1958 FIFA World Cup qualification

A total of 55 teams entered the 1958 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds, competing for a total of 16 spots in the final tournament. Sweden as the hosts and West Germany, as the defending champions, qualified automatically, leaving 14 spots open for competition.

1958 FIFA World Cup Qualification
Tournament details
Dates30 September 1956 - 5 February 1958
Teams55 (from 6 confederations)
Tournament statistics
Matches played89
Goals scored341 (3.83 per match)
Top scorer(s) Tommy Taylor (8 goals)

The qualification rounds for the four previous World Cups were very confusing, with controversial rules and many withdrawals. From this tournament onwards, FIFA decided to divide the teams into several continental zones, assign a pre-determined number of places in the final tournament to each zone, and delegate the organization of the qualifying tournaments to its confederations: UEFA of Europe, CONMEBOL of South America, NAFC of North America, CCCF of Central America and Caribbean, CAF of Africa and AFC of Asia (and OFC of Oceania after it was formed later). This led to a more organized qualification process with clearer rules, but not yet withdrawal-proof.

The 16 spots available in the 1958 World Cup would be distributed among the continental zones as follows:

  • Europe (UEFA): 11 places, 2 of them went to automatic qualifiers Sweden and West Germany, while the other 9 places were contested by 27 teams.
  • South America (CONMEBOL): 3 places, contested by 9 teams.
  • North, Central America and Caribbean (NAFC/CCCF): 1 place, contested by 6 teams.
  • Africa (CAF) and Asia (AFC): 1 place, contested by 11 teams (including Israel, Cyprus and Turkey).

However, FIFA also imposed a rule that no team would qualify without playing at least one match because many teams qualified for previous World Cups without playing due to withdrawals of their opponents. Because Israel won the African and Asian zone under this circumstance, FIFA required them to enter a play-off against a team from Europe who initially did not qualify, with the winner of this play-off qualifying. Therefore, effectively in the end, a total of 11.5 places were granted to Europe while only 0.5 places were granted to Africa and Asia.

A total of 46 teams played at least one qualifying match. A total of 89 qualifying matches were played, and 341 goals were scored (an average of 3.83 per match).

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

Europe

The 27 teams were divided into 9 groups, each featuring 3 teams. The teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winners would qualify.

Denmark, East Germany, Iceland and the Soviet Union made their debuts in World Cup qualification.

Group 1 Group 2 Group 3
Pos Team Pld Pts
1  England 4 7
2  Republic of Ireland 4 5
3  Denmark 4 0
Source:
Pos Team Pld Pts
1  France 4 7
2  Belgium 4 5
3  Iceland 4 0
Source:
Pos Team Pld Pts
1  Hungary 4 6
2  Bulgaria 4 4
3  Norway 4 2
Source:
Group 4 Group 5 Group 6
Pos Team Pld Pts
1  Czechoslovakia 4 6
2  Wales 4 4
3  East Germany 4 2
Source:
Pos Team Pld Pts
1  Austria 4 7
2  Netherlands 4 5
3  Luxembourg 4 0
Source:
Pos Team Pld Pts
1  Soviet Union 4 6
2  Poland 4 6
3  Finland 4 0
Source:
Group 7 Group 8 Group 9
Pos Team Pld Pts
1  Yugoslavia 4 6
2  Romania 4 5
3  Greece 4 1
Source:
Pos Team Pld Pts
1  Northern Ireland 4 7
2  Italy 4 5
3  Portugal 4 0
Source:
Pos Team Pld Pts
1  Scotland 4 6
2  Spain 4 5
3   Switzerland 4 1
Source:

South America

The 9 teams were divided into 3 groups of 3 teams each. The teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winners would qualify.

Group 1 Group 2 Group 3
Pos Team Pld Pts
1  Brazil 2 3
2  Peru 2 1
Source:
Pos Team Pld Pts
1  Argentina 4 6
2  Bolivia 4 4
3  Chile 4 2
Source:
Pos Team Pld Pts
1  Paraguay 4 6
2  Uruguay 4 5
3  Colombia 4 1
Source:

North, Central America and Caribbean

There were two rounds of play:

  • First Round: The 6 teams were divided into 2 groups with 3 teams each (Group 1 with teams from North America and Group 2 with teams from Central America and Caribbean). The teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winners advanced to the Final Round.
  • Final Round: The 2 teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The winner qualified.

