Since our last installment on the 2014 FIFA World Cup, a full stadium’s worth of activity has transpired. XN Sports provides a filter for all that dizzying array in digestible nuggets of information. Track the progress of your national team below.
1. La Furia Roja had to make quick work of Georgia to test their attempt at a fourth straight international trophy. The Spanish national team had been a juggernaut for quite some time now but their armor seems compromised at the moment. Sure, their summer next year will take place in Brazil but doubts prevail when it comes to their chances of hoisting another World Cup title. Can they rightfully defend what they secured so impressively almost four years ago?
2. Mexico’s El Tri needs a rock to hide behind. Though talented, their World Cup fate hangs on a thread after gross mismanagement and petty pissing contests from its federation have largely killed their chances of making it to Brazil 2014. The U.S. national team did a fine job of keeping their hopes alive for the moment but they’ll square off against a strong New Zealand squad that are everything the Mexican team need to avoid as they try to avoid elimination.
4. Congrats to Bosnia and Herzegovina who will be making their first World Cup appearance after qualifying earlier in the week.
5. In addition to Bosnia-Herzegovina and Spain, Belgium, Italy, Germany, Netherlands, England, Russia, and Switzerland can count themselves as the lucky teams within the Union of European Football Associations that are Brazil-bound.
6. Six of the seven seeded teams in Brazil have been determined. Spain, Belgium, Argentina, Switzerland, Germany and Colombia have secured Pot 1 of their group stage. The seventh will be determined according to Uruguay’s playoff matchup against Jordan. If the South Americans can claim victory, they’ll be the seventh seeded squad. If Jordan wins, the Netherlands, ranked eighth in FIFA’s world charts, will nab the remaining Pot 1 from Uruguay.
7. Chile and Ecuador are in. The South American neighbors are among the five SA teams to qualify for the cup. Peru, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, Bolivia and Paraguay have been eliminated. That means that Uruguay is the remaining South American country whose fate is yet to be decided. No pressure.
