1954 FIFA World Cup qualification

A total of 45 teams entered the 1954 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds, competing for a total of 16 spots in the final tournament. Switzerland, as the hosts, and Uruguay, as the defending champions, qualified automatically, leaving 14 spots open for competition.

37 teams were divided into 13 groups, based on geographical considerations, as follows:

Groups 1 to 10 - Europe: 11 places, contested by 27 teams (including Egypt and Israel).
Group 11 and 12 - The Americas: 2 places, contested by 7 teams.
Group 13 - Asia: 1 place, contested by 3 teams.

A total of 33 teams played at least one qualifying match. A total of 57 qualifying matches were played, and 208 goals were scored (an average of 3.65 per match).

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

Groups

The 13 groups had different rules, as follows:

Groups 1, 2, 4, 8 and 10 had 3 teams each. The teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winners would qualify.
Group 3 had 4 teams. The teams played against each other once. The group winner and runner-up would qualify.
Groups 5, 6, 7 and 9 had 2 teams each. The teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winners would qualify.
Group 11 had 4 teams. The teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winner would qualify.
Group 12 had 3 teams. The teams played against each other twice. The group winner would qualify.
Group 13 had 3 teams. After Taiwan withdrew before the matches began, the remaining 2 teams played against each other twice. The group winner would qualify.

Group 1

details

Rank	Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
1	West Germany	7	4	3	1	0	12	3	+9
2	Saar	3	4	1	1	2	4	8	−4
3	Norway	2	4	0	2	2	4	9	−5

24 June 1953	Norway	2 – 3	Saar	Oslo, Norway
	Thoresen 3' Dahlen 15'	Report	Binkert 16' Otto 30' Siedl 55'	Stadium: Bislett Stadion Referee: J. Bronkhorst (Netherlands)

19 August 1953	Norway	1 – 1	West Germany	Oslo, Norway
	Hennum 41'	Report	F. Walter 44'	Stadium: Ullevaal Stadion Referee: W. B. Aussum (Netherlands)

11 October 1953	West Germany	3 – 0	Saar	Stuttgart, West Germany
	Morlock 13', 51' Schade 71'	Report		Stadium: Neckarstadion Referee: Karel van der Meer (Netherlands)

8 November 1953	Saar	0 – 0	Norway	Saarbrücken, Saarland
		Report		Stadium: Ludwigsparkstadion Referee: Leo Horn (Netherlands)

22 November 1953	West Germany	5 – 1	Norway	Hamburg, West Germany
	Morlock 27', 63' O. Walter 69' F. Walter 80' Rahn 86'	Report	Nordahl 26'	Stadium: Volksparkstadion Referee: Archer Luty (England)

28 March 1954	Saar	1 – 3	West Germany	Saarbrücken, Saarland
	Martin 67' (pen.)	Report	Morlock 37', 51' Schäfer 83'	Stadium: Ludwigsparkstadion Referee: J. Bronkhorst (Netherlands)

West Germany qualified.

Group 2

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Rank	Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
1	Belgium	7	4	3	1	0	11	6	+5
2	Sweden	3	4	1	1	2	9	8	+1
3	Finland	2	4	0	2	2	7	13	−6

25 May 1953	Finland	2 – 4	Belgium	Helsinki, Finland
	Lehtovirta 49', 75'	Report	Coppens 4', 26', 83' Anoul 9'	Referee: Helge (Denmark)

28 May 1953	Sweden	2 – 3	Belgium	Stockholm, Sweden
	Berndtsson 20' Selmsson 26'	Report	Anoul 28' Straetmans 37' Lemberechts 40'	Referee: Mowat (Scotland)

5 August 1953	Finland	3 – 3	Sweden	Helsinki, Finland
	Lehtovirta 63' Lahtinen 67' Rikberg 70'	Report	Sandell 9', 71' Persson 23'	Referee: Baalstad (Norway)

16 August 1953	Sweden	4 – 0	Finland	Stockholm, Sweden
	Sandberg 22' Sandell 24', 61' Sandin 56'	Report		Referee: Asmussen (Denmark)

23 September 1953	Belgium	2 – 2	Finland	Brussels, Belgium
	Bollen 25' 75'	Report	Lahtinen 83' Vaihela 90'	Referee: Baumberger (Switzerland)

8 October 1953	Belgium	2 – 0	Sweden	Brussels, Belgium
	Coppens 23' Mees 49'	Report		Referee: Schipper (Netherlands)

Belgium qualified.

Group 3

details

This group was also the 1953-1954 British Home Championship.

