1970 FIFA World Cup qualification

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1970 FIFA World Cup Qualification
Tournament details
Teams 75 (from 6 confederations)
Tournament statistics
Matches played 172
Goals scored 542 (3.15 per match)
← 1966
1974 →

A total of 75 teams entered the 1970 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds, competing for a total of 16 spots in the final tournament. Hosts Mexico and defending champions England qualified automatically, leaving 14 spots open for competition.

For the first time, the winners of both the African zone and the Asian and Oceanian zone were guaranteed a direct place in the final tournament. The 16 spots available in the 1970 World Cup would be distributed among the continental zones as follows:

  • Europe (UEFA): 9 places, 1 of them went to automatic qualifier England, while the other 8 places were contested by 29 teams.
  • South America (CONMEBOL): 3 places, contested by 10 teams.
  • North, Central America and Caribbean (CONCACAF): 2 places, 1 of them went to automatic qualifier Mexico, while the other 1 place was contested by 13 teams.
  • Africa (CAF): 1 place, contested by 13 teams. (13 teams applied, but FIFA rejected the entries of Guinea and Zaire, leaving 11 teams. A 14th team from Africa, Rhodesia, entered through a non-CAF qualifying system.)
  • Asia and Oceania (AFC/OFC): 1 place, contested by 7 teams (including Rhodesia).

A total of 68 teams played in at least one qualifying match. A total of 172 qualifying matches were played, and 542 goals were scored (an average of 3.15 per match).

Listed below are the dates and results of the qualification rounds.

Key:

  • Teams highlighted in green qualified for the finals.
  • Teams highlighted in red in the same table finished level on points and advanced to a play-off on neutral ground.

Contents

Europe (UEFA) [edit]

FIFA rejected the entry of Albania. The remaining 29 teams were divided into 8 groups of 3 or 4 teams each (three groups with 3 teams and five groups with 4 teams). The teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winners would qualify.

Group 1 [edit]

Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
1  Romania 8 6 3 2 1 7 6 +1
2  Greece 7 6 2 3 1 13 9 +4
3  Switzerland 5 6 2 1 3 5 8 −3
4  Portugal 4 6 1 2 3 8 10 −2

Romania qualified.

Group 2 [edit]

Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
1=  Hungary 9 6 4 1 1 16 7 +9
1=  Czechoslovakia 9 6 4 1 1 12 6 +6
3  Denmark 5 6 2 1 3 6 10 −4
4  Republic of Ireland 1 6 0 1 5 3 14 −11

Czechoslovakia and Hungary finished level on points, and a play-off on neutral ground was played to decide who would qualify.

Czechoslovakia qualified.

Group 3 [edit]

Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
1  Italy 7 4 3 1 0 10 3 +7
2  East Germany 5 4 2 1 1 7 7 0
3  Wales 0 4 0 0 4 3 10 −7

Italy qualified.

Group 4 [edit]

Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
1  Soviet Union 7 4 3 1 0 8 1 +7
2  Northern Ireland 5 4 2 1 1 7 3 +4
3  Turkey 0 4 0 0 4 2 13 −11

Soviet Union qualified.

Group 5 [edit]

Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
1  Sweden 6 4 3 0 1 12 5 +7
2  France 4 4 2 0 2 6 4 +2
3  Norway 2 4 1 0 3 4 13 −9
6 November 1968
 France  0–1  Norway Stade de la Meinau, Strasbourg
Attendance: 18,319
Referee: Francescon (Italy)
Report Iversen Goal 67'

Sweden qualified.

Group 6 [edit]

Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
1  Belgium 9 6 4 1 1 14 8 +6
2  Yugoslavia 7 6 3 1 2 19 7 +12
3  Spain 6 6 2 2 2 10 6 +4
4  Finland 2 6 1 0 5 6 28 −22

Belgium qualified.

Group 7 [edit]

Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
1  West Germany 11 6 5 1 0 20 3 +17
2  Scotland 7 6 3 1 2 18 7 +11
3  Austria 6 6 3 0 3 12 7 +5
4  Cyprus 0 6 0 0 6 2 35 −32

West Germany qualified.

Group 8 [edit]

Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
1  Bulgaria 9 6 4 1 1 12 7 +5
2  Poland 8 6 4 0 2 19 8 +11
3  Netherlands 7 6 3 1 2 9 5 +4
4  Luxembourg 0 6 0 0 6 4 24 −20

Bulgaria qualified.

