Football World Cup 1974 / qualification

Participant in qualifying for the 1974 World Cup

For the 1974 World Cup tournament in the Federal Republic of Germany , a total of 99 teams had registered, including

• 33 teams from Europe
• 10 teams from South America
• 14 teams from North and Central America
• 24 teams from Africa
• 18 teams from Asia / Oceania

As defending champions Brazil and the German national soccer team as the host were directly qualified and the World Cup finals were held with 16 teams, there were 14 free final round places available for the remaining 97 teams. For these have qualified:

8 from Europe	Sweden	Italy	Netherlands	GDR
	Poland	Bulgaria	Yugoslavia	Scotland
+ 1 host:	BR Germany
3 from South America	Uruguay	Argentina	Chile *
+ 1 defending champion:	Brazil
1 from North and Central America	Haiti
1 from Africa	Zaire
1 from Asia and Oceania	Australia

* Chile was declared the winner in the intercontinental play-off against the Soviet Union team , as the USSR did not play in Chile.

Although Venezuela, Jamaica, Madagascar, Gabon, India, Sri Lanka and the Philippines did not take part, a total of 90 teams took part in the qualifying games, which meant another record participation.

European Zone / UEFA

32 teams from Europe registered for qualification for the 1974 World Cup. The Federal Republic of Germany was automatically qualified to host the tournament. The remaining teams were divided into nine groups, namely into five groups of four and four groups of three teams each. From groups 1–8, the first-placed person qualified for the World Cup finals, the winner of group 9 had to play two play-off games against the winner of South America group 3.

Austria failed in group 1 against Sweden, Switzerland failed in group 2 against Italy. The GDR won group 4 and was able to qualify before Romania. In Group 3, the Netherlands qualified for a World Cup for the first time in 36 years, but only because of the better goal difference against Belgium. The biggest surprise came from Poland. The 1972 Olympic champion eliminated England. Thus the 1966 world champion had to watch the World Cup for the first time since his first participation in 1950.

Group 1

Closing table
Pl.	country	Gates	Pt.
1	Sweden	15: 8	8: 4
2	Austria	14: 7	8: 4
3	Hungary	12: 7	8: 4
4th	Malta	1:20	0:12

Game results

11/14/1971	Valletta	Malta	-	Hungary	0: 2 (0: 1)
04/30/1972	Vienna	Austria	-	Malta	4: 0 (3: 0)
05/06/1972	Budapest	Hungary	-	Malta	3: 0 (1: 0)
May 25, 1972	Stockholm	Sweden	-	Hungary	0-0
06/10/1972	Vienna	Austria	-	Sweden	2: 0 (0: 0)
October 15, 1972	Vienna	Austria	-	Hungary	2: 2 (0: 2)
October 15, 1972	Gothenburg	Sweden	-	Malta	7: 0 (5: 0)
11/25/1972	Valletta	Malta	-	Austria	0: 2 (0: 0)
04/29/1973	Budapest	Hungary	-	Austria	2: 2 (2: 1)
May 23, 1973	Gothenburg	Sweden	-	Austria	3: 2 (1: 0)
06/13/1973	Budapest	Hungary	-	Sweden	3: 3 (1: 1)
11/11/1973	Valletta	Malta	-	Sweden	1: 2 (1: 2)

Playoff

11/27/1973

Gelsenkirchen

Sweden

-

Austria

2: 1 (2: 1)

Group 2

Closing table
Pl.	country	Gates	Pt.
1	Italy	12: 0	10: 2
2	Turkey	5: 3	6: 6
3	Switzerland	2: 4	6: 6
4th	Luxembourg	2: 14	2:10

Game results

07.10.1972	Luxembourg	Luxembourg	-	Italy	0: 4 (0: 3)
October 21, 1972	Bern	Switzerland	-	Italy	0-0
10/22/1972	Luxembourg	Luxembourg	-	Turkey	2: 0 (2: 0)
December 10, 1972	Istanbul	Turkey	-	Luxembourg	3: 0 (2: 0)
01/13/1973	Naples	Italy	-	Turkey	0-0
02/25/1973	Istanbul	Turkey	-	Italy	0: 1 (0: 1)
March 31, 1973	Genoa	Italy	-	Luxembourg	5: 0 (2: 0)
04/08/1973	Luxembourg	Luxembourg	-	Switzerland	0: 1 (0: 1)
05/09/1973	Basel	Switzerland	-	Turkey	0-0
09/26/1973	Lucerne	Switzerland	-	Luxembourg	1: 0 (1: 0)
10/20/1973	Rome	Italy	-	Switzerland	2: 0 (1: 0)
11/18/1973	İzmir	Turkey	-	Switzerland	2: 0 (0: 0)

Group 3

Closing table
Pl.	country	Gates	Pt.
1	Netherlands	24: 2	10: 2
2	Belgium	12: 0	10: 2
3	Norway	9:16	4: 8
4th	Iceland	2: 29	0:12

