FIFA World Cup 2014 Draw: Team Profiles
BRAZIL
Manager: Luiz Felipe Scolari
World Ranking: 10th
How they qualified: As hosts.
World Cup Best: Winners in 1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, 2002.
SPAIN
Manager: Vicente Del Bosque
World Ranking: 1st
How they qualified: Spain topped Group I ahead of France after winning eight games and drawing just two. They head to Brazil as defending champions.
World Cup Best: Winners in 2010
Germany
Manager: Joachim Low
World Ranking: 2nd
How they qualified: Germany topped Group C with an unbeaten record, having racked up nine victories from their 10 fixtures.
World Cup Best: Winners in 1954 , 1974 and 1990
ARGENTINA
Manager: Alejandro Sabella
World Ranking: 3rd
How they qualified: Argentina mounted a 14-match unbeaten run during qualifying, finishing top of the South American table.
World Cup Best: Winners in 1978, 1986
COLOMBIA
Manager: Jose Pekerman
World Ranking: 4th
How they qualified: Colombia took second place in the South American table, their highest ever finish since the introduction of the current qualifying system. No side in the group let in fewer goals than their 13.
World Cup Best: Round of 16 in 1990
BELGIUM
Manager: Marc Wilmots
World Ranking: 11th
How they qualified: Belgium proved their potential by topping Group A ahead of the likes of Croatia, Serbia and Scotland.
World Cup Best: Fourth place in 1986
SWITZERLAND
Manager: Ottmar Hitzfeld
World Ranking: 8th
How they qualified: Switzerland secured their place at the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil on the penultimate qualifying matchday - topping Group E ahead of Iceland and Slovenia.
World Cup Best: Winners in 1934,1938,1954
URUGUAY
Manager: Oscar Washington Tabarez
World Ranking: 6th
How they qualified: Finished fifth in the South American qualifiers so had to beat Jordan in the play-offs to secure their place in Brazil.
World Cup Best: Winners in 1930 and 1950
CHILE
Manager: Jorge Sampaoli
World Ranking: 15th
How they qualified: Finished in third position in the South American group, just behind Argentina and Colombia, securing automatic qualification to Brazil.
World Cup Best: Third place in 1962.
ECUADOR
Manager: Reinaldo Rueda
World Ranking: 23rd
How they qualified: Ecuador finished level on points with Uruguay but grabbed the last automatic qualifying spot thanks to their superior goal difference (four compared to Uruguay's zero).
World Cup Best: Round of 16 in 2006
IVORY COAST
Manager: Sabri Lamouchi
World Ranking: 17th
How they qualified: Ivory Coast breezed through their opening qualifying group with four wins from their six matches. Afterwards, they beat Senegal to secure their place in Brazil.
World Cup Best: Group stage in 2006 and 2010.
GHANA
Manager: Kwesi Appiah
World Ranking: 24th
How they qualified: Beat Egypt in the final play-off round after topping their group in the previous round, ahead of Zambia.
World Cup Best: Quarter-final in 2010
NIGERIA
Manager: Stephen Keshi
World Ranking: 36th
How they qualified: Topped their group without any defeats and in the play-off they beat Ethiopia.
World Cup Best: Round of 16 in 1994 and 1998
ALGERIA
Manager: Vahid Halilhodzic
World Ranking: 26th
How they qualified: They won five of their six group matches to easily finish top, before beating Burkina Faso in the final play-off round.
World Cup Best: Group stages in 1982, 1986, and 2010
CAMEROON
Manager: Volker Finke
World Ranking: 51st
How they qualified: Cameron beat Tunisia in the play-off round, after topping their qualifying group.
World Cup Best: Quarter-final in 1990.
UNITED STATES
Manager: Jurgen Klinsmann
World Ranking: 14th
How they qualified: Earned a first-place finish in the six-team group, conceding only eight goals and losing just once, and finishing four points above runners-up Costa Rica.
