No they dont. And CONMEBOL still got the same amount of bids as last WC, which is a huge boost for teams like Chile, Colombia and Ecuador. Pretty much all the teams not Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay. I fully expect 6 South American squads in Brazil and all of them competing. This is the strongest the continent has been in a while. Colombia is playing better, Venezuela is no door mat and Uruguay is back to their old form. Also lookout for Peru, they have a pretty good attack with Farfan, Vargas, Pizarro and Guerrero, who are all playing in Europe.
Technically South America gets 4.5 bids plus Brazil. But like I said, I fully expect 6 teams in Brazil. My guess right now would be: Brazil Argentina Uruguay Chile Paraguay Colombia But I can see Peru, Ecuador and even Venezuela competing for a spot. Bolivia has no chance, they suck balls.
Whoever is the 5th team in qualifying shouldn't have any trouble beating the African side they will face in the playoff.
I love the way the Conmebol qualifiers are set up. it is by far the fairest way to choose the teams. Of course it is made simpler by the number of teams in the region but a home and away against all the teams in your regions creates amazing matchups. I will miss the Brazil v Argentina matchups but I will definitely take the increased chances of Chile making it in.
It's actually Asia (which now includes Australia too) but yes I dont see them having much trouble since we all assume Japan and Korea will be tops in Asia.
CONCACAF is in its 2nd Round. There are 6 groups and the top team from each group will advance to the 3rd Round. Here is the wiki page showing all groups and fixtures: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_FIFA_World_Cup_qualification_–_CONCACAF_Second_Round
Yeah just realized it was the AFC, not the CAF (little bit of dyslexia right there). It still blows my mind the CAF gets a guaranteed 5 spots.
AFC is in its 3rd round. There are 5 groups and the top 2 of each group will advance to the 4th round. Here is the wiki page showing all groups and fixtures: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_FIFA_World_Cup_qualification_–_AFC_Third_Round
It's bullshit considering how shitty they did in South Africa. Still cant complain that South America got all their bids.
A lot of teams can wrap up qualification to the next round in CONCACAF tomorrow, though they weren't in peril anyways. Crazy it's not till next June for the US and Mexico to begin the qualifying path.
South American Qualifiers Uruguay drew 1-1 against Venezuela Chile beat Bolivia 2-0 Argentina are hammering Ecuador 3-0 40'
WC QUAL - CONMEBOL STANDINGS TEAM P W D L GD PTS Argentina 5 3 1 1 7 10 Chile 5 3 0 2 -1 9 Uruguay 4 2 2 0 6 8 Venezuela 5 2 2 1 0 8 Colombia 4 2 1 1 1 7 Ecuador 4 2 0 2 -1 6 Paraguay 4 1 1 2 -3 4 Peru 4 1 0 3 -3 3 Bolivia 5 0 1 4 -6 1
WC QUAL - AFC STANDINGS 2014 Round Four - Group A TEAM P W D L GD PTS Iran 1 1 0 0 1 3 Qatar 1 1 0 0 1 3 South Korea 0 0 0 0 0 0 Lebanon 1 0 0 1 -1 0 Uzbekistan 1 0 0 1 -1 0 2014 Round Four - Group B TEAM P W D L GD PTS Japan 1 1 0 0 3 3 Iraq 1 0 1 0 0 1 Jordan 1 0 1 0 0 1 Australia 0 0 0 0 0 0 Oman 1 0 0 1 -3 0