Seleção legends such as Zico and Ronaldo, as well as up-and-coming stars including Neymar and Ganso helped to draw the teams from the different regions. Sambafoot takes a look at some of the highlights of the draw:
CAF – Africa
Due to a change in the qualification process in Africa, the groups are not yet complete. However, some ties that stand out from the fragmented line-ups thus far include the Ivory Coast v Morocco and Algeria v Mali.
AFC – Asia
Group C sees North Korea, who gave Brazil a tough game at last year’s World Cup, take on Japan, who co-hosted the 2002 tournament and were in Brazil’s group in Germany in 2006. Two of the bigger sides in the region go head-to-head in Group D, which includes Australia and Saudi Arabia.
CONCACAF – North, Central America and Caribbean
As with Africa, the groups are not yet complete, but what is confirmed is that the USA will face Jamaica, Mexico will play Costa Rica and Honduras will play Cuba. Before that, one of the biggest fixtures sees Canada play Panama.
OFC – Oceania
Statistically the weakest FIFA region, and the only one without an automatic qualification spot. The favourites to qualify for a play-off against a team from CONCACAF will be New Zealand, who are in a group with Fiji, the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea.
CONMEBOL – South America
There was no draw for the South American region, as the nine teams involved will continue the current practice of playing each other twice in a league format. The top four teams will qualify for the World Cup, while the fifth placed nation will play a team from Asia in an inter-confederational play-off.
UEFA – Europe
The European draw produced some mouthwatering fixtures, including Spain v France in Group I, Italy v Czech Republic in Group B and Portugal v Russia in Group F. Euro 2012 hosts Poland and Ukraine have been drawn together in Group H, alongside England, Montenegro, Moldova and San Marino
Click here to see the complete FIFA 2014 World Cup qualifying draw in full
