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{{Main|1958 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONMEBOL - Group 3)}}
{{Main|1958 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONMEBOL - Group 3)}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|-
!width=30|Rank
! style="width:165px; text-align:left;"|Team
!width=20|Pts
!width=20|Pld
!width=20|W
!width=20|D
!width=20|L
!width=20|GF
!width=20|GA
|- style="background:#cfc;"
|'''1'''
|style="text-align:left;"|{{fb|PAR|1954}}
|'''6'''||4||3||0||1||11||4
|-
|'''2'''
|style="text-align:left;"|{{fb|URU}}
|'''5'''||4||2||1||1||4||6
|-
|'''3'''
|style="text-align:left;"|{{fb|COL}}
|'''1'''||4||0||1||3||3||8
|}

{{footballbox_collapsible
|date = 16 June 1957
|team1 = {{fb-rt|COL}}
|score = 1–1
|report =
|team2 = {{fb|URU}}
|goals1 = [[Carlos Arango|Arango]] {{goal|15}}
|goals2 = [[Javier Ambrois|Ambrois]] {{goal|46}}
|location = [[Bogotá]], [[Colombia]]
|referee = Husband ([[The Football Association|England]])
|nobars = 1
}}
----
{{footballbox_collapsible
|date = 20 June 1957
|team1 = {{fb-rt|COL}}
|score = 2–3
|report =
|team2 = {{fb|PAR|1954}}
|goals1 = [[Jaime Gutiérrez|Gutiérrez]] {{goal|10}}<br />[[Ricardo Díaz (footballer)|Díaz]] {{goal|89}}
|goals2 = [[Ángel Jara Saguier|A. Jara]] {{goal|34}}<br />[[Juan Bautista Agüero|Agüero]] {{goal|68}}<br />[[Óscar Aguilera|Aguilera]] {{goal|88}}
|location = [[Bogotá]], [[Colombia]]
|referee = Husband ([[The Football Association|England]])
|nobars = 1
}}
----
{{footballbox_collapsible
|date = 30 June 1957
|team1 = {{fb-rt|URU}}
|score = 1&ndash;0
|report =
|team2 = {{fb|COL}}
|goals1 = [[Óscar Míguez|Míguez]] {{goal|89|pen.}}
|location = [[Montevideo]], [[Uruguay]]
|referee = Husband ([[The Football Association|England]])
|nobars = 1
}}
----
{{footballbox_collapsible
|date = 7 July 1957
|team1 = {{fb-rt|PAR|1954}}
|score = 3&ndash;0
|report =
|team2 = {{fb|COL}}
|goals1 = [[Enrique Jara Saguier|E. Jara]] {{goal|11||77}}<br />[[Juan Bautista Agüero|Agüero]] {{goal|27}}
|location = [[Asunción]], [[Paraguay]]
|referee = Husband ([[The Football Association|England]])
|nobars = 1
}}
----
{{footballbox_collapsible
|date = 14 July 1957
|team1 = {{fb-rt|PAR|1954}}
|score = 5&ndash;0
|report =
|team2 = {{fb|URU}}
|goals1 = [[Florencio Amarilla|Amarilla]] {{goal|5||48||57}}<br />[[Ángel Jara Saguier|A. Jara]] {{goal|88}}<br />[[Juan Bautista Agüero|Agüero]] {{goal|90}}
|location = [[Asunción]], [[Paraguay]]
|referee = Husband ([[The Football Association|England]])
|nobars = 1
}}
----
{{footballbox_collapsible
|date = 28 July 1957
|team1 = {{fb-rt|URU}}
|score = 2&ndash;0
|report =
|team2 = {{fb|PAR|1954}}
|goals1 = [[Eladio Benítez|Benítez]] {{goal|8}}<br />[[William Martínez|Martínez]] {{goal|88}}
|location = [[Montevideo]], [[Uruguay]]
|referee = Husband ([[The Football Association|England]])
|nobars = 1
}}

'''Paraguay''' qualified.


==North, Central America and Caribbean==
==North, Central America and Caribbean==

Revision as of 05:56, 16 December 2021

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)England Tommy Taylor (8 goals)
1954
1962

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.

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.

