Football World Cup 1938 / qualification
A total of 36 teams had registered for the 1938 World Cup in France , including
- 25 teams from Europe (including Egypt and Palestine)
- 2 teams from South America
- 7 teams from North and Central America
- 2 teams from Asia.
The number of entries of 36 teams meant a new record of participants. Since the defending champions Italy and the hosts France were directly qualified and the World Cup tournament was to be played with 16 teams, 14 free places in the final round were available for the remaining 34 teams. Nine associations did not send their selection teams to the continental qualifying competitions . Therefore, only in Europe there were playoffs, in which 21 teams took part.
Finalists
The following finally qualified for the 16 places in the World Cup:
Defending champion: | Italy | Host: | France | |
11 to Europe | German Empire | Sweden | Norway | Poland |
Romania | Switzerland | Hungary | Czechoslovakia | |
Austria * | Netherlands | Belgium | ||
1 to South America | Brazil | |||
1 to North and Central America | Cuba | |||
1 to Asia | Dutch East Indies |
* After Austria was annexed to the German Reich, a large German team started at the 1938 World Cup in France. Austria's place remained vacant. This reduced the number of participants in the World Cup finals to 15 teams.
Europe
In Europe, the 25 registered teams were divided into nine groups, including one group of four, three groups of three and five groups of two. From the group of four and one of the groups of three (group 9), two teams qualified for the final round, and one team each from the remaining seven groups, which were played in the knockout system with a return leg.
Group 1
Pl. | country | Sp. | S. | U | N | Gates | Diff. | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | German Empire | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 11: 1 | +10 | 6-0 |
2. | Sweden | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 11: 7 | +4 | 4: 2 |
3. | Estonia | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4:11 | −7 | 2: 4 |
3. | Finland | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0: 7 | −7 | 0: 6 |
Game results:
06/16/1937 | Stockholm | Sweden | - | Finland | 4: 0 (0: 0) |
06/20/1937 | Stockholm | Sweden | - | Estonia | 7: 2 (3: 2) |
06/29/1937 | Helsinki | Finland | - | German Empire | 0: 2 (0: 2) |
08/19/1937 | Turku | Finland | - | Estonia | 0: 1 (0: 0) |
08/29/1937 | Koenigsberg | German Empire | - | Estonia | 4: 1 (0: 1) |
11/21/1937 | Hamburg | German Empire | - | Sweden | 5: 0 (2: 0) |
Group 2
Game results:
date | Result | place | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
10/10/1937 | Norway | 3: 2 (1: 1) | Ireland | Oslo |
11/07/1937 | Ireland | 3: 3 (1: 2) | Norway | Dublin |
Total: | Norway | 6: 5 | Ireland |
Group 3
Game results:
date | Result | place | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
10/10/1937 | Poland | 4: 0 (2: 0) | Yugoslavia | Warsaw |
04/03/1938 | Yugoslavia | 1: 0 (0: 0) | Poland | Belgrade |
Total: | Poland | 4: 1 | Yugoslavia |
Group 4
Game results:
Romania | - | Egypt | Egypt renounced |
Group 5
Game results:
date | Result | place | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
05/01/1938 | Switzerland | 2: 1 (2: 0) | Portugal | Milan 1 |
Group 6
1 round
Game results:
date | Result | place | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
01/22/1938 | Palestine | 1: 3 (1: 2) | Greece | Tel Aviv |
02/20/1938 | Greece | 1: 0 (0: 0) | Palestine | Athens |
Total: | Palestine | 1: 4 | Greece |
2nd round
Game results:
date | Result | place | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
03/25/1938 | Hungary | 11: 1 (7: 0) | Greece | Budapest |
Group 7
Game results:
date | Result | place | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
11/07/1937 | Bulgaria | 1: 1 (0: 1) | Czechoslovakia | Sofia |
04/24/1938 | Czechoslovakia | 6: 0 (1: 0) | Bulgaria | Prague |
Total: | Bulgaria | 1: 7 | Czechoslovakia |
Group 8
1 round
Game results:
date | Result | place | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
07/29/1937 | Latvia | 4: 2 (1: 0) | Lithuania | Riga |
09/03/1937 | Lithuania | 1: 5 (0: 4) | Latvia | Kaunas |
Total: | Latvia | 9: 3 | Lithuania |
2nd round
Game results:
date | Result | place | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
05/10/1937 | Austria | 2: 1 (2: 1) | Latvia | Vienna |
Group 9
Pl. | country | Sp. | S. | U | N | Gates | Diff. | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | Netherlands | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5: 1 | +4 | 3: 1 |
2. | Belgium | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4: 3 | +1 | 3: 1 |
3. | Luxembourg | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2: 7 | −5 | 0: 4 |
Game results:
11/28/1937 | Rotterdam | Netherlands | - | Luxembourg | 4: 0 (1: 0) |
March 13, 1938 | Luxembourg | Luxembourg | - | Belgium | 2: 3 (2: 1) |
04/03/1938 | Antwerp | Belgium | - | Netherlands | 1: 1 (0: 1) |
South America
The South American qualifying round should only be played with two teams. However, by renouncing Argentina, Brazil qualified for the World Cup without a game.
Group 10
Game results:
Brazil | - | Argentina | Argentina waived |
North America
A total of seven teams should play in the qualification. However, since all teams except Cuba withdrew their participation, no games took place and Cuba qualified for the World Cup finals.
Group 11
1 round
Group A
Game results:
Cuba | - | United States | USA waived |
Group B
Game results: 1
Colombia | Costa Rica | Mexico | El Salvador | Dutch Guiana |
2nd round
Because all teams from group B withdrew in the first round, the second round between Cuba and the winner of group B was omitted.
Asia
Only two Asian teams registered for qualification. As Japan withdrew its participation, the Dutch East Indies qualified for the World Cup.
Group 12
Game results:
Dutch East Indies | - | Japan | Japan renounced |