FIFA Confederations Cup 2013

Lore & Background

The tournament featured the most recent winners of the six continental championships, along with hosts Brazil and UEFA Euro 2012 runners-up Italy, who qualified because Euro 2012 winners Spain had also won the 2010 FIFA World Cup. According to then FIFA president Sepp Blatter, the 2013 Confederations Cup was the best version of the tournament ever played. It was the first national team tournament to employ goal-line technology, which was also used at the 2014 World Cup.

Reader's Guide

Six stadiums were used, each in a different city. The draw was held at the Palácio das Convenções in the Anhembi Convention Center in São Paulo on 1 December 2012. Teams from the same confederation were not drawn into the same group; Brazil and Spain were assigned as A1 and B1 respectively, with Italy and Uruguay assigned to Group A and Group B respectively. Ten trios of officials were announced on 13 May 2013. Teams named a 23-man squad by the FIFA deadline of 3 June 2013, and squads were announced on 7 June 2013. All eight teams entered the group stage; group winners and runners-up advanced to the semi-finals. In the knockout stage, if a match was level after normal time, extra time and then a penalty shoot-out would determine the winner.

Did You Know?

• The official match ball was named 'Cafusa', a blend of 'carnaval', 'futebol' and 'samba', and was unveiled by former Brazil captain Cafu.
• Fernando Torres won the Golden Boot on tie-breakers, scoring five goals and making one assist, but playing fewer minutes than Fred, who also scored five goals.
• The competition was the first international tournament for national teams to use goal-line technology, with the German system GoalControl-4D using 14 high-speed cameras.
• Prior to the opening ceremony, protests took place outside the Brasilia National Stadium over public spending on the World Cup, and further protests occurred during the tournament.