Football World Cup 1954 / qualification

Overview

Participant in qualifying for the 1954 World Cup

A total of 38 teams had registered for the 1954 World Cup in Switzerland, which was a new record. These were:

• 25 teams from Europe
• 1 team from Africa (Egypt)
• 2 teams from the Middle East (Turkey and Israel)
• 3 teams from East Asia
• 4 teams from South America
• 3 teams from North and Central America.

No team signed up from Oceania. Since defending champions Uruguay and host Switzerland were directly qualified, there were still 14 free places available for the remaining 36 teams.

For the first time in qualifying, one player per team was allowed to be replaced due to injury before the break. Of that made z. B. the German team on August 19, 1953 when playing in Norway when Alfred Pfaff came on in the 42nd minute for Richard Gottinger . For the finals in Switzerland, FIFA banned this rule again.

The 16 World Cup places were distributed as follows:

Defending champion:	Uruguay		Host:	Switzerland
11 to Europe with the Middle East and Africa	BR Germany	Belgium	England	Scotland
	France	Austria	Turkey	Hungary
	Czechoslovakia	Yugoslavia	Italy
1 to South America	Brazil
1 to North and Central America	Mexico
1 to East Asia	South Korea

Due to the withdrawal of two teams (Poland and Taiwan), a total of 34 nations took part in the qualifiers.

Europe / Africa / Middle East

The 24 European teams as well as the only team from Africa (Egypt) and the only two teams from the Middle East (Turkey and Israel) were divided into a total of 10 groups, including one group of four, five groups of three and four groups of two. Denmark, the Netherlands and Iceland did not apply in time and were therefore not approved by FIFA. The groups were primarily composed geographically. The four British teams played in a group of four, as the tournament was also considered the British Home Championship . From this group, the group winners and the runners-up qualified for the 1954 World Cup. From the remaining nine groups, only the group winners and the winners of the knockout round qualified for the world championship. Without qualification, hosts Switzerland were added. Thus, Europe, together with the Middle East and Africa, provided a total of 12 of the 16 final round participants in the World Cup in Switzerland.

Group 1

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	BR Germany	4th	3	1	0	012: 300	+9	07: 10
2.	Saarland	4th	1	1	2	004: 800	−4	03: 50
3.	Norway	4th	0	2	2	004: 900	−5	02: 60

Game results:

06/24/1953	Oslo	Norway	-	Saarland	2: 3 (2: 2)
08/19/1953	Oslo	Norway	-	BR Germany	1: 1 (1: 1)
10/11/1953	Stuttgart	BR Germany	-	Saarland	3: 0 (1: 0)
11/08/1953	Saarbrücken	Saarland	-	Norway	0-0
11/22/1953	Hamburg	BR Germany	-	Norway	5: 1 (1: 1)
03/28/1954	Saarbrücken	Saarland	-	BR Germany	1: 3 (0: 1)

Group 2

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Belgium	4th	3	1	0	011: 600	+5	07: 10
2.	Sweden	4th	1	1	2	009: 800	+1	03: 50
3.	Finland	4th	0	2	2	007:130	−6	02: 60

Game results:

05/25/1953	Helsinki	Finland	-	Belgium	2: 4 (0: 3)
05/28/1953	Stockholm	Sweden	-	Belgium	2: 3 (2: 3)
08/05/1953	Helsinki	Finland	-	Sweden	3: 3 (0: 2)
08/16/1953	Stockholm	Sweden	-	Finland	4: 0 (2: 0)
09/23/1953	Brussels	Belgium	-	Finland	2: 2 (1: 0)
10/08/1953	Brussels	Belgium	-	Sweden	2: 0 (1: 0)

Group 3

Only British teams took part in this group, as this tournament was held at the same time as the British Home Championship .

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	England	3	3	0	0	011: 400	+7	06-00
2.	Scotland	3	1	1	1	008: 800	± 0	03: 30
3.	Northern Ireland	3	1	0	2	004: 700	−3	02: 40
4th	Wales	3	0	1	2	005: 900	−4	01: 50

Game results:

10/03/1953	Belfast	Northern Ireland	-	Scotland	1: 3 (0: 0)
10/10/1953	Cardiff	Wales	-	England	1: 4 (1: 1)
04/11/1953	Glasgow	Scotland	-	Wales	3: 3 (2: 0)
11/11/1953	Liverpool	England	-	Northern Ireland	3: 1 (1: 0)
March 31, 1954	Wrexham	Wales	-	Northern Ireland	1: 2 (0: 1)
04/03/1954	Glasgow	Scotland	-	England	2: 4 (1: 1)

Group 4

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	France	4th	4th	0	0	020: 400	+16	08-00
2.	Ireland	4th	2	0	2	008: 600	+2	04: 40
3.	Luxembourg	4th	0	0	4th	001:190	−18	00: 80

Game results:

09/20/1953	Luxembourg	Luxembourg	-	France	1: 6 (1: 4)
04.10.1953	Dublin	Ireland	-	France	3: 5 (0: 2)
10/28/1953	Dublin	Ireland	-	Luxembourg	4: 0 (1: 0)
11/25/1953	Paris	France	-	Ireland	1: 0 (0: 0)
December 17, 1953	Paris	France	-	Luxembourg	8: 0 (4: 0)
07.03.1954	Luxembourg	Luxembourg	-	Ireland	0: 1 (0: 0)

Group 5

Game results:

09/27/1953	Vienna	Austria	-	Portugal	9: 1 (4: 0)
11/29/1953	Lisbon	Portugal	-	Austria	0-0

Group 6

After Spain and Turkey won their home games, both teams faced each other on neutral ground in a playoff. After this had not been decided even after extra time, the Turkish team was named the winner by drawing lots .