Rank	Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
1	England	6	3	3	0	0	11	4	+7
2	Scotland	3	3	1	1	1	8	8	0
3	Northern Ireland	2	3	1	0	2	4	7	−3
4	Wales	1	3	0	1	2	5	9	−4

3 October 1953	Northern Ireland	1 – 3	Scotland	Belfast, Northern Ireland
	Lockhart 72' (pen.)	Report	Fleming 47', 69' Henderson 89'	Stadium: Windsor Park Referee: Arthur Edward Ellis (England)

10 October 1953	Wales	1 – 4	England	Cardiff, Wales
	Allchurch 22'	Report	Wilshaw 45', 49' Lofthouse 52', 53'	Stadium: Ninian Park Referee: Charles Faultless (Scotland)

4 November 1953	Scotland	3 – 3	Wales	Glasgow, Scotland
	Brown 19' Johnstone 42' Reilly 58'	Report	Charles 49', 88' Allchurch 73'	Stadium: Hampden Park Referee: Thomas Mitchell (Northern Ireland)

11 November 1953	England	3 – 1	Northern Ireland	Liverpool, England
	Hassall 10', 60' Lofthouse 75'	Report	McMorran 54'	Stadium: Goodison Park Referee: Robert Smith (Wales)

31 March 1954	Wales	1 – 2	Northern Ireland	Wrexham, Wales
	Charles 80'	Report	McParland 1', 52'	Stadium: Racecourse Ground Referee: Charles Faultless (Scotland)

3 April 1954	Scotland	2 – 4	England	Glasgow, Scotland
	Brown 7' Ormond 89'	Report	Broadis 13' Nicholls 50' Allen 68' Mullen 83'	Stadium: Hampden Park Referee: Thomas Mitchell (Northern Ireland)

England and Scotland qualified.

Group 4

details

Rank	Team	Pts	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD
1	France	8	4	4	0	20	4	+16
2	Republic of Ireland	4	4	2	2	8	6	+2
3	Luxembourg	0	4	0	4	1	19	−18

20 September 1953	Luxembourg	1 – 6	France	Luxembourg, Luxembourg
	Kohn 6'	Report	Piantoni 5' Kopa 10' Cicci 41' Glovacki 44' Kargu 73' Flamion 88'	Referee: Dörflinger (Switzerland)

4 October 1953	Republic of Ireland	3 – 5	France	Dublin, Republic of Ireland
	Ryan 58' (pen.) Walsh 83' O'Farrell 88'	Report	Glovacki 23' Penverne 40' Ujlaki 50', 69' Flamion 72'	Referee: Franken (Belgium)

28 October 1953	Republic of Ireland	4 – 0	Luxembourg	Dublin, Republic of Ireland
	Fitzsimons 14' 83' Ryan 48' (pen.) Eglington 59'	Report		Referee: Bond (England)

25 November 1953	France	1 – 0	Republic of Ireland	Paris, France
	Piantoni 73'	Report		Referee: Van Nuffel (Belgium)

27 December 1953	France	8 – 0	Luxembourg	Paris, France
	Desgranges 2', 88' Vincent 6', 10' Fontaine 21', 75', 80' Foix 57'	Report		Referee: Roeykens (Belgium)

7 March 1954	Luxembourg	0 – 1	Republic of Ireland	Luxembourg, Luxembourg
		Report	Cummins 67'	Referee: Ausum (Netherlands)

France qualified.

Group 5

details

Rank	Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
1	Austria	3	2	1	1	0	9	1	+8
2	Portugal	1	2	0	1	1	1	9	−8

27 September 1953	Austria	9 – 1	Portugal	Vienna, Austria
	Probst 14' 19' 31' 59' 70' Dienst 87' Wagner 83' Ocwirk 13' Happel 68' (pen.)	Report	José Águas 60'	Referee: Bauwens (Belgium)

29 November 1953	Portugal	0 – 0	Austria	Lisbon, Portugal
		Report		Referee: Harzic (France)

Austria qualified.

Group 6

details

Rank	Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
1=	Spain	2	2	1	0	1	4	2	+2
1=	Turkey	2	2	1	0	1	2	4	−2

6 January 1954	Spain	4 – 1	Turkey	Madrid, Spain
	Venancio 13' Gaínza 48' Alsua 65' González 49'	Report	Recep 31'	Referee: Vincentini (France)

14 March 1954	Turkey	1 – 0	Spain	Istanbul, Turkey
	Burhan 16'	Report		Referee: Schmetzer (Germany)

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

17 March 1954	Turkey	2 – 2 (a.e.t.)	Spain	Rome, Italy
	Burhan 25' Suat 64'	Report	Arteche 11' Escudero 78'	Referee: Bernardi (Italy)

Turkey qualified after drawing lots. A 14 year old local (i.e. Roman) boy whose father worked at the stadium, Luigi Franco Gemma, picked Turkey's name from the lots with his eyes blindfolded.^[1]^[2]

Group 7

Rank	Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
1	Hungary	qualified
—	Poland	withdrew

Poland withdrew, so Hungary qualified automatically.

