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"2014 World Cup" redirects here. For the video game, see 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil (video game). For other competitions, see 2014 World Cup (disambiguation).The 2014 FIFA World Cup article documents a current sports event (12 June – 13 July 2014) Content in the article may change rapidly as the tournament progresses.The current round is the group stage (12 June – 26 June) and results can be seen at the respective groups:ABCDEFGHPage semi-protected2014 FIFA World CupCopa do Mundo da FIFABrasil 2014[nb 1]2014 FIFA World Cup logoTournament detailsHost countryBrazilDates12 June – 13 July 2014Teams32 (from 5 confederations)Venue(s)12 (in 12 host cities)Tournament statisticsMatches played20Goals scored60 (3 per match)Attendance1,013,415 (50,671 per match)Top scorer(s)Germany Thomas MüllerNetherlands Robin van PersieNetherlands Arjen Robben(3 goals each)← 20102018 →The 2014 FIFA World Cup is the 20th FIFA World Cup, a tournament for the men's football world championship, that is currently taking place in Brazil.It began on 12 June, with a group stage, and is scheduled to conclude on 13 July with the final.[1] It is the second time that Brazil has hosted the competition, the first being in 1950. Brazil was elected unchallenged as host nation in 2007 after the international football federation, FIFA, decreed that the tournament would be staged in South America for the first time since 1978 in Argentina, and the fifth time overall.The national teams of 31 countries advanced through qualification competitions that began in June 2011 to participate with the host nation Brazil in the final tournament. A total of 64 matches are being played in 12 cities across Brazil in either new or redeveloped stadiums. For the first time at a World Cup finals, match officials are using goal-line technology, as well asvanishing foam for free kicks.[2]With the host country, all world champion teams since the first World Cup in 1930: Argentina, England, France, Germany (who won three times as West Germany), Italy, Spain and Uruguay, have qualified for this competition. Spain are the title holders, having defeated the Netherlands 1–0 in the 2010 final to win its first World Cup. They were eliminated at the group stage. All previous four World Cup tournaments staged in South America were won by South American teams.[3]Host selectionMain article: 2014 FIFA World Cup bidsIn March 2003, FIFA announced that the tournament would be held in South America for the first time since 1978, in line with its then-active policy of rotating the right to host the World Cup among different confederations.[4][5] The decision meant that it would be the first time that two consecutive World Cups were staged outside Europe. Only Brazil and Colombia formally declared their candidacy but, after the withdrawal of the latter from the process,[6] Brazil was officially elected as host nation unopposed on 30 October 2007.[7]Participating teams and officialsQualificationMain article: 2014 FIFA World Cup qualificationFollowing qualification matches between June 2011 and November 2013, the following 32 teams – shown with their final pre-tournament FIFA World Rankings[8] – qualified for the final tournament. This marks the return of Croatia, Ecuador, Costa Rica and Iran after they missed the 2010 edition. Colombia qualified for the World Cup after 16 years of absence. Bosnia and Herzegovina is the only team with no previous World Cup Finals experience.[9][nb 2] Only three top-25 ranked teams did not qualify for the tournament: Ukraine (16), Denmark (23) and Slovenia (25).[8]
