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.
Qualified Teams
| Template:BOLf | Template:ESPf |
| Template:BRAf | Template:SWEf |
| Template:CHIf | Template:SUIf |
| Template:ENGf | Template:USAf |
| Template:ITAf | Template:URUf |
| Template:MEXf | Template:YUGf |
| Template:PARf |