Just over a year after lifting the Men’s World Cup in Johannesburg, Spain have been handed a stiff challenge in their bid to qualify for Brazil 2014. They must face France and Belarus in UEFA Group 9. Elsewhere, Group 1 involves Croatia, Serbia, Belgium, and Scotland; another tricky section is found in Group 3 and its mashup of Germany, Sweden, Ireland Rep, and Austria. The winners of each group qualify, and the second placed finishers, not including the worst placed one, play off in pairs to decide the other four places.
• Group 1: Croatia, Serbia, Belgium, Scotland, Macedonia FYR, Wales
• Group 2: Italy, Denmark, Czech Rep, Bulgaria, Armenia, Malta
• Group 3: Germany, Sweden, Ireland Rep, Austria, Faroe Is, Kazakhstan
• Group 4: Netherlands, Turkey, Hungary, Romania, Estonia, Andorra
• Group 5: Norway, Slovenia, Switzerland, Albania, Cyprus, Iceland
• Group 6: Portugal, Russia, Israel, Northern Ireland, Azerbaijan, Luxembourg
• Group 7: Greece, Slovakia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Lithuania, Latvia, Liechtenstein
• Group 8: England, Montenegro, Ukraine, Poland, Moldova, San Marino
• Group 9: Spain, France, Belarus, Georgia, Finland