Aerial view of the Christ the Redeemer statue atop Corcovado Hill, overlooking the Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro, BrazIl. The famous arena will host the World Cup final on July 13, with 32 nations competing in the tournament.
(CNN) -- The World Cup -- the greatest show on earth.
After over 800 games, hundreds of goals and endless hours of tension, the 32 teams who have qualified for the tournament will discover their fate on December 6 when the draw for the Group Stage of the competition is made in Brazil.
All eight former champions will be present but no European side has ever won the competition in South America.
The tournament will start in Sao Paulo on 12 June 2014, with the final in Rio de Janeiro on 13 July.
CNN has compiled all the important numbers that you need to know.
Ask many Brazilians who is the greatest footballer of all time and their answer will be simple: "Pele." The striker won three World Cups with Brazil between 1958 and 1970 and is his country's leading goalscorer with 77 goals from 92 caps.
The Brazil team of 1970, which beat Italy 4-1 in the World Cup final in Mexico, is widely regarded as the greatest of all time. Pele, a three-time World Cup winner is seen here leaping on his teammates.
Neymar will be the man which the Brazilian public will look to for inspiration at the 2014 World Cup. The Barcelona striker starred in the country's Confederations Cup success in July 2013
Despite winning the Champions League and Spanish title with Barcelona, Argentina's Lionel Messi has yet to taste success on the international stage.
Cristiano Ronaldo's hat-trick fired Portugal into the 2014 World Cup after his side defeated Sweden in the playoffs. Ronaldo is the country's joint-top scorer with Pauleta on 47 goals.
Luis Suarez played a key role in Uruguay's run to the World Cup. The Liverpool striker was part of the squad which reached the semifinals in South Africa and scored 11 goals in qualifying.
Sweden's forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic will have to watch the tournament at home -- that's if he's even interested. He told reporters: "A World Cup without me is nothing to watch so it is not worthwhile to wait for the World Cup."
Spain is hoping to become the third country to retain the World Cup. Italy won the tournament in 1934 and 1938, while Brazil triumphed in 1958 and 1962. Andres Iniesta scored the winning goal in the 2010 final.
Falcao will be one of the players to watch at the tournament with the Monaco striker considered to be one of the most lethal finishers in the game. Falcao scored nine goals in qualifying while his side netted 25 overall.
Belgium is one of the teams fancied to do well in Brazil. The Belgians reached the semifinals in 1986 and are expected to challenge in the later stages this time around thanks to a crop of outstanding young players.
Cameroon is the lowest ranked team in the tournament. The Indomitable Lions are the 59th best team in the world according to FIFA. It reached the quarterfinals in 1990 where it was beaten by England.
Miroslav Klose, 35, looks set to feature in a fourth World Cup after helping Germany cruise through qualifying. Klose is the country's joint-top scorer on 68 goals alongside Gerd Muller.
Bosnian football fans will flock to Brazil after their football team qualified for the World Cup for the very first time. Bosnia finished top of its group and clinched its place at the tournament courtesy of a 1-0 win over Lithuania.
Three times the Netherlands has reached the final -- and three times it has been beaten. In 1974 it lost out to West Germany before Argentina triumphed four years later. Four years ago it was beaten 1-0 by Spain.
Tim Cahill needs one more goal to become Australia's top scorer. He currently has 29, leaving him level with Damian Mori.
France became the first European team to overturn a two-goal deficit in a World Cup playoff to secure its place in Brazil. Liverpool defender Mamadou Sakho scored twice as France defeated Ukraine 3-0 on the night, 3-2 on aggregate.
Spain will be one of the favorites to win the tournament but no European side has ever won the competition in South America.
Brazil, we are coming 😃
#bosniaandherzegovina pic.twitter.com/mnivTLm6wk
— Edin Džeko (@EdDzeko) October 15, 20130 -- number of times that Bosnia-Herzegovina has played in the World Cup. The nation, which gained independence in 1992, won eight out of its 10 qualifying matches to win Group G.
5 -- number of times Brazil has won the tournament.
12 -- games in the 2014 World Cup will be played in 12 Brazilian cities: Belo Horizonte, Brasilia, Cuiaba, Curitiba, Fortaleza, Manaus, Natal, Porto Alegre, Recife, Rio de Janeiro, Salvador and Sao Paulo.
36 -- highest tally of goals scored in qualifying by Germany and New Caledonia.
59 -- current world ranking of Cameroon, which is hoping to become the first African team to win the tournament. Cameroon, which reached the quarterfinals in 1998, is the lowest ranked side to make it through qualifying.
Felicitaciones a @AUFOficial. Ya tenemos los 32 equipos para #Brasil2014. pic.twitter.com/b90jkjr2Um
— Joseph S Blatter (@SeppBlatter) November 21, 201386 -- The age of Alcides Ghiggia, the man who netted the winning goal for Uruguay against Brazil in the 1950 World Cup final.
145 -- number of goals scored at last tournament, the lowest of any World Cup since the competition moved to a 64-game format.
245 -- different television channels showed the 2010 World Cup final between Spain and the Netherlands.
990 -- cheapest tickets for the final cost $440 while the most expensive are $990.
2,898 -- yellow cards shown by referees during the qualifying campaign.
3,000 -- number of miles separating the northern city of Boa Vista and the southern city of Porto Alegre.
18,449 -- number of volunteers who worked at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
390,600 -- hot dogs were sold at official venues in South Africa four years ago.
750,000 -- liters of beer sold inside stadiums at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
1 million -- trees which cover the famous Lago de Patos (Ducks Lagoon) in Porto Alegre -- a venue for the World Cup.
2.4 million -- residents in Belo Horizonte -- the city which will host Argentina's training base.
6.15 million -- ticket requests made during the first phase of ticket sales -- more than 70% of those from Brazil.
317 million -- population of the U.S -- the largest population of any qualifier.
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3.2 billion -- people worldwide who watched the 2010 World Cup -- 46.4 percent of the world.
