World Cup 2014: Cristiano Ronaldo vs. Zlatan Ibrahimovic for a place in Brazil


The eight European teams involved in Monday's draw
will be competing for four places at the World Cup.


Cristiano Ronaldo and Zlatan Ibrahimovic will
go head-to-head for a place at the 2014 World Cup
after Portugal and Sweden were drawn together in the
European qualification playoffs.
Portugal captain Ronaldo will lead his team out against
Ibrahimovic's Sweden, with one of the star duo set to
miss out on a ticket to football's biggest tournament
following the draw at FIFA headquarters in Zurich.
Eight second-place teams from the nine European
groups will compete over two legs for four World Cup
berths.
Read: Swiss and Belgians shake up seedings
Paulo Bento's Portugal were pipped to automatic
qualification by one point, finishing behind Fabio
Capello's Russia. If Portugal fail to qualify it will be
the first time they have missed the tournament
since 1998.
Sweden, coached by Erik Hamren, will be desperate
to reach a 12th World Cup after missing out on
South Africa 2010.
France, World Cup winners in 1998, were drawn
against Euro 2012 co-hosts Ukraine, with Euro
2004 champions Greece taking on Romania.
Read: Mexico fires coach ahead of playoff
Minnows Iceland, who are bidding to become the
smallest nation to successfully qualify for the
quadrennial competition, will play Croatia, who
sacked coach Igor Stimac last week.
Stimac was replaced by former player Niko Kovac,
who took over on a caretaker basis.
Each of the four ties will be contested over two
matches, with the first set to be played on
November 15 and the second on November 19.
European playoff draw in full:
Portugal vs. Sweden
Ukraine vs. France
Greece vs. Romania
Iceland vs. Croatia

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