Group 1
Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA
1  Mexico 84400182
2  Canada 4420288
3  United States 04004521
7 April 1957 Mexico  6–0  United States Mexico City, Mexico
C. Gutiérrez  14', 26'
Reyes  33', 69', 76'
H. Hernández  63'		 Attendance: 60,000
Referee: Van Rosberg (Netherlands Antilles)
28 April 1957 United States  2–7  Mexico Long Beach, United States
E. Murphy  5', 45' A. Hernández  22', 36', 82'
C. Gutiérrez  38'
H. Hernández  65', 87'
Sesma  79'		 Attendance: 12,500
Referee: Morgan (Canada)
22 June 1957 Canada  5–1  United States Varsity Stadium Toronto, Canada
McLeod  32'
Philley  35'
Hughes  55', 80'
Stewart  57'		 Keough  35' (pen.) Attendance: 5,167
Referee: Sadler (Canada)
30 June 1957 Mexico  3–0  Canada Mexico City, Mexico
C. González  5', 72'
C. Gutiérrez  46'		 Referee: Van Rosberg (Netherlands Antilles)
3 July 1957 Mexico  2–0  Canada Mexico City, Mexico
C. Gutiérrez  8'
Sesma  28'		 Referee: Van Rosberg (Netherlands Antilles)
6 July 1957 United States [2] 2–3  Canada St. Louis, United States
Mendoza  42'
J. Murphy  80'		 Philley  9'
Steckiw  14'
Stewart  25'		 Attendance: 1,500
Referee: Lutostanski (United States)

Mexico advanced to the Final Round.

Group 2
Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA
1  Costa Rica 84400154
2 Territory of Curaçao 2310247
3  Guatemala 03003412
10 February 1957 Guatemala  2–6  Costa Rica Guatemala City, Guatemala
Vickers  19'
Espinoza  87'		 Hernán  11', 28', 38'
Jiménez  17'
Montero  48'
Murillo  78'		 Referee: Sundheim (Colombia)
17 February 1957 Costa Rica  3–1
(66')[3]		  Guatemala San José, Costa Rica
Jiménez  12'
Cordero  28'
Herrera  65'		 López  61' Referee: Orrego (Colombia)
3 March 1957 Costa Rica  4–0 Territory of Curaçao San José, Costa Rica
Herrera  16', 63'
Murillo  35', 67'		 Referee: McKenna (England)
14 March 1957 Guatemala  1–3 Territory of Curaçao Guatemala City, Guatemala
López  51' De Lanoy  23', 31'
Meulens  65'		 Referee: Sundheim (Colombia)
4 August 1957 Territory of Curaçao 1–2  Costa Rica Willemstad, Territory of Curaçao
Sambo  21' Cordero  53'
Montero  60'		 Referee: Orlandini (Italy)

Costa Rica advanced to the Final Round. Territory of Curaçao v Guatemala was not played because the Guatemalan players were not permitted to travel to the Netherlands Antilles (the Netherlands Antilles were still using the nation's former "Curaçao" name).[4] However, neither team would have been able to advance with a win regardless.

CCCF / NAFC Final Round
Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA
1  Mexico 3211031
2  Costa Rica 1201113
20 October 1957 Mexico  2–0  Costa Rica Mexico City, Mexico
Belmonte  77'
López  86'		 Referee: Husband (England)
27 October 1957 Costa Rica  1–1  Mexico San José, Costa Rica
Soto  32' López  27' Referee: Husband (England)

Mexico qualified.

Africa and Asia
AFC Asian Qualifiers
FIFA World Cup
AFC Asian Cup

FIFA rejected the entries of Ethiopia and South Korea.[5] The remaining 10 teams played in a knockout tournament, with matches on a home-and-away basis. The tournament winner would qualify.

CAF / AFC Preliminary Round
Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA
1=  Indonesia advanced
1=  China PR advanced
—  Republic of China withdrew

Republic of China withdrew, so China PR and Indonesia advanced to the First Round automatically.

Group 1
Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA Ave
1=  Indonesia 22101541.25
1=  China PR 22101450.8
Indonesia 2–0 China PR
Ramang  47', 80'
Referee: Jonni (Italy)
China PR 4–3 Indonesia
Zhang Honggen  1'
Nian Weisi  9'
Sun Fucheng  47'
Wang Lu  75'		 Ramang  25', 55'
Witarsa  70'
Referee: Chakravarti (India)

China PR and Indonesia finished level on points, and a play-off on neutral ground was played to decide who would advance to the Second Round.

Indonesia 0–0
(a.e.t.)		 China PR
Referee: U Ba Thaung (Burma)

Indonesia advanced to the Second Round by having a better goal average. (Penalty shootouts had not been invented.)