UEFA Group 1

Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GAv
1  England 7 4 3 1 0 15 5 3.00
2  Republic of Ireland 5 4 2 1 1 6 7 0.86
3  Denmark 0 4 0 0 4 4 13 0.31
3 October 1956 Republic of Ireland  2–1  Denmark Dublin, Republic of Ireland
Curtis 27'
Gavin 45' (pen.)
Report Aa. Jensen 85' Stadium: Dalymount Park
Attendance: 32,600
Referee: Bond (England)

5 December 1956 England  5–2  Denmark Wolverhampton, England
Taylor 2', 22', 53'
Edwards 66', 77'
Report O. Nielsen 27', 32' Attendance: 54,083
Referee: Guigue (France)

8 May 1957 England  5–1  Republic of Ireland London, England
Taylor 10', 19', 40'
Atyeo 38', 90'
Report Curtis 56' Attendance: 52,000
Referee: Phillips (Scotland)

15 May 1957 Denmark  1–4  England Copenhagen, Denmark
J. Jensen 27' Report Haynes 28'
Taylor 71', 86'
Atyeo 75'
Attendance: 35,000
Referee: Dusch (West Germany)

19 May 1957 Republic of Ireland  1–1  England Dublin, Republic of Ireland
Ringstead 3' Report Atyeo 90' Attendance: 36,000
Referee: Philips (Scotland)

2 October 1957 Denmark  0–2  Republic of Ireland Copenhagen, Denmark
Report Cummins 53'
Curtis 61'
Attendance: 28,000
Referee: Schulz (East Germany)

England qualified.

UEFA Group 2

Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GAv
1  France 7 4 3 1 0 19 4 4.75
2  Belgium 5 4 2 1 1 16 11 1.45
3  Iceland 0 4 0 0 4 6 26 0.23
11 November 1956 France  6–3  Belgium Paris, France
Cisowski 13', 15', 44', 72', 88'
Vincent 18'
Report Houf 16'
Willems 61', 67'
Attendance: 46,049
Referee: Clough (England)

2 June 1957 France  8–0  Iceland Nantes, France
C. Oliver 6', 11'
Vincent 29', 83'
Dereuddre 36'
Piantoni 45', 81'
Brahimi 49'
Report Attendance: 15,080
Referee: Ellis (England)

5 June 1957 Belgium  8–3  Iceland Brussels, Belgium
Orlans 4', 57'
Piters 11'
Vandenberg 12'
Mees 22', 26'
Coppens 42', 44' (pen.)
Report Þórðarson 33', 77'
R. Jónsson 81'
Attendance: 6,792
Referee: Blitgen (Luxembourg)

1 September 1957 Iceland  1–5  France Reykjavík, Iceland
Þ. Jónsson 64' Report Cisowski 29', 32'
Ujlaki 48', 66'
Wisnieski 53'
Attendance: 9,000
Referee: Davidson (Scotland)

4 September 1957 Iceland  2–5  Belgium Reykjavík, Iceland
R. Jónsson 1'
Þ. Jónsson 65'
Report Van Herpe 9'
Willems 40'
Vandenberg 64', 81', 89'
Attendance: 7,000
Referee: Davidson (Scotland)

27 October 1957 Belgium  0–0  France Brussels, Belgium
Report Attendance: 56,497
Referee: Helge (Denmark)

France qualified.

UEFA Group 3

Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GAv
1  Hungary 6 4 3 0 1 12 4 3.00
2  Bulgaria 4 4 2 0 2 11 7 1.57
3  Norway 2 4 1 0 3 3 15 0.20
22 May 1957 Norway  1–2  Bulgaria Oslo, Norway
Hennum 47' Report G. Dimitrov 38', 75' Stadium: Ullevaal
Attendance: 27,542
Referee: Lindberg (Sweden)

12 June 1957 Norway  2–1  Hungary Oslo, Norway
Hennum 10'
K. Kristiansen 78'
Report Tichy 43' Attendance: 25,724
Referee: Helge (Denmark)

23 June 1957 Hungary  4–1  Bulgaria Budapest, Hungary
Machos 5', 14', 30'
Bozsik 52'
Report Kolev 69' Stadium: Nepstadion
Attendance: 60,000
Referee: Guigue (France)

15 September 1957 Bulgaria  1–2  Hungary Sofia, Bulgaria
Diev 43' Report Hidegkuti 2', 34' Stadium: Vasil Levski
Attendance: 50,000
Referee: Bernardi (Italy)