South America (CONMEBOL) [edit]

The 10 teams were divided into 3 groups; two groups with 3 teams and one group with 4 teams. The teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winners would qualify.

Group 1 [edit]

Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
1  Peru 5 4 2 1 1 7 4 +3
2  Bolivia 4 4 2 0 2 5 6 −1
3  Argentina 3 4 1 1 2 4 6 −2

Peru qualified.

Group 2 [edit]

Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
1  Brazil 12 6 6 0 0 23 2 +21
2  Paraguay 8 6 4 0 2 6 5 +1
3  Colombia 3 6 1 1 4 7 12 −5
4  Venezuela 1 6 0 1 5 1 18 −17

Brazil qualified.

Group 3 [edit]

Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
1  Uruguay 7 4 3 1 0 5 0 +5
2  Chile 4 4 1 2 1 5 4 +1
3  Ecuador 1 4 0 1 3 2 8 −6

Uruguay qualified.

North, Central America and Caribbean (CONCACAF) [edit]

FIFA rejected the entry of Cuba. There would be three rounds of play:

  • First Round: The remaining 12 teams were divided into 4 groups of 3 teams each. The teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winners would advance to the Semifinal Round.
  • Semifinal Round: The 4 teams were paired up to play knockout matches on a home-and-away basis. The winners would advance to the Final Round.
  • Final Round: The 2 teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The winner would qualify.

First Round [edit]

Group 1 [edit]

Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
1  United States 6 4 3 0 1 11 6 +5
2  Canada 5 4 2 1 1 8 3 +5
3  Bermuda 1 4 0 1 3 2 12 −10

United States advanced to the Semifinal Round.

Group 2 [edit]

Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
1  Haiti 5 4 2 1 1 9 5 +4
2  Guatemala 4 4 1 2 1 5 3 +2
3  Trinidad and Tobago 3 4 1 1 2 4 10 −6

Haiti advanced to the Semifinal Round.

Group 3 [edit]

Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
1  Honduras 7 4 3 1 0 7 2 +5
2  Costa Rica 5 4 2 1 1 7 3 +4
3  Jamaica 0 4 0 0 4 2 11 −9

Honduras advanced to the Semifinal Round.

Group 4 [edit]

Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
1  El Salvador 6 4 3 0 1 10 5 +5
2  Suriname 4 4 2 0 2 10 9 +1
3  Netherlands Antilles 2 4 1 0 3 3 9 −6

El Salvador advanced to the Semifinal Round.

Semifinal Round [edit]

Group 1 [edit]

Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
1  Haiti 4 2 2 0 0 3 0 +3
2  United States 0 2 0 0 2 0 3 −3

Haiti advanced to the Final Round.

Group 2 [edit]

Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
1=  El Salvador 2 2 1 0 1 3 1 +2
1=  Honduras 2 2 1 0 1 1 3 −2

El Salvador and Honduras finished level on points, and a play-off on neutral ground was played to decide who would advance to the Final Round.

El Salvador advanced to the Final Round. Additionally, these matches featured prominently in the Football War.

Final Round [edit]

Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
1=  Haiti 2 2 1 0 1 4 2 +2
1=  El Salvador 2 2 1 0 1 2 4 −2

El Salvador and Haiti finished level on points, and a play-off on neutral ground was played to decide who would qualify.

El Salvador qualified.

Africa (CAF) [edit]

FIFA rejected the entries of Guinea and Zaire. There would be three rounds of play:

  • First Round: Ghana received a bye and advanced to the Second Round directly. The remaining 10 teams were paired up to play knockout matches on a home-and-away basis. The winners (determined by aggregate score) would advance to the Second Round.
  • Second Round: The 6 teams were paired up to play knockout matches on a home-and-away basis. The winners would advance to the Final Round.
  • Final Round: The 3 teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winner would qualify.

First Round [edit]

The aggregate score was tied 6–6, but Sudan advanced to the Second Round as they scored more goals in the second match[clarification needed].

The aggregate score was tied 2–2, and since extra time was not played in the second match, a play-off on neutral ground was played to decide who would advance to the Second Round.

Morocco advanced to the Second Round, via the play-off.