Group 8

details

Rank	Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
1	Czechoslovakia	7	4	3	1	0	5	1	+4
2	Romania	4	4	2	0	2	5	5	0
3	Bulgaria	1	4	0	1	3	3	7	−4

14 June 1953	Czechoslovakia	2 – 0	Romania	Prague, Czechoslovakia
	Crha 52' Laskov 67'	Report		Referee: Pósa (Hungary)

28 June 1953	Romania	3 – 1	Bulgaria	Bucharest, Romania
	Petschovski 20' 30' Ene 82'	Report	Kolev 53'	Stadium: 23 August Stadium Attendance: 60,000 Referee: Schulz (East Germany)

6 September 1953	Bulgaria	1 – 2	Czechoslovakia	Sofia, Bulgaria
	Bozhkov 55' (pen.)	Report	Vik 5' 40'	Stadium: Vasil Levski Attendance: 40,000 Referee: Aleksandrowicz (Poland)

11 October 1953	Bulgaria	1 – 2	Romania	Sofia, Bulgaria
	Kolev 28'	Report	Serfózó 27' Calinoui 52'	Stadium: Vasil Levski Attendance: 40,000 Referee: Dorogi (Hungary)

25 October 1953	Romania	0 – 1	Czechoslovakia	Bucharest, Romania
		Report	Safranek 38' (pen.)	Referee: Schulz (East Germany)

8 November 1953	Czechoslovakia	0 – 0	Bulgaria	Bratislava, Czechoslovakia
		Report		Stadium: Tehelne Pole Attendance: 30,000 Referee: Chkhatarashvili (Soviet Union)

Czechoslovakia qualified.

Group 9

details

Rank	Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
1	Italy	4	2	2	0	0	7	2	+5
2	Egypt	0	2	0	0	2	2	7	−5

13 November 1953	Egypt	1 – 2	Italy	Cairo, Egypt
	Mohamed Ad-Diba 33'		Frignani 62' Muccinelli 79'	Referee: Steiner (Austria)

24 January 1954	Italy	5 – 1	Egypt	Milan, Italy
	Pandolfini 1' Frignani 62' Boniperti 65', 86' Ricagni 84'		El-Din 32'	Referee: Horn (Netherlands)

Italy qualified.

Group 10

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Rank	Team	Pts	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD
1	Yugoslavia	8	4	4	0	4	0	+4
2	Greece	4	4	2	2	3	2	+1
3	Israel	0	4	0	4	0	5	−5

9 May 1953	Yugoslavia	1 – 0	Greece	Belgrade, Yugoslavia
	Matošić 71'	Report		Referee: Steiner (Austria)

1 November 1953	Greece	1 – 0	Israel	Athens, Greece
	Bembis 52'	Report		Referee: Massai (Italy)

8 November 1953	Yugoslavia	1 – 0	Israel	Skopje, Yugoslavia
	Milutinović 3'	Report		Referee: Alsteen (Belgium)

8 March 1954	Israel	0 – 2	Greece	Tel-Aviv, Israel
		Report	Kokkinakis 61' Kamaras 83'	Referee: Buchmüller (Switzerland)

21 March 1954	Israel	0 – 1	Yugoslavia	Tel-Aviv, Israel
		Report	Zebec 80'	Referee: Leafe (England)

28 March 1954	Greece	0 – 1	Yugoslavia	Athens, Greece
		Report	Veselinović 50'	Referee: Rufli (Switzerland)

Yugoslavia qualified.

Group 11

details

Rank	Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
1	Brazil	8	4	4	0	0	8	1	+7
2	Paraguay	4	4	2	0	2	8	6	+2
3	Chile	0	4	0	0	4	1	10	−9
—	Peru	withdrew

14 February 1954	Paraguay	4 – 0	Chile	Asunción, Paraguay
	Lugo 38' S. Parodi 69' Hermosilla 71' J. Parodi 77'			Referee: Steiner (Austria)

21 February 1954	Chile	1 – 3	Paraguay	Santiago, Chile
	Robledo 16'		Lugo 17' 63' J. Parodi 84'	Referee: Vincentini (France)

28 February 1954	Chile	0 – 2	Brazil	Santiago, Chile
			Baltazar 38' 63'	Referee: Vincentini (France)

7 March 1954	Paraguay	0 – 1	Brazil	Asunción, Paraguay
			Baltazar 52'	Referee: Steiner (Austria)

14 March 1954	Brazil	1 – 0	Chile	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
	Baltazar 35'			Referee: Steiner (Austria)

21 March 1954	Brazil	4 – 1	Paraguay	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
	Julinho 60' 85' Baltazar 62' Maurinho 90'			Referee: Vincentini (France)

Brazil qualified.

