The Azkals' long, tough road to the World Cup

The Azkals are training hard for the Asian qualifying matches for the World Cup. This infographic charts the long road the Azkals have to survive in order to play in the world’s most prestigious game. The 16 lowest ranked teams – based on their record at the qualification campaign for the 2010 FIFA World Cup – were paired off to play home and away matches on June 29 and July 3 with the winners advancing to Round 2.

The eight winners from Round 1 will join 22 higher ranked teams where the teams were paired off for home-and-away matches on July 23 and 28. The 15 winners from the second round will join the top five direct entrants: In the third round, they will be divided into five groups of four teams each, still playing a home and away format. Round 3 will be played from September 2, 2011 to February 29, 2012. Round 4 will include the top two teams from each group in Round 3. The 10 teams will be divided into two groups of five, and the top 2 teams from each group will be given automatic spots in the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. Those who reach round 4 will compete from June 3 to November 14, 2012, and from March 26 to June 18, 2013. The third placers from the two groups in Round 4 will play in Round 5 on September 6 and 10 in 2013, determining Asia’s representative in the inter-continental playoff. The winner in Round 5 will participate in the Inter-confederation playoff on October 15 and November 19, 2013, along with the fourth placer from CONCACAF (The Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football), the fifth placer from CONEMBOL (South American Football Confederation) and the first placer from OFC (Oceania Football Confederation). The winner in this home and away playoff will earn a spot in the 2014 FIFA World Cup. OTHER FACTS: As the host nation, Brazil qualify automatically for the tournament. On 3 March 2011 FIFA decided to distribute places in the final tournament: Europe (UEFA) - 13 places Asia (AFC) - 4 guaranteed places + 1 place in play-off Africa (CAF) - 5 places North America, Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF) - 3 guaranteed places + 1 place in play-off South America (CONMEBOL) - 4 guaranteed places + 1 place in play-off + Brazil qualified as host nation Oceania (OFC) - 1 place in play-off -- OMG, GMA News