Tunisia advanced to the Second Round.

Nigeria advanced to the Second Round.

Ethiopia advanced to the Second Round.

Second Round [edit]

The aggregate score was tied 0–0, and a play-off on neutral ground was played to decide who would advance to the Final Round.

Morocco advanced to the Final Round, by winning a coin toss.

Sudan advanced to the Final Round.

Nigeria advanced to the Final Round.

Final Round [edit]

Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
1  Morocco 5 4 2 1 1 5 3 +2
2  Nigeria 4 4 1 2 1 8 7 +1
3  Sudan 3 4 0 3 1 5 8 −3

Morocco qualified.

Asia and Oceania (AFC/OFC) [edit]

North Korea withdrew before the matches were played as they refused to play Israel. There would be three rounds of play:

  • First Round: Israel, New Zealand and Rhodesia received byes and advanced to the Second Round directly. The remaining 3 teams, Australia, Japan and South Korea, played against each other twice in South Korea. The group winner would advance to the Second Round.
  • Second Round: The 4 teams were divided into 2 groups of 2 teams each. The teams played against each other twice. The group winners would advance to the Final Round.
  • Final Round: The 2 teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The winner would qualify.

First Round [edit]

Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
1  Australia 6 4 2 2 0 7 4 +3
2  South Korea 4 4 1 2 1 6 5 +1
3  Japan 2 4 0 2 2 4 8 −4

Australia advanced to the Second Round.

Second Round [edit]

Group 1 [edit]

Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
1=  Australia 2 2 0 2 0 1 1 0
1=  Rhodesia 2 2 0 2 0 1 1 0

Australia and Rhodesia finished level on points, and a play-off was played to decide who would advance to the Final Round.

Australia advanced to the Final Round.

Group 2 [edit]

Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
1  Israel 4 2 2 0 0 6 0 +6
2  New Zealand 0 2 0 0 2 0 6 −6
—  North Korea withdrew

Israel advanced to the Final Round. North Korea, despite their good performance in the previous tournament staged in England in 1966, refused to play in Israel.[5]

Final Round [edit]

Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
1  Israel 3 2 1 1 0 2 1 +1
2  Australia 1 2 0 1 1 1 2 −1

Israel qualified.

Qualified teams [edit]

Final qualification status
  Country qualified for World Cup
  Country failed to qualify
  Country did not enter World Cup
  Country not a FIFA member

The following 16 teams qualified for the 1970 FIFA World Cup:

Team Finals Appearance Streak Last Appearance
 Belgium 5th 1 1954
 Brazil 9th 9 1966
 Bulgaria 3rd 3 1966
 Czechoslovakia 6th 1 1962
 El Salvador 1st 1 –
 England (c) 6th 6 1966
 Israel 1st 1 –
 Italy 7th 3 1966
 Mexico (h) 7th 6 1966
 Morocco 1st 1 –
 Peru 2nd 1 1930
 Romania 4th 1 1938
 Sweden 5th 1 1958
 Uruguay 6th 3 1966
 Soviet Union 4th 4 1966
 West Germany 7th 5 1966

(h) – qualified automatically as hosts

(c) – qualified automatically as defending champions

Notes [edit]

  • In the African zone, aggregate score was used to determine the winners of two-legged ties. However, different tie-breakers were used in the matches when the aggregate score was tied.
  • Morocco was the first African team to qualify since Egypt in the 1934 World Cup.
  • As a result of the hostile relationship between El Salvador and Honduras, and rioting during the qualification matches between them, the short-lived Football War broke out between the two countries.
  • Israel qualified for their only World Cup to date as an Asian team. However, soon after this, they left the Asian Football Confederation, and nowadays compete in the European zone as they are now a member of UEFA.

References [edit]

  1. ^ The match was abandoned in the 50th minute due to fog, and was replayed on 15 October 1969.
  2. ^ This match was held in the Netherlands, instead of in Luxembourg as originally planned.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica and New Zealand played all of their matches away. Rhodesia and Australia played their matches at a neutral venue.
  4. ^ Netherlands Antilles played its "home" game away in El Salvador.
  5. ^ Fifa.com: preliminaries 1970

External links [edit]
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Miscellaneous
1Decisive match of a final group stage. 2No qualification took place as places were given by invitation only.
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