FIFA confirmed on Thursday that a new 65,000-seat
stadium in Sao Paulo would stage the opening match and ceremony of the
2014 World Cup in Brazil while Rio de Janeiro’s famous Maracana venue
would host the final of the tournament.
World football's governing body revealed that the
World Cup would start on June 12 at the new Sao Paulo venue, which is
currently under construction in the Itaquera district of the country's
largest city after having encountered a number of delays. Brasilia and
Belo Horizonte were also in the running to stage the opening match, but
both cities were considered rank outsiders behind Rio and Sao Paulo. All
of the tournament's 12 host cities will host at least four of the 64
matches with the final scheduled for July 13.
Five-time World Cup-winner Brazil will only be able to play at the Maracana stadium if it reaches the final. The Maracana, which was built for the 1950 World Cup in Brazil, was the scene of the national team's most infamous setback in football history when the host country lost to Uruguay in the deciding match of the tournament on home soil 61 years ago.
Despite having previously suggested that four-team groups would be based in one of four clusters to minimise travelling for squads, officials and fans, FIFA announced that teams would have to travel across the country as they did at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, with eight teams set to play in the isolated Amazonian city of Manaus. "You can have the best teams, the seeded teams, in all the host cities," FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke said, according to The Associated Press.
By sending teams to different regions, the schedule will put pressure on the country's airports, which are currently in a race against time to undergo major upgrades before the start of the tournament. The earliest matches will start at 13:00 local time while the latest games will kick off at 22:00. All matches in the knockout rounds will start no later than 17:00 local time.
Five-time World Cup-winner Brazil will only be able to play at the Maracana stadium if it reaches the final. The Maracana, which was built for the 1950 World Cup in Brazil, was the scene of the national team's most infamous setback in football history when the host country lost to Uruguay in the deciding match of the tournament on home soil 61 years ago.
Despite having previously suggested that four-team groups would be based in one of four clusters to minimise travelling for squads, officials and fans, FIFA announced that teams would have to travel across the country as they did at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, with eight teams set to play in the isolated Amazonian city of Manaus. "You can have the best teams, the seeded teams, in all the host cities," FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke said, according to The Associated Press.
By sending teams to different regions, the schedule will put pressure on the country's airports, which are currently in a race against time to undergo major upgrades before the start of the tournament. The earliest matches will start at 13:00 local time while the latest games will kick off at 22:00. All matches in the knockout rounds will start no later than 17:00 local time.
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