3 November 1957 Bulgaria  7–0  Norway Sofia, Bulgaria
Iliev 6', 60', 74'
Panayotov 29', 32'
Yanev 59'
Debarski 77'
Report Stadium: Vasil Levski
Attendance: 22,120
Referee: Macko (Czechoslovakia)

10 November 1957 Hungary  5–0  Norway Budapest, Hungary
Sándor 12'
Csordás 20', 71'
Machos 69'
Falch 74' (o.g.)
Report Attendance: 91,000
Referee: Dusch (West Germany)

Hungary qualified.

UEFA Group 4

Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GAv
1  Czechoslovakia 6 4 3 0 1 9 3 3.00
2  Wales 4 4 2 0 2 6 5 1.20
3  East Germany 2 4 1 0 3 5 12 0.42
1 May 1957 Wales  1–0  Czechoslovakia Cardiff, Wales
Vernon 75' Report Referee: Bronkhorst (Netherlands)


26 May 1957 Czechoslovakia  2–0  Wales Prague, Czechoslovakia
Daniel 21' (o.g.)
Kraus 65'
Report Referee: Wyssling ()

16 June 1957 Czechoslovakia  3–1  East Germany Brno, Czechoslovakia
Kraus 60'
Bubník 81'
Molnár 89'
Report Wirth 18' Referee: Jörgensen (Denmark)

25 September 1957 Wales  4–1  East Germany Cardiff, Wales
Palmer 38', 44', 73'
Jones 42'
Report Kaiser 57' Referee: Leafe (England)

27 October 1957 East Germany  1–4  Czechoslovakia Leipzig, East Germany
H. Müller 35' Report Kraus 4', 88'
Moravčík 23'
Novák 43'
Referee: Schwinte (France)

Czechoslovakia qualified. Wales received another chance to qualify after being drawn to play against Israel in a special play-off; see CAF / AFC Final Round and Play-off.

UEFA Group 5

Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GAv
1  Austria 7 4 3 1 0 14 3 4.67
2  Netherlands 5 4 2 1 1 12 7 1.71
3  Luxembourg 0 4 0 0 4 3 19 0.16
30 September 1956 Austria  7–0  Luxembourg Vienna, Austria
Hanappi 18', 25'
Walzhofer 51'
Wagner 62', 77'
Kozlicek 71'
Haummer 79'
Report Referee: Liverani (Italy)

20 March 1957 Netherlands  4–1  Luxembourg Rotterdam, Netherlands
Van der Gijp 27', 30'
Dillen 72'
Brusselers 80'
Report Halsdorf 34' Referee: Treichel (West Germany)

26 May 1957 Austria  3–2  Netherlands Vienna, Austria
Koller 47'
Buzek 80'
Stotz 89' (pen.)
Report Van Melis 30', 32' Referee: Schmetzer (West Germany)

11 September 1957 Netherlands  5–2  Luxembourg Rotterdam, Netherlands
Lenstra 15', 28'
Wilkes 26'
Van Melis 35'
Rijvers 54'
Report Fiedler 5'
Letsch 58'
Referee: Murdoch (England)

25 September 1957 Netherlands  1–1  Austria Amsterdam, Netherlands
Lenstra 63' Report Hanappi 29' Referee: Ellis (England)

29 September 1957 Luxembourg  0–3  Austria Luxembourg, Luxembourg
Report Dienst 19'
Buzek 47'
Senekowitsch 66'
Referee: Versyp (Belgium)

Austria qualified.

UEFA Group 6

Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GAv
1=  Soviet Union 6 4 3 0 1 16 3 5.33
1=  Poland 6 4 3 0 1 9 5 1.80
3  Finland 0 4 0 0 4 2 19 0.11
23 June 1957 Soviet Union  3–0  Poland Moscow, Soviet Union
Tatushin 9'
Simonyan 55'
Ilyin 77'
Report Stadium: Lenin Central Stadium
Attendance: 102,000
Referee: Clough (England)

5 July 1957 Finland  1–3  Poland Helsinki, Finland
Vanhanen 72' Report Jankowski 19', 56', 65' Referee: Nilsen (Norway)

27 July 1957 Soviet Union  2–1  Finland Moscow, Soviet Union
Voinov 23'
Netto 62'
Report Lahtinen 42' Stadium: Dynamo Stadium
Attendance: 50,000
Referee: Mayer (Austria)

