all the teams and star players who will strut their stuff in Brazil in June and documents their respective records in the tournament
ALGERIA
|
| KEY PLAYER |
| Sofiane Feghouli (Valencia) |
| HOW THEY QUALIFIED |
| Caf play-off victory against Burkina Faso |
| COACH |
| Vahid Halilhodzic |
BEST SHOWING AT A WORLD CUP FINALS
|
| Group Stage (1982, 1986, 2010) |
|
ARGENTINA
|
| KEY PLAYER |
| Lionel Messi (Barcelona) |
| HOW THEY QUALIFIED |
| Won Conmebol qualification |
| COACH |
| Alejandro Sabella |
BEST SHOWING AT A WORLD CUP FINALS
|
| Winners (1978, 1986) |
|
AUSTRALIA
|
| KEY PLAYER |
| Tim Cahill (New York Red Bulls) |
| HOW THEY QUALIFIED |
| Runners-up in Asian Group B |
| COACH |
| Ange Postecoglou |
BEST SHOWING AT A WORLD CUP FINALS
|
| Round of 16 (2006) |
|
BELGIUM
|
| KEY PLAYER |
| Vincent Kompany (Manchester City) |
| HOW THEY QUALIFIED |
| Won Uefa Group A |
| COACH |
| Marc Wilmots |
BEST SHOWING AT A WORLD CUP FINALS
|
| Fourth place (1986) |
|
BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA
|
| KEY PLAYER |
| Miralem Pjanic (Roma) |
| HOW THEY QUALIFIED |
| Won Uefa Group G |
| COACH |
| Safet Susic |
BEST SHOWING AT A WORLD CUP FINALS
|
| N/A - First appearance |
|
BRAZIL
|
| KEY PLAYER |
| Neymar (Barcelona) |
| HOW THEY QUALIFIED |
| Hosts |
| COACH |
| Luis Felipe Scolari |
BEST SHOWING AT A WORLD CUP FINALS
|
| Winners (1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, 2002) |
|
CAMEROON
|
| KEY PLAYER |
| Samuel Eto'o (Chelsea) |
| HOW THEY QUALIFIED |
| Caf play-off victory over Tunisia |
| COACH |
| Volker Finke |
BEST SHOWING AT A WORLD CUP FINALS
|
| Quarter-finals 1990 |
|
CHILE
|
| KEY PLAYER |
| Alexis Sanchez (Barcelona) |
| HOW THEY QUALIFIED |
| Third in Conmebol qualification |
| COACH |
| Jorge Sampaoli |
BEST SHOWING AT A WORLD CUP FINALS
|
| Third place (1962) |
|
COLOMBIA
|
| KEY PLAYER |
| Radamel Falcao (Monaco) |
| HOW THEY QUALIFIED |
| Runners-up in Conmebol qualification |
| COACH |
| Jose Pekerman |
BEST SHOWING AT A WORLD CUP FINALS
|
| Round of 16 (1990) |
|
COSTA RICA
|
| KEY PLAYER |
| Joel Campbell (Olympiakos - on loan from Arsenal) |
| HOW THEY QUALIFIED |
| Second in Concacaf final round |
| COACH |
| Jorge Luis Pinto |
BEST SHOWING AT A WORLD CUP FINALS
|
| Round of 16 (1990) |
|
CROATIA
|
| KEY PLAYER |
| Luka Modric (Real Madrid) |
| HOW THEY QUALIFIED |
| Uefa play-off victory over Iceland |
| COACH |
| Niko Kovac |
BEST SHOWING AT A WORLD CUP FINALS
|
| Third place (1998) |
|
ECUADOR
|
| KEY PLAYER |
| Antonio Valencia (Man United) |
| HOW THEY QUALIFIED |
| Fourth in Conmebol qualification |
| COACH |
| Reinaldo Ruela |
BEST SHOWING AT A WORLD CUP FINALS
|
| Round of 16 (2006) |
|
ENGLAND
|
| KEY PLAYER |
| Wayne Rooney (Manchester United) |
| HOW THEY QUALIFIED |
| Won UefaGroup H |
| COACH |
| Roy Hodgson |
BEST SHOWING AT A WORLD CUP FINALS
|
| Winners (1966) |
|
FRANCE
|
| KEY PLAYER |
| Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich) |
| HOW THEY QUALIFIED |
| Uefa play-off win over Ukraine |
| COACH |
| Didier Deschamps |
BEST SHOWING AT A WORLD CUP FINALS
|
| Winners (1998) |
|
GERMANY
|
| KEY PLAYER |
| Mesut Ozil (Arsenal) |
| HOW THEY QUALIFIED |
| Won Uefa Group C |
| COACH |
| Joachim Low |
BEST SHOWING AT A WORLD CUP FINALS
|
| Winners (1954, 1974, 1990) |
|
GHANA
|
| KEY PLAYER |
| Kevin-Prince Boateng (Schalke) |
| HOW THEY QUALIFIED |
| Caf play-off win over Egypt |
| COACH |
| Kwesi Appiah |
BEST SHOWING AT A WORLD CUP FINALS
