2014 FIFA World Cup BRAZIL

               2014 FIFA World Cup BRAZIL

 The 20th FIFA Worldcup start in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014. This is the second time that Brazil has hosted the competition, the previous being in 1950.After all the qualification competitions that began in June 2011 to participate with the host nation Brazil in the final tournament. 32 teams from respective countries  including the host team will play 64 matches to decide the champion.The matches are to be played across 12 cities in the Brazil  either new or redeveloped stadiums.

For the first time at a World Cup Finals, the matches will use goal-line technology.With the host country, all world champion teams since the first World Cup in 1930 (Uruguay, Italy, Germany, England, Argentina, France and Spain) have qualified for this competition. Spain is the defending champion, having defeated the Netherlands 1–0 in the 2010 World Cup final to win its first World title. The previous four World Cups staged in South America were all won by South American teams.

  Qualified teams

     Team (FIFA Rank)

Spain(1)             

Germany(2)        

Portugal(3)                                     

Brazil(4)
           

Colombia(5)             

 Uruguay(6)          

 Argentina(7)          

  Switzerland(8)               
           

Italy(9)        

Greece(10)         

England(11)                      

Belgium(12)
                     

Chile(13)                

United States(14)                   

  Netherlands(15)
           

France(16)

Russia(18)

Mexico(19) 

  Croatia(20)

  Ivory Coast(21)

 Bosnia and Herzegovina(25)                

Algeria(25)                 

Ecuador(28)          

Honduras(30)            
             

Costa Rica(34)
                                               

Iran (37)
                                     

Ghana(38)                                               

Nigeria(44)                                         

Japan(47)                                               

 Cameroon(50)                                                  

South Korea(55)                                     

Australia (59)                                

Group A

Brazil

Croatia

Mexico

Cameroon

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 and Herzegovina

Iran

Nigeria

Group G

Germany

Portugal

Ghana

United States

Group H

Belgium

Algeria

Russia

South Korea

The official logo

The official logo of the competition is entitled "Inspiration", and was created by Brazilian agency Africa. The design is based around a photograph of three victorious hands together raising the World Cup trophy and its yellow and green colouring is meant to represent Brazil warmly welcoming the world to their country. It was unveiled at a ceremony held during the 2010 World Cup in Johannesburg. The design was selected from the submissions of 25 Brazilian-based agencies invited to submit designs.

"Fuleco" The official mascot

The tatu-bola, an armadillo that defends itself from predators by rolling up into a ball, was chosen as the official mascot by FIFA at a ceremony organised by the local organising committee in September 2012. It was selected from 47 designs created by six Brazilian agencies after market research showed its appeal to the primary target audience of Brazilian children aged 5–12.
The then-unnamed mascot was first unveiled to the public during a segment of the Brazilian news show Fantástico. An online public vote was used to determine the name in which three potential names were offered, with the winning name being announced on 25 November 2012  1.7 million people (about 48 per cent) voted for Fuleco, ahead of Zuzeco (31 per cent) and Amijubi (21 per cent).

"Fuleco" is a portmanteau of the words "Futebol" ("Football") and "Ecologia" ("Ecology") (in addition, nicknames ending with -eco are popular in Brazil).

2014 Football WorldCup Venues