The Road to Brazil! Your essential guide to the European qualifying groups for the 2014 World Cup

National Stadium, Malta

From Reykjavik to Ta'Qali, Glasgow to Moscow, this weekend stadiums right across Europe will see 53 nations starting out on the road to the 2014 World Cup finals in Brazil. There are nine groups in all, with the group winners guaranteed automatic passage to South America. The eight runners-up with the best records will enter two-legged play-offs in November next year to determine the other four European qualifiers. Here, Sportsmail takes a closer look at the nine qualifying groups.