|
| Quarter-finals (2010) |
|
GREECE
|
| KEY PLAYER |
| Konstantinos Mitroglou (Olympiakos) |
| HOW THEY QUALIFIED |
| Uefa play-off win over Romania |
| COACH |
| Fernando Santos |
BEST SHOWING AT A WORLD CUP FINALS
|
| Group stage (1994, 2010) |
|
HONDURAS
|
| KEY PLAYER |
| Wilson Palacios (Stoke City) |
| HOW THEY QUALIFIED |
| Third in Concacaf final round |
| COACH |
| Luis Fernando Suarez |
BEST SHOWING AT A WORLD CUP FINALS
|
| Group stage (1982, 2010) |
|
IRAN
|
| KEY PLAYER |
| Javad Nekounam (Esteghlal) |
| HOW THEY QUALIFIED |
| Won Asian Group A |
| COACH |
| Carlos Queiroz |
BEST SHOWING AT A WORLD CUP FINALS
|
| Group stage: (1978, 1998, 2006) |
|
ITALY
|
| KEY PLAYER |
| Andrea Pirlo (Juventus) |
| HOW THEY QUALIFIED |
| Won Uefa Group B |
| COACH |
| Cesare Prandelli |
BEST SHOWING AT A WORLD CUP FINALS
|
| Winners (1934, 1938, 1982, 2006) |
|
IVORY COAST
|
| KEY PLAYER |
| Yaya Toure (Manchester City) |
| HOW THEY QUALIFIED |
| Caf play-off victory against Senegal |
| COACH |
| Sabri Lamouchi |
BEST SHOWING AT A WORLD CUP FINALS
|
| Group stage (2006, 2010) |
|
JAPAN
|
| KEY PLAYER |
| Keisuke Honda (CSKA Moscow) |
| HOW THEY QUALIFIED |
| Won Asian Group B |
| COACH |
| Alberto Zaccheroni |
BEST SHOWING AT A WORLD CUP FINALS
|
| Round of 16 (2002, 2010) |
|
MEXICO
|
| KEY PLAYER |
| Javier Hernandez (Manchester United) |
| HOW THEY QUALIFIED |
| Inter-continental play-off victory over New Zealand |
| COACH |
| Miguel Herrera |
BEST SHOWING AT A WORLD CUP FINALS
|
| Quarter-finals (1970, 1986) |
|
NETHERLANDS
|
| KEY PLAYER |
| Arjen Robben (Bayern Munich) |
| HOW THEY QUALIFIED |
| Won Uefa Group D |
| COACH |
| Louis van Gaal |
BEST SHOWING AT A WORLD CUP FINALS
|
| Runners-up (1974, 1978, 2010) |
|
NIGERIA
|
| KEY PLAYER |
| Emmanuel Emenike (Fenerbahce) |
| HOW THEY QUALIFIED |
| Caf play-off victory against Ethiopia |
| COACH |
| Stephen Keshi |
BEST SHOWING AT A WORLD CUP FINALS
|
| Round of 16 (1994, 1998) |
|
PORTUGAL
|
| KEY PLAYER |
| Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) |
| HOW THEY QUALIFIED |
| Uefa play-off victory against Sweden |
| COACH |
| Paulo Bento |
BEST SHOWING AT A WORLD CUP FINALS
|
| Third place (1966) |
|
RUSSIA
|
| KEY PLAYER |
| Igor Denisov (Dinamo Moscow) |
| HOW THEY QUALIFIED |
| Won Uefa Group F |
| COACH |
| Fabio Capello |
BEST SHOWING AT A WORLD CUP FINALS
|
| Fourth place *as Soviet Union* (1966) |
|
SOUTH KOREA
|
| KEY PLAYER |
| Song Heung-Min (Bayer Leverkusen) |
| HOW THEY QUALIFIED |
| Second in Asian Group A |
| COACH |
| Hong Myung-Bo |
BEST SHOWING AT A WORLD CUP FINALS
|
| Fourth place (2002) |
|
SPAIN
|
| KEY PLAYER |
| Andres Iniesta (Barcelona) |
| HOW THEY QUALIFIED |
| Won Uefa Group I |
| COACH |
| Vicente del Bosque |
BEST SHOWING AT A WORLD CUP FINALS
|
| Winners (2010) |
|
SWITZERLAND
|
| KEY PLAYER |
| Xherdan Shaqiri (Bayern Munich) |
| HOW THEY QUALIFIED |
| Won Uefa Group E |
| COACH |
| Ottmar Hitzfeld |
BEST SHOWING AT A WORLD CUP FINALS
|
| Quarter-finals (1934, 1938, 1954) |
|
UNITED STATES
|
| KEY PLAYER |
| Landon Donovan (LA Galaxy) |
| HOW THEY QUALIFIED |
| Won Concacaf final round |
| COACH |
| Jurgen Klinsmann |
BEST SHOWING AT A WORLD CUP FINALS
|
| Third place (1930) |
|
URUGUAY
|
| KEY PLAYER |
| Luis Suarez (Liverpool) |
| HOW THEY QUALIFIED |
| Inter-continental play-off victory against Jordan |
| COACH |
| Oscar Tabarez |
BEST SHOWING AT A WORLD CUP FINALS
|
| Winners (1930, 1950) |
|
