Dates and qualifying pots named for 2014 World Cup

Jul 27, 2011, 15:58 GMT

Rio de Janeiro - The football World Cup in Brazil will take place June 12-July 13, 2014, the secretary general of the ruling body FIFA, Jerome Valcke, said on Wednesday.

The 32 teams will play 64 matches in an expected 12 cities as Brazil hosts the showcase event for the second time, the first being in 1950.

Valcke said that the match schedule and the final venues will be announced in October after ratification by local organizers and the FIFA executive committee.

Brazil has come under attack for slow preparations. FIFA boss Joseph Blatter on Wednesday said that a lot of work is left to be done but also expressed faith in the hosts.

I am sure, with trust and confidence, that Brazil and FIFA will deliver an exceptional World Cup,' Blatter said.

Football top officials are in Rio for the World Cup qualifying draw on Saturday which determines the 31 finalists from 203 entered teams to join the automatically qualified hosts.

FIFA said that 824 qualifying matches will be staged around the world until November 2013.

FIFA unveiled the pots for the draw on Wednesday, with the European campaign for instance seeing the 1998 champions France in pot 2.

Title holders Spain top of pot 1, which also features 2010 runners-up Netherlands, former champions Germany, England and Italy, as well as Portugal, Croatia, Norway and Greece.

Pot allocation in the FIFA confederations are based on the latest world rankings issued earlier Wednesday. The Asian pots will be determined after a first round of qualifiers completed on Thursday.

Valcke also said that the eight-team Confederations Cup in Brazil, the World Cup tune-up event, will be staged June 15-30, 2013.