FIFA, football's world governing body, has announced the twelve Brazilian cities that will host matches during the 2014 football World Cup.

The selected cities are Belo Horizonte, Brasília, Cuiabá, Curitiba, Fortaleza, Manaus, Natal, Porto Alegre, Recife, Rio de Janeiro, Salvador and São Paulo.
The cities that missed out were Belém, Campo Grande, Goiânia, Rio Branco and Florianópolis.

The FIFA decision means there will be two World Cup venues in south Brazil (Curitiba, Porto Alegre), three in the south-east (Belo Horizonte, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo), one in the central-west (Cuiabá), one in the federal district of Brasília, one in the north (Manaus), and four in the north-east (Fortaleza, Natal, Recife, Salvador).

The 2014 World Cup will be the first in Brazil since 1950, when Uruguay beat the hosts in the final.

Brazilian football federation president Ricardo Terra Teixeira said, 'For the twelve privileged cities chosen, it's the beginning of the work – they have a huge responsibility.'

Source: Embassy of Brazil