Rio de Janeiro was confirmed as the venue for the final and Sao Paulo was awarded the opening match featuring Brazil, even though it has barely started work on its Itaquerao stadium.
Sao Paulo and Belo Horizonte will stage the semi-finals and the capital Brasilia will get the third-place play-off after the match schedule was announced at a brief, televised ceremony at the headquarters of world governing body FIFA on Thursday.
The surprise was that organisers decided against basing teams in single venues, which means some must travel thousands of kilometres between matches in one of the world's biggest countries.
"The teams will travel around the country so that not just the biggest cities get the best teams," said Ricardo Teixeira, president of the local organising committee and Brazilian FA.
The road journey is 5,700-km long according to Brazil's transport department.
"It's a big task and a long job, we had 57 versions of the match schedule," said FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke.
"We took into account medical factors, logistics, travel and accommodation."
Brazilian authorities have already admitted the country's outdated airports are the biggest worry facing the tournament.
Sao Paulo, Brazil's largest city, was in danger of missing out on the tournament last year after its original venue, the Morumbi, was ruled out because local authorities could not provide financial guarantees for the stadium reform.
