Relive: 2014 World Cup draw

Ahram Online, Friday 6 Dec 2013

Ahram Online provides live coverage of the 2014 World Cup draw that takes place in the Brazilian city of Bahia at 16:00 GMT (18:00 Cairo time)

World Cup
Workers stand on the stage where the 2014 soccer World Cup draw will take place in Costa do Sauipe, Brazil, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2013. The draw for the 2014 World Cup finals takes place Friday, Dec. 6. (Photo: AP)

Group A: Brazil, Croatia, Cameroon, Mexico

Group B: Spain, Netherlands, Chile, Australia

Group C: Colombia, Greece, Ivory Coast, Japan

Group D: Uruguay, Costa Rica, England, Italy

Group E: Switzerland, Ecuador, France, Honduras

Group F: Argentina, Bosnia, Iran, Nigeria

Group G: Germany, Portugal, Ghana, USA

Group H: Belgium, Algeria, Russia, South Korea


18:51 The football figures who will conduct the draw are being presented, including former Italy defender Fabio Cannavaro, Zidane great Zinedine Zidane and Germany's 1990 World Cup winner Lothar Matthaus.

18:50 FIFA's secretary general Jerome Valcke speaks on stage to mark the start of the draw procedures.

18:45 Brazil great Pele, winner of the World Cup three times, says he expects his nation to reach the final of the 2014 edition on home soil.

18:35 The World Cup mascot, "fuleco", is being presented by former Brazil forward Bebeto and Marta, the star of Brazil's women side.

Fuleco
Mascot Fuleco dances during the draw ceremony for the 2014 soccer World Cup in Costa do Sauipe near Salvador, Brazil, Friday, Dec. 6, 2013. AP


18:27 The 32 teams are being presented ahead of the draw.

18:25 Video footage of the World Cup finals since 1930 are being displayed.

18:20 Dilma says: We have the greatest player of all times Pele and the best goalscorer of the World Cup Ronaldo.

18:15 FIFA President Sepp Blatter and Rousseff speak on the stage.

18:10 Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff calls on attendees to observe a minute of silence following Mandela's death.

18:10 Alcione and Emicida are perfoming a mixture of traditional samba with hip hop.

18:00 Video footage of South Africa's late leader Nelson Mandela, who died on Thursday, is displayed as the draw ceremony gets underway.

Nelson Mandela
Late South African President Nelson Mandela is seen on a screen during the draw ceremony for the 2014 soccer World Cup in Costa do Sauipe near Salvador AP


17:55 Five minutes to go. The teams are waiting for their fates. Egypt are surely missing but we are hoping for a good draw for African teams especially Ivory Coast who were very unfortunate over the past two editions.

17:50 Zidane, Pele, Prandelli, Low, Platini, Capello, Del Bosque, Klinsmann among others are already in place for the final draw.

Pele
Former Brazil soccer player Pele arrives for the draw for the 2014 World Cup at the Costa do Sauipe resort in Sao Joao da Mata, Bahia state, December 6, 2013. (Reuters)

17:45 FIFA said it will give the 2014 World Cup winner $35 million in prize money, and all 32 competing nations will get at least $8 million.

17:30 FIFA's official website describes the draw as follows:

The teams in Pot 1 will be automatically assigned position 1 in the groups in which they are drawn. Brazil will go automatically into position 1 in Group A.

The first step of the draw will be to pick out a team from Pot 4 – the only one with nine teams – and put that side into Pot 2, in order to ensure each zone has eight balls. Then it will be back to Pot 1 and Brazil will be placed into Group A, with the rest of the seeds drawn in position 1 of the remaining groups, consecutively up to the letter H.

Pot 2, now with teams from three different confederations, increases the risk of breaking the rule of geographical separation. In order to avoid a group with three European teams, there will be a Pot X featuring the four seeded South American teams.

One ball will be drawn from this pot and this will determine the group for the sole European team in Pot 2. Then, Pot 2 will be drawn. The European team will go into the group already established, with the remaining sides fitting sequentially into Groups A to H.

Pots 3 and 4 will then be drawn.

The position of the teams in the groups will also be drawn (except the seeds, as already mentioned).

17:20 The pots will be as follows:

Pot 1 (seeds)
Brazil, Argentina, Belgium, Colombia, Germany, Spain, Switzerland and Uruguay.
Pot 2 (CAF and CONMEBOL teams)
Algeria, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, Chile and Ecuador
Pot 3 (AFC and CONCACAF teams)
Australia, Iran, Japan, South Korea, Costa Rica, Honduras, Mexico and USA
Pot 4 (UEFA teams)
Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, England, France, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Russia.

17:10 Uruguay legend Alcides Ghiggia, Englishman Geoff Hurst, former Brazil captain Cafu, Italy’s Fabio Cannavaro, Argentina’s Mario Kempes, Spain’s Fernando Hierro, French legend Zinedine Zidane and German great Lothar Matthaus will conduct the draw.

17:00 The top seeded teams in the draw are hosts Brazil, Argentina, Belgium, Colombia, Germany, Spain, Switzerland and Uruguay. They were top-seeded according to the FIFA ranking of October 2013.

Stay tuned for our live coverage of the 2014 World Cup draw.

Thirty-two sides will be drawn into eight groups after the teams were seeded via a complex ranking system.

Will Brazil be paired in a tough opening group of opponents who could sink its campaign for a sixth World Cup victory, souring the tournament that, all told, is costing the nation nearly $11 billion?

For the draw’s preview, click here.

World Cup draw


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