15 August 1957 Finland  0–10  Soviet Union Helsinki, Finland
Report Netto 6'
Simonyan 9', 13', 31'
Isayev 12', 20'
Streltsov 29', 49'
Ilyin 60', 87'
Referee: A. Asmussen (Denmark)

20 October 1957 Poland  2–1  Soviet Union Chorzów, Poland
Cieślik 43', 50' Report Ivanov 80' Referee: Clough (England)

3 November 1957 Poland  4–0  Finland Warsaw, Poland
Gawlik 2'
Brychczy 4', 48'
Jankowski 60'
Report Referee: Dusch (West Germany)

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

24 November 1957 Soviet Union  2–0  Poland Leipzig, East Germany
Streltsov 31'
Fedosov 75'
Report Referee: Clough (England)

USSR qualified.

UEFA Group 7

Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GAv
1  Yugoslavia 6 4 2 2 0 7 2 3.50
2  Romania 5 4 2 1 1 6 4 1.50
3  Greece 1 4 0 1 3 2 9 0.22
5 May 1957 Greece  0–0  Yugoslavia Athens, Greece
Report Referee: Devillers (France)

16 June 1957 Greece  1–2  Romania Athens, Greece
Panakis 29' Report A. Ene 15'
Ozon 78'
Referee: Harzic (France)

29 September 1957 Romania  1–1  Yugoslavia Bucharest, Romania
A. Ene 78' Report Mujić 79' Referee: Grill (Austria)

3 November 1957 Romania  3–0  Greece Bucharest, Romania
Petschovsky 51' (pen.)
Tătaru 64'
Cacoveanu 67'
Report Referee: Schwinte (France)

10 November 1957 Yugoslavia  4–1  Greece Belgrade, Yugoslavia
Mujić 6', 61'
Krstić 9'
Petaković 67'
Report Nestoridis 28' Referee: Jonni (Italy)

17 November 1957 Yugoslavia  2–0  Romania Belgrade, Yugoslavia
Milutinović 52', 58' Report Referee: Seipelt (Austria)

Yugoslavia qualified.

UEFA Group 8

Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GAv
1  Northern Ireland 5 4 2 1 1 6 3 2.00
2  Italy 4 4 2 0 2 5 5 1.00
3  Portugal 3 4 1 1 2 4 7 0.57
16 January 1957 Portugal  1–1  Northern Ireland Lisbon, Portugal
Vasques 24' Report Bingham 6' Referee: Lequesne (France)

25 April 1957 Italy  1–0  Northern Ireland Rome, Italy
Cervato 3' Report Referee: Guigue (France)

1 May 1957 Northern Ireland  3–0  Portugal Belfast, Northern Ireland
Casey 22'
Simpson 60'
McIlroy 70' (pen.)
Report Referee: Phillips (Scotland)

26 May 1957 Portugal  3–0  Italy Lisbon, Portugal
Vasques 41'
Teixeira 81'
Matateu 87'
Report Referee: Treichel (West Germany)

22 December 1957 Italy  3–0  Portugal Milan, Italy
Gratton 36', 72'
Pivatelli 84'
Report Referee: Damiani (Yugoslavia)

The 15 January 1958 fixture of Italy at Northern Ireland was originally scheduled for 4 December 1957, but heavy fog in London prevented the referee (István Zsolt, manager of the Budapest Opera House) from arriving for the match in time. The fixture was postponed, but the match continued as a friendly, and ended in a 2–2 draw and a riot as the crowd (infuriated by the postponement and quite rough play from some Italian players) invaded the pitch. The 'friendly' match was dubbed the 'Battle of Belfast'.[1] Danny Blanchflower, Northern Ireland captain at the time, helped save the situation by ordering his players to escort their Italian counterparts off the field while the police dealt with the crowd.[2]

Northern Ireland qualified.

This was the only time that Italy failed to qualify for the World Cup until their failure to qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.