World Cup Best: Third place in 1930.
MEXICO
Manager: Miguel Herrera
World Ranking: 20th
How they qualified: After failing to secure an automatic qualification in the group stage they beat New Zealand in the play-offs.
World Cup Best: Quarter final in 1970 and 1986.
COSTA RICA
Manager: Jorge Luis Pinto
World Ranking: 31st
How they qualified: Costa Rica sealed their ticket to Brazil 2014 in the six-team phase, eventually finishing second behind USA.
World Cup Best: Round of 16 in 1990.
HONDURAS
Manager: Luis Fernando Suarez
World Ranking: 41st
How they qualified: Honduras went on to take the third and last direct qualifying slot in the final six-team phase.
World Cup Best: Group stages in 1982 and 2010.
JAPAN
Manager: Alberto Zaccheroni
World Ranking: 48th
How they qualified: Japan top the Group B ahead of Australia to seal their fifth successive FIFA World Cup appearance.
World Cup Best: Second Round in 2002 and 2010.
IRAN
Manager: Carlos Queiroz
World Ranking: 45th
How they qualified: Iran topped the group ahead of Korea to seal their return to the World Cup.
World Cup Best: Group stages in 1978, 1998, 2006.
KOREA REPUBLIC
Manager: Hong Myungbo
World Ranking: 54th
How they qualified: Korea failed to top the group and they had to wait until Uzbekistan's defeat of Qatar to confirm their second place and direct qualification on goal difference.
World Cup Best: Fourth place in 2002.
AUSTRALIA
Manager: Ange Postecoglou
World Ranking: 59th
How they qualified: Australia were second in Group B with Japan topping the group
World Cup Best: Round of 16 in 2006.
NETHERLANDS
Manager: Louis Van Gaal
World Ranking: 9th
How they qualified: Netherlands cruised into the finals of Brazil 2014, coming through as Europe's joint-top point scorers - alongside Germany - on 28. They finished nine points ahead of Romania, a margin only matched by neighbours Belgium.
World Cup Best: Runners-up in 1974, 1978, 2010.
ITALY
Manager: Cesare Prandelli
World Ranking: 7th
How they qualified: Italy went about things differently for once by taking imperious control of Group B in the European Zone - ahead of Denmark, the Czech Republic and Bulgaria.
World Cup Best: Winners in 1934, 1938, 1982 and 2006.
ENGLAND
Manager: Roy Hodgson
World Ranking: 13th
How they qualified: England finished top of European Group H to reach the World Cup<sup>TM after securing victory on the final matchday against Poland
World Cup Best: Winners in 1966.
BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA
Manager: Safet Susic
World Ranking: 21st
How they qualified: Bosnia-Herzegovina topped Group G thanks to their notable goal difference, edging them past a Greece side that finished level on points.
World Cup Best: None.
RUSSIA
Manager: Fabio Capello
World Ranking: 22th
How they qualified: Drawn alongside Portugal, Russia topped Group F and earned direct passage to Brazil 2014
World Cup Best: Fourth place in 1966.
PORTUGAL
Manager: Paulo Bento
World Ranking: 5th
How they qualified: Portugal had to beat Sweden in the play-offs in order to advance to the finals.
World Cup Best: Third place in 1966.
GREECE
Manager: Fernando Santos
World Ranking: 12th
How they qualified: They had to endure a play-off against Romania after losing out on goal difference to Bosnia-Herzegovina in the group phase.
World Cup Best: Group stages in 1994 and 2010.
CROATIA
Manager: Niko Kovac
World Ranking: 16th
How they qualified: They were second in the group A, which was top by Belgium, and beat Iceland in the playoff.
World Cup Best: Third place in 1998.
FRANCE
Manager: Didier Deschamps
World Ranking: 19th
How they qualified: France failed to top a group that contained world and European champions Spain so they secured the place in the World Cup by beating Ukraine in the play-off.
World Cup Best: Winners in 1998.
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