World Cup 2014: 5 Things You Need To Know About Next Summer's Tournament

Christ The Redeemer As Steven Gerrard's acrobatic goal nestled into the bottom corner of Wojciech Szcz™sny's net last night, England manager Roy Hodgson's face spoke a thousand words. We've done it, we've qualified for the World Cup. It wasn't always easy going. Four dismal draws against Ukraine (twice) Montenegro and Poland didn't help. In fact, it was typical England to take it right down to the wire of the final round of qualifiers, and even more typical of them to leave it until two minutes from time to confirm qualification. With Ukraine thumping San Marino, as we all knew they would, at various stages it looked as though Roy Hodgson's men might succumb to the pitfalls of November's unpredictable play-offs. But, having happily avoided all that thanks largely to Wayne Rooney and Gerrard, we can now begin planning for Brazil in 2014. The carnival of the occasion will be electric, and a once-in-a-lifetime experience for many. Not in 63 years have Brazil hosted a World Cup, with a then-three-year-old Hodgson too young to remember the occasion of 1950. There's little questioning the 2014 World Cup will be a momentous event, and with less than eight months to go until football returns to its "spiritual home", here, we round up 5 Things You Need To Know About Next Summer's Tournament.
Contributor
Contributor

Joseph is an accredited football journalist and has interviewed nearly all of the current 20 Barclay's Premier League managers. He is also a correspondent for Bleacher Report and has written for Caught Offside and Give Me Football.