Game results:

January 16, 1954	Madrid	Spain	-	Turkey	4: 1 (1: 1)
03/14/1954	Istanbul	Turkey	-	Spain	1: 0 (1: 0)
03/17/1954	Rome	Spain	-	Turkey	2: 2 n.V. (2: 2, 1: 1)

Group 7

Game results:

Hungary

-

Poland

Poland renounced

Group 8

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Czechoslovakia	4th	3	1	0	005: 100	+4	07: 10
2.	Romania	4th	2	0	2	005: 500	± 0	04: 40
3.	Bulgaria	4th	0	1	3	003: 700	−4	01: 70

Game results:

06/14/1953	Prague	Czechoslovakia	-	Romania	2: 0 (0: 0)
06/28/1953	Bucharest	Romania	-	Bulgaria	3: 1 (2: 0)
09/06/1953	Sofia	Bulgaria	-	Czechoslovakia	1: 2 (0: 2)
10/11/1953	Sofia	Bulgaria	-	Romania	1: 2 (1: 1)
October 25, 1953	Bucharest	Romania	-	Czechoslovakia	0: 1 (0: 1)
11/08/1953	Bratislava	Czechoslovakia	-	Bulgaria	0: 0 (0: 0)

Group 9

Game results:

11/13/1953	Cairo	Egypt	-	Italy	1: 2 (1: 0)
01/24/1954	Milan	Italy	-	Egypt	5: 1 (1: 1)

Group 10

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Yugoslavia	4th	4th	0	0	004-000	+4	08-00
2.	Greece	4th	2	0	2	003: 200	+1	04: 40
3.	Israel	4th	0	0	4th	000: 500	−5	00: 80

Game results:

05/09/1953	Belgrade	Yugoslavia	-	Greece	1: 0 (1: 0)
11/01/1953	Athens	Greece	-	Israel	1: 0 (0: 0)
11/08/1953	Skopje	Yugoslavia	-	Israel	1: 0 (1: 0)
03/08/1954	Ramat Gan	Israel	-	Greece	0: 2 (0: 0)
03/21/1954	Ramat Gan	Israel	-	Yugoslavia	0: 1 (0: 0)
03/28/1954	Athens	Greece	-	Yugoslavia	0: 1 (0: 0)

South America / CONMEBOL

The three teams that registered on time played in a group with a return leg, from which the group winners qualified for the 1954 World Cup in Switzerland. Bolivia, Peru and Venezuela filed their applications too late and were therefore not admitted. Then there was the defending champion Uruguay , who was automatically qualified.

Group 11

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Brazil	4th	4th	0	0	008: 100	+7	08-00
2.	Paraguay	4th	2	0	2	008: 600	+2	04: 40
3.	Chile	4th	0	0	4th	001:100	−9	00: 80

Game results:

02/14/1954	Asunción	Paraguay	-	Chile	4: 0 (1: 0)
02/21/1954	Santiago de Chile	Chile	-	Paraguay	1: 3 (1: 1)
02/28/1954	Santiago de Chile	Chile	-	Brazil	0: 2 (0: 1)
07.03.1954	Asunción	Paraguay	-	Brazil	0: 1 (0: 0)
03/14/1954	Rio de Janeiro	Brazil	-	Chile	1: 0 (1: 0)
03/21/1954	Rio de Janeiro	Brazil	-	Paraguay	4: 1 (0: 0)

North and Central America / CCCF and NAFC

Again, the three teams played in a group with a return leg. The group winner qualified for the World Cup finals. Costa Rica and Cuba filed their applications too late and were therefore not admitted. The USA waived their home rights for economic reasons.

Group 12

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Mexico	4th	4th	0	0	019: 100	+18	08-00
2.	United States	4th	2	0	2	007: 900	−2	04: 40
3.	Haiti	4th	0	0	4th	002:180	−16	00: 80

Game results:

07/19/1953	Mexico city	Mexico	-	Haiti	8: 0 (5: 0)
December 27, 1953	Port-au-Prince	Haiti	-	Mexico	0: 4 (0: 2)
01/10/1954	Mexico city	United States	-	Mexico	0: 4 (0: 2)
01/14/1954	Mexico city	Mexico	-	United States	3: 1 (0: 1)
04/03/1954	Port-au-Prince	Haiti	-	United States	2: 3 (0: 1)
04/04/1954	Port-au-Prince	United States	-	Haiti	3: 0 (2: 0)

East asia

India, Iran and South Vietnam filed their applications too late and were not admitted. Before the start of qualification, the Taiwanese Football Association and the People's Republic of China withdrew their reports because of political tensions. The remaining teams from South Korea and Japan then competed against each other on Japanese soil twice. South Korea was ultimately able to prevail and thus qualified for the World Cup finals in Switzerland.

Group 13

Game results:

07.03.1954	Tokyo	Japan	-	South Korea	1: 5 (1: 2)
03/14/1954	Tokyo	Japan	-	South Korea	2: 2 (1: 2)

Web links and sources

• RSSSF - Qualification for the Football World Cup 1954
• The soccer world championships: 1954, Switzerland. Süddeutsche Zeitung, Munich 2005, ISBN 3-86615-153-5 , pp. 150–151.