Group 2
Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA
1  Israel advanced
—  Turkey withdrew

Turkey refused to compete in the Asian group, so Israel advanced to the Second Round automatically.

Group 3
Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA
1  Egypt advanced
—  Cyprus withdrew

Cyprus withdrew, so Egypt advanced to the Second Round automatically.

Group 4
Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA
1  Sudan 3211021
2  Syria 1201112
8 March 1957 Sudan  1–0  Syria Khartoum, Sudan
Manzul  78' (pen.) Stadium: Khartoum Stadium
Referee: Riccardo Pieri (Italy)
24 May 1957 Syria  1–1  Sudan Damascus, Syria
Al-Zarqa  70' Suleiman Faris  38' Stadium: Abbasiyyin Stadium
Referee: Konstantinos Ioannidis (Greece)

Sudan advanced.

CAF / AFC Second Round
Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA
1=  Israel advanced
1=  Sudan advanced
—  Egypt withdrew
—  Indonesia withdrew

Indonesia withdrew after FIFA rejected their request to play against Israel on neutral ground. Israel advanced to the Final Round automatically. Egypt withdrew, so Sudan advanced to the Final Round automatically.

CAF / AFC Final Round
Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA
1  Israel advanced
—  Sudan withdrew

Sudan refused to play against Israel because of the Arab League boycott of Israel, so Israel would technically qualify automatically, but before the qualification rounds began, FIFA had ruled that no team would qualify without playing at least one match (except for the defending champions and the hosts), and Israel had yet to play any.

Inter-confederation play-offs: CAF/AFC v UEFA
Main article: 1958 FIFA World Cup qualification (CAF/AFC–UEFA play-off)

A special play-off was created between Israel and the runner-up of one of the UEFA/CONMEBOL/CCCF/NAFC Groups, where the teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis, with the winner qualifying. Two-time champions Uruguay withdrew, while Northern Ireland and Italy had one final match yet to play, so all three were left out. Belgium, Bulgaria, Wales, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Spain, Peru, Bolivia and Costa Rica were left to draw. After Belgium refused, Wales, the runner-up of UEFA Group 4, was the team drawn from the UEFA group runners-up.[6]

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Wales 2 2 0 0 4 0 +4 4 Qualification to 1958 FIFA World Cup — 2–0
2  Israel 2 0 0 2 0 4 −4 0 0–2 —
Source: FIFA

Qualified teams
FIFA World Cup qualification 1958
Qualifying countries
Team Date of qualification Finals appearance Streak Last appearance
 Argentina 27 October 19573rd11934
 Austria 29 September 19573rd21954
 Brazil 21 April 19576th61954
 Czechoslovakia 27 October 19574th21954
 England 19 May 19573rd31954
 France 27 October 19575th21954
 Hungary 10 November 19574th21954
 Mexico 27 October 19574th31954
 Northern Ireland 15 January 19581st1—
 Paraguay 14 July 19573rd11950
 Scotland 6 November 19572nd21954
 Sweden (Hosts) 23 June 19504th11950
 Soviet Union 24 November 19571st1—
 Wales 5 February 19581st1—
 West Germany (Defending Champions) 4 July 19544th21954
 Yugoslavia 17 November 19574th31954

Goalscorers
8 goals
7 goals
5 goals
4 goals
3 goals
2 goals
1 goal
1 own goal

See also

Notes
  • Wales is the only team to ever qualify after having been eliminated and then reinstated. Their qualification meant that all four Home Nations qualified, and that no team from the separate African and Asian zone qualified. This remains Wales' only appearance in the finals; they have never qualified through the European zone.
  • Italy were eliminated in qualifying for the first time. They would not fail again until 2018.
  • Two-time former champions Uruguay, who in their three previous appearances had always benefited from direct qualifications or withdrawals, now failed in what was the first time they actually had to play qualifying games.

Footnotes
  1. Entire US squad pulled from St. Louis Kutis Archived 2014-08-29 at the Wayback Machine
  2. Entire US squad pulled from St. Louis Kutis Archived 2014-08-29 at the Wayback Machine
  3. Match interrupted in the 66th minute by Guatemala abandoning the pitch; the result was later affirmed.
  4. "History of the FIFA World Cup Preliminary Competition (by year)" (PDF). FIFA.com. Archived from the original (pdf) on June 15, 2010. Retrieved 8 April 2012.
  6. Doyle, Paul. "The Joy of Six: international football play-offs". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
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