Group 12

details

Rank	Team	Pts	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD
1	Mexico	8	4	4	0	19	1	+18
2	United States	4	4	2	2	7	9	−2
3	Haiti	0	4	0	4	2	18	−16

19 July 1953	Mexico	8 – 0	Haiti	Mexico City, Mexico
	Balcazar 23', 26', 76' Gómez 27' Tellez 34' Amauda 38', 69', 85'			Referee: Crawford (England)

27 December 1953	Haiti	0 – 4	Mexico	Port-au-Prince, Haiti
			Avalos 6' Lamadrid 15', 59' Balcazar 65'	Referee: Van Rosberg (Netherlands Antilles)

10 January 1954	Mexico	4 – 0	United States	Mexico City, Mexico
	Balcazar 5' Lamadrid 16', 47' Naranjo 63'			Referee: Sunderland (England)

14 January 1954	Mexico	3 – 1	United States	Mexico City, Mexico
	A. Torres 60', 89' Lamadrid 82'		Looby 6'	Referee: Best (United States)

3 March 1954	Haiti	2 – 3	United States	Port-au-Prince, Haiti
	Ellie 60' (pen.) Gerard Haig 89'		Casey 20' Chachurian 42' Lobby 83'	Referee: Van Rosberg (Netherlands Antilles)

4 March 1954	Haiti	0 – 3	United States	Port-au-Prince, Haiti
			Looby 22' 65' Mendoza 31'	Referee: Van Rosberg (Netherlands Antilles)

Mexico qualified.

Group 13

details

Rank	Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
1	South Korea	3	2	1	1	0	7	3	+4
2	Japan	1	2	0	1	1	3	7	−4
—	Republic of China	withdrew

7 March 1954	Japan	1 – 5	South Korea	Tokyo, Japan
	Ken Naganuma 16'		Chung Nam Sick 22' Choi Kwang Suk 34' Sung Nak Woon 65' Choi Jung Mih 82' 85'	Referee: Haran (Hong Kong)

14 March 1954	South Korea	2 – 2	Japan	Tokyo, Japan
	Choi Nam Shik 20' Choi Kwang Suk 43'		Toshio Iwatani 17' 61'	Referee: Haran (Hong Kong)

Korea Republic qualified.

Qualified teams

Team	Finals Appearance	Streak	Last Appearance
Austria	2nd	1	1934
Belgium	4th	1	1938
Brazil	5th	5	1950
Czechoslovakia	3rd	1	1938
England	2nd	2	1950
France	4th	1	1938
Hungary	3rd	1	1938
Italy	4th	4	1950
South Korea	1st	1	–
Mexico	3rd	2	1950
Scotland	1st	1	–
Switzerland (h)	4th	4	1950
Turkey	1st	1	–
Uruguay (c)	3rd	2	1950
West Germany	3rd	1	1938
Yugoslavia	3rd	2	1950

(h) - qualified automatically as hosts

(c) - qualified automatically as defending champions

Notes

Turkey gained a place in the World Cup through drawing lots, over Spain after failing to decide which team was the winner of Group 6 after three matches. However, it was not the only one. Morocco eliminated Tunisia during qualification for the 1962 FIFA World Cup by drawing lots, and eliminated Tunisia again on a coin toss during 1970 World Cup qualification. They also eliminated Tunisia during qualification for the 1968 Olympics either by drawing lots or a coin toss. In 1978, Tunisia defeated Morocco during World Cup qualification on penalties, in the first time penalties were ever used during World Cup qualification.^[1]
For the first time, qualification matches were actually played in South America, since in all previous World Cups, the South American teams all qualified automatically due to withdrawals.
As the French-occupied Saarland protectorate became part of the Federal Republic of Germany only in 1957, the Saarland entered their only World Cup competition and actually had to play Germany in the qualifiers.

References

^ ^a ^b "FIFA Fact Sheet: History of the FIFA World Cup (TM) Preliminary Competition (by year)" (PDF). FIFA. 2010. Retrieved 2010-06-09.
^ http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/news/newsid=1193744/index.html

External links

[fifaprel-1] "FIFA Fact Sheet: History of the FIFA World Cup (TM) Preliminary Competition (by year)" (PDF). FIFA. 2010. Retrieved 2010-06-09.

[2] ttp://www.fifa.com/worldcup/news/newsid=1193744/index.html

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