World Cup 2014: Top Playoff Stars Battling for a Ticket to Brazil

The race to qualify for Brazil 2014 is almost over, with Nigeria, Ivory Coast and Cameroon having confirmed their qualification to next year's tournament with victories over Ethiopia, Senegal and Tunisia, respectively.

That means that superstars such as Didier Drogba, Yaya Toure, Victor Moses and Samuel Eto'o will be present at the World Cup with Luis Suarez, Edinson Cavani and Javier Hernandez set to join them.

Uruguay and Mexico racked up commanding leads in the first-leg games of their qualifiers, winning 5-0 against Jordan and 5-1 against New Zealand, respectively, and each should confirm its place at Brazil 2014 in its second-leg deciders on Tuesday, November 19.

The majority of the other remaining playoffs hang on a knife edge, however, with results still inconclusive over who will progress out of Europe following the first legs of the continent's final qualifiers.

The remaining European hopefuls feature some of the biggest names in world football, who remain in flux over whether they will have the opportunity to take to the stage in the summer.

Below are three headline acts still fighting it out for a ticket to Brazil after difficult results in their country's first-leg playoff matches.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic

Portugal defeated Sweden 1-0 in Lisbon to hand Cristiano Ronaldo's team a slim advantage going into the climatic second leg in Stockholm, but having been largely anonymous in their first clash, all eyes will be on Ibrahimovic to book himself and his team a place at the World Cup.

The Swede is arguably the most complete and individually dangerous striker in the world and needs to show it in front of an expectant home crowd.

After all, what's the point in building your national team around a Ballon d'Or nominee, who scored 30 league goals for Paris Saint-Germain last season and has become a persistent fixture on the annual Puskas Award list of best strikes, when he can't deliver when it matters most?

Ibrahimovic's big-game mentality has long been questioned by his critics, especially regarding his lack of impact in the knockout stages of the Champions League.

While he may have scored the goal of the season in a friendly against England, he must prove he can grind out a win for Sweden in their crunch second-leg showdown with Ronaldo's Portugal.

"

This is the difference between Cristiano and Zlatan. Ibrahimovic wants to win games his way. Ronaldo wants to win games any way.

— Graham Ruthven (@grahamruthven) November 17, 2013"

Luka Modric

Another star player who has everything to do in his country's second-leg playoff tie, Croatia will be looking to Modric to help break down what will likely be a stubbornly tight Iceland team following the two countries' 0-0 draw in Reykjavik.

Veteran coach Lars Lagerback is too wily and experienced to allow his young Icelandic charges to fritter away their World Cup hopes through naivety and will look to sit back and hold on for dear life in the hope of snatching a win on the counter or through penalties late-on.

Modric, having finally re-emerged as a key player at Real Madrid, remains one of the most intelligent and skillful playmakers in the world, and his ability to conduct Croatia's attacks from midfield could well decide whether his country makes it to Brazil.

After Iceland went down to 10 men in the first leg, Modric and co. were able to take control of the game but couldn't find a way through.

The former Tottenham Hotspur playmaker cannot afford to be so stumped in the return fixture, with the likes of Mario Mandzukic relying on his vision to create a breakthrough in order to punish their underdog visitors and secure passage to the World Cup.

While they may lack the strong team ethos of Croatian sides of the past, Modric wouldn't be the only star player missing from Brazil 2014 if they were to fail at home against Iceland.

Franck Ribery

The winner of the 2013 UEFA Best Player in Europe award looks set to miss out on a trip to Brazil after France lost 2-0 in Kiev against their playoff rivals Ukraine in the first leg of the tie.

Didier Deschamps' team were woeful in the first leg, and while he may hold an advantage over the quality of players available to him, the greater sense of unity and understanding within the Ukrainian squad muzzled the individualism of their opponents.

The return leg in Paris is now a must win game for Deschamps and Ribery, who will face ferocious criticism should the French national team be knocked out of the World Cup before it has even begun.

Ribery, of course, can't turn things around by himself, and the Bayern Munich winger will hope that his compatriots can hold it together and pull off a stunning victory on home soil to rescue both their plans for a competitive summer and their reputations.