Draw marks the first test of Brazil's World Cup preparations

By Andrew Warshaw in Rio de Janeiro

July 29 – The first major test of Brazil’s ability to organise the 2014 World Cup takes place tomorrow with a star-studded preliminary draw inside a giant makeshift auditorium at Rio de Janeiro’s swish Marina da Gloria.

So keen are the organisers to ensure the 100-minute draw, televised to a global audience of millions, runs smoothly that Rio’s second largest airport will be closed for four hours to avoid the kind of deafening overhead screeching that greeted FIFA President Sepp Blatter’s only news conference earlier in the week as well as a string of promotional events.

Just over a year after Spain beat Netherlands in the World Cup final in Johannesburg, the draw for the qualifying tournament will throw up 824 matches played over 880 days before the identity of the 31 nations joining hosts Brazil in the finals will be known.

The ceremony has cost more than R47 million (£18.5 million/$30 million) with 1,000 hand-picked guests flying in from around the world.

“We are hoping to put on a great event that makes Brazil proud and shows the world we are ready to host the World Cup,” Joana Havelange, director of the local Organising Committee and the granddaughter of former FIFA President Joao Havelange, said.

Five of FIFA’s six Confederations go into the draw since the South American qualifiers consist of all its member nations, minus Brazil of course, playing against each other home and away in a single group between October 2011 and October 2013.

FIFA’s secretary general Jerome Valcke, no stranger to the politics of football, will conduct the proceedings but has already had to announce a couple of caveats before a single team is pulled out.

Due to political sensitivities, Georgia and Russia will have to be separated if drawn together, likewise Azerbaijan and Armenia have asked not to be in the same group.

Africa’s groups will be selected first, with Europe last out of the hat.

The whole draw is based on FIFA’s current world rankings which, intriguingly, place France among the second-seeded teams and the country the powerhouses of Europe will fear most.

At the other end of the scale, Wales find themselves among the minnows of European football alongside the likes of Andorra and San Marino, having been beaten to the final berth in pot five by, would you believe, the Faroe Islands.

Bizarrely, only 38 national coaches are attending the draw, one of whom is England’s Fabio Capello who will not even be in charge after next year’s Euro 2012 finals.

Whilst there remain considerable concern about security and transport as well as stadium construction, organisers were quick to accentuate the positive.

After all, Brazil hasn’t staged the World Cup since 1950 despite being champions five times.

“A new Brazil is ready to charm all of you in 2014,” said Sports Minister Orlando Silva as the anticipation mounted.

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