UEFA Group 9

Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GAv
1  Scotland 6 4 3 0 1 10 9 1.11
2  Spain 5 4 2 1 1 12 8 1.50
3   Switzerland 1 4 0 1 3 6 11 0.55
10 March 1957 Spain  2–2   Switzerland Madrid, Spain
Suárez 30'
González 48'
Report Hügi 6', 67' Referee: Erich (West Germany)

8 May 1957 Scotland  4–2  Spain Glasgow, Scotland
Mudie 22', 70', 79'
Hewie 41' (pen.)
Report Suárez 19'
Kubala 28'
Referee: Dusch (West Germany)

19 May 1957 Switzerland  1–2  Scotland Basel, Switzerland
R. Vonlanthen 13' Report Mudie 33'
Ring 71'
Referee: Seipelt (Austria)

26 May 1957 Spain  4–1  Scotland Madrid, Spain
Mateos 11'
Kubala 33'
Basora 60', 87'
Report Smith 79' Referee: Leafe (England)

6 November 1957 Scotland  3–2   Switzerland Glasgow, Scotland
Robertson 29'
Mudie 52'
Scott 70'
Report Riva 35'
R. Vonlanthen 79'
Referee: Leafe (England)

24 November 1957 Switzerland  1–4  Spain Lausanne, Switzerland
Ballaman 61' Report Kubala 19', 72'
Di Stéfano 24', 55'
Referee: Alsteen (Belgium)

Scotland qualified.

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.

CONMEBOL Group 1

Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA
1  Brazil 3 2 1 1 0 2 1
2  Peru 1 2 0 1 1 1 2
 Venezuela withdrew

CONMEBOL Group 2

Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA
1  Argentina 6 4 3 0 1 10 2
2  Bolivia 4 4 2 0 2 6 6
3  Chile 2 4 1 0 3 2 10

CONMEBOL Group 3

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.

CCCF / NAFC First Round

Group 1

Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA
1  Mexico 8 4 4 0 0 18 2
2  Canada 4 4 2 0 2 8 8
3  United States 0 4 0 0 4 5 21
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 [3] 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 8 4 4 0 0 15 4
2 Netherlands Territory of Curaçao 2 3 1 0 2 4 7
3  Guatemala 0 3 0 0 3 4 12
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')[4]
 Guatemala San José, Costa Rica
Jiménez 12'
Cordero 28'
Herrera 65'
López 61' Referee: Orrego (Colombia)



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).[5] 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 3 2 1 1 0 3 1
2  Costa Rica 1 2 0 1 1 1 3
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

FIFA rejected the entries of Ethiopia and South Korea.[2] 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 advanced
 Republic of China withdrew

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

CAF / AFC First Round

Group 1

Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA Ave
1=  Indonesia 2 2 1 0 1 5 4 1.25
1=  China 2 2 1 0 1 4 5 0.8
Indonesia 2–0 China
Ramang 47', 80'
Referee: Jonni (Italy)

China 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
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 3 2 1 1 0 2 1
2  Syria 1 2 0 1 1 1 2
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

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 Wales Israel
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 1957 3rd 1 1934
 Austria 29 September 1957 3rd 2 1954
 Brazil 21 April 1957 6th 6 1954
 Czechoslovakia 27 October 1957 4th 2 1954
 England 19 May 1957 3rd 3 1954
 France 27 October 1957 5th 2 1954
 Hungary 10 November 1957 4th 2 1954
 Mexico 27 October 1957 4th 3 1954
 Northern Ireland 15 January 1958 1st 1
 Paraguay 14 July 1957 3rd 1 1950
 Scotland 6 November 1957 2nd 2 1954
 Sweden (Hosts) 23 June 1950 4th 1 1950
 Soviet Union 24 November 1957 1st 1
 Wales 5 February 1958 1st 1
 West Germany (Defending Champions) 4 July 1954 4th 2 1954
 Yugoslavia 17 November 1957 4th 3 1954

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. ^ "Down Memory Lane: Battle of Belfast was far from a golden moment – International, Football". Belfasttelegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 2012-06-11.
  2. ^ a b "FIFA Fact Sheet: History of the FIFA World Cup (TM) Preliminary Competition" (PDF). FIFA. 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 June 2010. Retrieved 2010-06-09.
  3. ^ Entire US squad pulled from St. Louis Kutis[1] Archived 2014-08-29 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ Match interrupted in the 66th minute by Guatemala abandoning the pitch; the result was later affirmed.
  5. ^ "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.