1950 FIFA World Cup qualification

Listed below are the dates and results for the

qualification rounds. A total of 32 teams took part, divided in 10 groups. The 16 spots available in the World Cup would be distributed as follows:

• Europe: 18 teams competing for 7 places. Turkey, Syria and Israel took part in the European groups. Italy, the defending champions, were automatically qualified, for a total of 8 places.
• South America: 7 teams, 4 places. Also, Brazil, as the hosts, were already qualified, for a total of 5 places.
• North, Central America and Caribbean: 3 teams, 2 places.
• Asia: 4 teams, 1 place.

Many teams withdrew, some before the qualification rounds began, some even after qualifying. Due to that, just 13 countries disputed the World Cup finals in Brazil.

Rules

The 10 groups had different rules, as follows:

• Groups 1 and 8 had 4 teams each, each team playing against each other once. The two teams with more points would qualify.

• Groups 2, 3 and 4 had 3 teams each. The two "worst" teams of each group would play against each other in a home-and-away basis, and the team with most points would play against the "better" team of the group, again in a home-and-away basis. The team with most points in theses two last matches would qualify.

• Group 5 had 3 teams, playing against each other in a home-and-away basis. Team with most points would qualify.

• Group 6 had 2 teams, playing against each other in a home-and-away basis, Team with most points qualify.

• Groups 7 and 9 had 3 teams each, playing against each other twice. The two teams with most points would qualify.

• Group 10 had 4 teams. There would be two rounds, firts round with two matches, and second round with a match between the winners of the fisrt round. Winner of the second round would qualify.

Group 1

October 1, 1949, Belfast, Northern Ireland - Template:NIRf 2 - 8 Template:SCOf

October 15, 1949, Cardiff, Wales - Template:WALf 1 - 4 Template:ENGf

November 9, 1949, Glasgow, Scotland - Template:SCOf 2 - 0 Template:WALf

November 16, 1949, Manchester, England - Template:ENGf 9 - 2 Template:NIRf

March 8, 1950, Wrexham, Wales - Template:WALf 0 - 0 Template:NIRf

April 15, 1950, Glasgow, Scotland - Template:SCOf 0 - 1 Template:ENGf

Team	GP	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pts
1. Template:ENGf	3	3	0	0	14	3	6
2. Template:SCOf	3	2	0	1	10	3	4
3. Template:WALf	3	0	1	2	1	6	1
4. Template:NIRf	3	0	1	2	4	17	1

England and Scotland qualified, but Scotland declined to go. France, the runner-up of Group 3, was invited to take their place, but did not accept. FIFA decided not to qualify anyone else, and make the World Cup one team less.

Group 2

First Round:

November 20, 1949, Ankara, Turkey - Template:TURf 7 - 0 Template:SYRf

Syria withdrew, and Turkey advanced to play against Austria. However, Austria also withdrew, and Turkey was qualified automatically. But Turkey declined to go, and FIFA invited Portugal, runner-up of Group 6. Portugal did not accept, and FIFA decided not to qualify anyone else, making the World Cup now two teams less.

Group 3

First Round:

August 21, 1949, Belgrade, Yugoslavia - Template:YUGf 6 - 0 Template:ISRf

September 18, 1949, Tel Aviv, Israel - Template:ISRf 2 - 5 Template:YUGf

Second Round:

October 9, 1949, Belgrade, Yugoslavia - Template:YUGf 1 - 1 Template:FRAf

August 30, 1949, Paris, France - Template:FRAf 1 - 1 Template:YUGf

With the two draws, the teams had a play-off:

December 11, 1949, Florence, Italy - Template:YUGf 3 - 2 (AET) Template:FRAf

Yugoslavia qualified.

Group 4

First Round:

June 26, 1949, Zurich, Switzerland - Template:SUIf 5 - 2 Template:LUXf

September 18, 1949, Luxembourg, Luxembourg - Template:LUXf 2 - 3 Template:SUIf

Belgium, that would play against Switzerland in the second round, withdrew, so Switzerland qualified.

Group 5

June 2, 1949, Stockholm, Sweden - Template:SWEf 3 - 1 Template:IRLf

September 8, 1949, Dublin, Ireland - Template:IRLf 3 - 0 Template:FINf

October 2, 1949, Malmo, Sweden - Template:SWEf 8 - 1 Template:FINf

October 9, 1949, Helsinki, Finland - Template:FINf 1 - 1 Template:IRLf

November 13, 1949, Dublin, Ireland - Template:IRLf 1 - 3 Template:SWEf

Finland withdrew. Since Sweden had already played against Ireland twice, and win both matches, Sweden qualified.

Group 6

April 2, 1950, Madrid, Spain - Template:ESPf 5 - 1 Template:PORf

April 9, 1950, Lisbon, Portugal - Template:PORf 2 - 2 Template:ESPf

Spain qualified.

Group 7

Argentina withdrew, so Chile and Bolivia were qualified automatically.

Group 8

Peru and Ecuador withdrew, so Uruguay and Paraguay were qualified automatically.

Group 9

September 4, 1949, Mexico City, Mexico - Template:USAf 0 - 6 Template:MEXf

September 11, 1949, Mexico City, Mexico - Template:MEXf 2 - 0 Template:CUBf

September 14, 1949, Mexico City, Mexico - Template:CUBf 1 - 1 Template:USAf

September 18, 1949, Mexico City, Mexico - Template:MEXf 6 - 2 Template:USAf

September 21, 1949, Mexico City, Mexico - Template:USAf 5 - 2 Template:CUBf

September 25, 1949, Mexico City, Mexico - Template:CUBf 0 - 3 Template:MEXf

Team	GP	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pts
1. Template:MEXf	4	4	0	0	17	2	8
2. Template:USAf	4	1	1	2	8	15	3
3. Template:CUBf	2	0	1	3	3	11	1

Mexico and USA qualified.

Group 10

Burma, Philippines and Indonesia withdrew, so India was qualified automatically. But India declined to go, and FIFA decided not to qualify anyone else, making the World Cup now three teams less.