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Zlatan vs. Ronaldo for World Cup spot
10/21/2013 12:48:42 PM
- Portugal drawn to play Sweden in the European playoffs for 2014 World Cup
- Four of the eight teams in the draw will go to Brazil
- Each of the eight teams finished second in their qualifying groups
(CNN) -- 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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