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1958 FIFA World Cup qualification

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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

Main article: 1958 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA)

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

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: FIFA[10]
Pos Team
 Pld Pts
1  Argentina 4 6
2  Bolivia 4 4
3  Chile 4 2
Source: FIFA[11]
Pos Team
 Pld Pts
1  Paraguay 4 6
2  Uruguay 4 5
3  Colombia 4 1
Source: FIFA[12]

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 [13] 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')[14]		  Guatemala San José, Costa Rica
Jiménez 12'
Cordero 28'
Herrera 65'		 López 61' Referee: Orrego (Colombia)
3 March 1957 Costa Rica  4–0 Netherlands Territory of Curaçao San José, Costa Rica
Herrera 16', 63'
Murillo 35', 67'		 Referee: McKenna (England)
14 March 1957 Guatemala  1–3 Netherlands Territory of Curaçao Guatemala City, Guatemala
López 51' De Lanoy 23', 31'
Meulens 65'		 Referee: Sundheim (Colombia)
4 August 1957 Territory of Curaçao Netherlands 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).[15] 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

AFC Asian Qualifiers
FIFA World Cup
AFC Asian Cup

FIFA rejected the entries of Ethiopia and South Korea.[16] 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

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.[17]

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. ^ "1958 FIFA World Cup Chile Preliminaries". FIFA. 28 March 2013. Archived from the original on 28 March 2013. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
  2. ^ "1958 FIFA World Cup Chile Preliminaries". FIFA. 28 March 2013. Archived from the original on 28 March 2013. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
  3. ^ "1958 FIFA World Cup Chile Preliminaries". FIFA. 28 March 2013. Archived from the original on 28 March 2013. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
  4. ^ "1958 FIFA World Cup Chile Preliminaries". FIFA. 28 March 2013. Archived from the original on 28 March 2013. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
  5. ^ "1958 FIFA World Cup Chile Preliminaries". FIFA. 28 March 2013. Archived from the original on 28 March 2013. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
  6. ^ "1958 FIFA World Cup Chile Preliminaries". FIFA. 28 March 2013. Archived from the original on 28 March 2013. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
  7. ^ "1958 FIFA World Cup Chile Preliminaries". FIFA. 28 March 2013. Archived from the original on 28 March 2013. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
  8. ^ "1958 FIFA World Cup Chile Preliminaries". FIFA. 28 March 2013. Archived from the original on 28 March 2013. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
  9. ^ "1958 FIFA World Cup Chile Preliminaries". FIFA. 28 March 2013. Archived from the original on 28 March 2013. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
  10. ^ "1958 FIFA World Cup Chile Preliminaries". FIFA. 3 September 2011. Archived from the original on 3 September 2011. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
  11. ^ "1958 FIFA World Cup Chile Preliminaries". FIFA. 3 September 2011. Archived from the original on 3 September 2011. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
  12. ^ "1958 FIFA World Cup Chile Preliminaries". FIFA. 3 September 2011. Archived from the original on 3 September 2011. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
  13. ^ Entire US squad pulled from St. Louis Kutis[1] Archived 2014-08-29 at the Wayback Machine
  14. ^ Match interrupted in the 66th minute by Guatemala abandoning the pitch; the result was later affirmed.
  15. ^ "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.
  16. ^ "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.
  17. ^ Doyle, Paul. "The Joy of Six: international football play-offs". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
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