Caribbean Minnows Kick Off Brazil 2014 World Cup Qualifying

(Getty Images)

(ATR) With three years to go until the Brazil 2014 World Cup, the qualifying competition gets off to a low-key start.

Positioned 202 and 172 respectively in the latest world rankings, Montserrat play Belize at a neutral venue in Malabar, Trinidad on Wednesday because their stadium on the Caribbean island is not up to international standards. The return leg is in Belmopan, Belize on Sunday.

The preliminary qualifier is the first of 832 matches to be played across the six confederations to determine which 31 teams of the 203 participating countries will join hosts Brazil at the month-long finals.

Bhutan, Guam, Mauritania and Brunei Darrussalam did not register for the competition.

Preliminary qualifiers will be held in the CONCACAF and Asian regions in June and July.

A total of 180 associations will then be drawn by lots in the preliminary draw on July 30 in Rio de Janeiro in five of the confederations - AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, OFC and UEFA.

No lots will be drawn for South America, where the qualifying round will be played in a league system according to CONMEBOL's match schedule.

FIFA's July 27 world rankings will be used for the continental draws, with the exception of CONCACAF, who have already used the March 2011 rankings for the first round of the preliminary competition.

According to a FIFA decision in March, there are no changes to the allocation of places for the confederations at Brazil 2014.Europe will receive 13 places, Africa 5, South America 4.5, Asia 4.5, CONCACAF 3.5 and Oceania 0.5.

Homepage photo from Getty Images.

Written by Mark Bisson.