And Then There Were 32: The 2014 World Cup Teams

Around 2 weeks ago, the final berths for the 2014 World Cup were played for by various nations to wrap up the qualification process. A total of 32 teams will now be heading to Brazil to compete and play for the most prized trophy in the world. Here is a final breakdown and a list of the teams that qualified from their respective regions:

Kagawa

Asia: There were a total of 43 national teams vying for 4 and a half spots for the world cup from the Asian continent when qualification began (4 automatic berths and 1 playoff berth). The teams that qualified for the World Cup directly after going through 3 stages of qualification are the national teams of South Korea, Japan, Australia and Iran. For Japan, South Korea and Australia, it was business as usual after qualifying for the last 2 world cups as well but the biggest story to come out from Asia was that of Iran. This was Iran's 4th time qualifying for the world cup after failing to qualify for the 2010 world Cup. Iran did not scrape by to qualify but convincingly won their group and had a better points total than all of the other nations. As a result they will be seeded higher than most of the other nations from the rest of the world. A host of exciting players to watch from this region includes the long time Evertonian Tim Cahill, Robbie Kruse who has electrified the Bundesliga, Shinji Kagawa who has become a key player for Manchester United and Keisuka Honda who has been sensational for Japan.

Ivory Coast celebrate

Africa: After 53 national teams played for 5 world cup spots from Africa, the national teams of Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Cameroon, Algeria and Ghana booked their tickets for Brazil 2014. Oddly enough, these were the exact 5 teams that qualified for the world cup in 2010. Africa is a continent that is filled with talented soccer players and has been known to be a place to discover some amazing talented players over the years. The nations that have qualified will include Didier Drogba, Kolo Toure, Yaya Toure, Salomon Kalou, Victor Moses, John Obi Mikel, Alex Song, Samuel Eto'o, Micheal Essien, Kevin Prince Boateng, Sulley Muntari, Asamoah Gyan along with a host of other talented players.

Landon Donovan

North America: Vying for 3 and a half spots for the World Cup (1 qualifying berth and 3 direct berths), the United States, Honduras, Costa Rica and Mexico qualified for the World Cup. Mexico played a two legged match against New Zealand to battle for an intercontinental world cup berth after finishing 4th in the North American qualifying stages. They easily won the match-up after an aggregate score of 9-3. Players to watch from this region would be Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey, Tim Howard, Rafael Marquez, Hugo Ayala, Luis Montes, Giovani Dos Santos, Javier Hernandez, Christian Gimenez, Wilson Palacios, Bryan Ovideo along with a lot of young talent that has been developing across the Latin american countries, especially that of Mexico and Honduras.

South America: There were 5 and a half spots from the South American continent to qualify for the World Cup. Brazil automatically qualified since they are the hosts and therefore did not go through the qualifying process. The teams that qualified from the process were those of Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador and Uruguay. Uruguay had to play a intercontinental playoff match against Jordan which they won handily by an aggregate score of 5-0.

Lionel Messi

South America has been known to be a place that is not just passionate for soccer but also has a HUGE amount of talent from their respective nations. To only list a few of the players that will be a treat to watch in the World Cup would be the Barcelona and Brazilian star Neymar, the 4 time Ballon D'or and the anchor of Barcelona and Argentina, Lionel Messi, one of the best premier league strikers and the star of Liverpool, Luis Suarez, the long time captain of Uruguay Diego Forlan, for what could be his last World Cup in his illustrious career.

Neymar Jr.

Joining them are the likes of Javier Zanetti, Alexis Sanchez, Jackson Martinez, Cristian Zapata, Eduardo Vargas, Radamel Falcao, Antonio Valencia, Cristian Ramirez, Erik Lamela, Ever Banega, Sergio Aguero, Gonzalo Higuain, Rodrigo Palacio, Fabricio Colocinni, Edison Cavani, Gaston Ramirez, Robinho, Dani Alves, Maicon, Thiago Silva, David Luiz, Ramirez, Oscar, Pauliniho, Luis Gustavo, Hulk, Alenaxder Pato, Diego Costa and the list just keeps going on and on and on. There is also a possibility that we could see Ronaldiniho playing for Brazil in the World Cup. With the host of talent that these teams bring to the table, it is hard not to count one of the South American teams to be the favorites to win the World Cup in Brazil.

Europe: After 53 nations played for 13 world cup berths (9 direct qualifying berths and 4 playoff berths). 

Steven Gerrard

The teams that directly qualified for the world cup were those of England, Belgium, Italy, Germany, The Netherlands, Switzerland, Russia, Spain and Bosnia-Herzegovina. The teams that qualified after the playoffs were those of Portugal, Greece, France and Croatia. The playoff games saw some good drama in the Portugal vs Sweden game where the two superstars from both teams put on quite a show. Ultimately, Zlatan Ibrahimovic's brace was not enough as Ronaldo scored a total of 5 goals in both games to see Portugal through.

Cristiano Ronaldo

France made a remarkable comeback against Ukraine in the second leg as they won the game 3-0 after losing the first game 0-2 and are now through to the world cup. The likes of Steven Gerrard, Xavi, Iniesta, Wayne Rooney, Juan Mata, Vincent Kompany, Frank Ribery, Cristiano Ronaldo, Mario Balotelli, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Philip Lahm, Mario Gomes, Miraslov Klose, Manuel Neuer, Robin Van Persie, Karim Benzema, Arjen Robben and a huge huge list of star players will represent the European continent in the World Cup. Spain is of course the defending champions and will look to win the World cup back to back after winning the EURO's back to back in 2008 and 2012.

And thus, the stage for the World Cup is set. The brackets have been filled out and the respective teams are raring to go and play for the biggest prize in soccer. The quality that they bring to the world cup along with different tactics, styles and mode of play will make the world cup competitive, entertaining and thrilling to watch. The beauty of the World cup in its essence is to see the same sport played in so many different ways by so many different people across the globe. And Brazil 2014 promises to live up to the hype that every world cup brings along every 4 years.

Can Spain repeat their 2010 World Cup Success in 2014?

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About Aditya Sriwasth

Aditya is the Founder, President, and Publisher of SportsKop. His favorite sports teams are the Oakland Athletics, San Jose Sharks, San Francisco 49ers, and most importantly, Liverpool FC. He is a student of the game, who has mastered the rules of the sports he covers, and brings passion, humor, and a fan’s perspective to the writing he contributes. He never really fared too well as a baseball player and therefore called it quits and decided to just mumble about sports. He's fat and obsessed with Steven Gerrard and Bryce Harper, and also has a massive celebrity crush on Kate Upton.

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