Game results

05/18/1972	Liege	Belgium	-	Iceland	4: 0 (2: 0)
05/22/1972	Bruges	Iceland	-	Belgium	0: 4 (0: 2)
08/03/1972	Oslo	Norway	-	Iceland	4: 1 (0: 0)
04.10.1972	Oslo	Norway	-	Belgium	0: 2 (0: 0)
11/01/1972	Rotterdam	Netherlands	-	Norway	9: 0 (1: 0)
November 19, 1972	Antwerp	Belgium	-	Netherlands	0-0
08/02/1973	Reykjavík	Iceland	-	Norway	0: 4 (0: 1)
08/22/1973	Amsterdam	Netherlands	-	Iceland	5: 0 (4: 0)
08/29/1973	Deventer	Iceland	-	Netherlands	1: 8 (1: 4)
09/12/1973	Oslo	Norway	-	Netherlands	1: 2 (0: 1)
October 31, 1973	Brussels	Belgium	-	Norway	2: 0 (1: 0)
11/18/1973	Amsterdam	Netherlands	-	Belgium	0-0

Group 4

Closing table
Pl.	country	Gates	Pt.
1	GDR	18: 3	10: 2
2	Romania	17: 4	9: 3
3	Finland	3:21	3: 9
4th	Albania	3: 13	2:10

Game results

06/21/1972	Helsinki	Finland	-	Albania	1: 0 (1: 0)
09/20/1972	Helsinki	Finland	-	Romania	1: 1 (0: 0)
07.10.1972	Dresden	GDR	-	Finland	5: 0 (0: 0)
October 29, 1972	Bucharest	Romania	-	Albania	2: 0 (2: 0)
04/08/1973	Magdeburg	GDR	-	Albania	2: 0 (0: 0)
05/06/1973	Tirana	Albania	-	Romania	1: 4 (0: 2)
May 27, 1973	Bucharest	Romania	-	GDR	1: 0 (0: 0)
06/06/1973	Tampere	Finland	-	GDR	1: 5 (0: 3)
09/26/1973	Leipzig	GDR	-	Romania	2: 0 (1: 0)
10/10/1973	Tirana	Albania	-	Finland	1: 0 (1: 0)
10/14/1973	Bucharest	Romania	-	Finland	9: 0 (5: 0)
03/11/1973	Tirana	Albania	-	GDR	1: 4 (1: 2)

Group 5

Closing table
Pl.	country	Gates	Pt.
1	Poland	6: 3	5: 3
2	England	3: 4	4: 4
3	Wales	3: 5	3: 5

Game results

11/15/1972	Cardiff	Wales	-	England	0: 1 (0: 1)
01/24/1973	London	England	-	Wales	1: 1 (1: 1)
03/28/1973	Cardiff	Wales	-	Poland	2: 0 (0: 0)
06/06/1973	Chorzów	Poland	-	England	2: 0 (1: 0)
09/26/1973	Chorzów	Poland	-	Wales	3: 0 (2: 0)
10/17/1973	London	England	-	Poland	1: 1 (0: 0)

Group 6

Closing table
Pl.	country	Gates	Pt.
1	Bulgaria	13: 3	10: 2
2	Portugal	10: 6	7: 5
3	Northern Ireland	5: 6	5: 7
4th	Cyprus	1: 14	2:10

Game results

March 29, 1972	Lisbon	Portugal	-	Cyprus	4: 0 (2: 0)
05/10/1972	Nicosia	Cyprus	-	Portugal	0: 1 (0: 0)
October 18, 1972	Sofia	Bulgaria	-	Northern Ireland	3: 0 (1: 0)
November 19, 1972	Lysi	Cyprus	-	Bulgaria	0: 4 (0: 3)
02/14/1973	Nicosia	Cyprus	-	Northern Ireland	1: 0 (0: 0)
03/28/1973	Coventry	Northern Ireland	-	Portugal	1: 1 (0: 1)
05/02/1973	Sofia	Bulgaria	-	Portugal	2: 1 (1: 0)
05/08/1973	London	Northern Ireland	-	Cyprus	3: 0 (3: 0)
09/26/1973	Sheffield	Northern Ireland	-	Bulgaria	0-0
10/13/1973	Lisbon	Portugal	-	Bulgaria	2: 2 (0: 0)
11/14/1973	Lisbon	Portugal	-	Northern Ireland	1: 1 (1: 0)
11/18/1973	Sofia	Bulgaria	-	Cyprus	2: 0 (1: 0)

Group 7

Closing table
Pl.	country	Gates	Pt.
1	Yugoslavia	7: 4	6: 2
2	Spain	8: 5	6: 2
3	Greece	5: 11	0: 8

Game results

October 19, 1972	Las Palmas	Spain	-	Yugoslavia	2: 2 (1: 0)
November 19, 1972	Belgrade	Yugoslavia	-	Greece	1: 0 (1: 0)
January 17, 1973	Athens	Greece	-	Spain	2: 3 (0: 1)
02/21/1973	Málaga	Spain	-	Greece	3: 1 (2: 1)
10/21/1973	Zagreb	Yugoslavia	-	Spain	0-0
December 19, 1973	Athens	Greece	-	Yugoslavia	2: 4 (2: 2)

Playoff

02/13/1974

Frankfurt am Main

Yugoslavia

-

Spain

1: 0 (1: 0)

Group 8

Closing table
Pl.	country	Gates	Pt.
1	Scotland	8: 3	6: 2
2	Czechoslovakia	9: 3	5: 3
3	Denmark	2: 13	1: 7

Game results

October 18, 1972	Copenhagen	Denmark	-	Scotland	1: 4 (1: 2)
11/15/1972	Glasgow	Scotland	-	Denmark	2: 0 (1: 0)
05/02/1973	Copenhagen	Denmark	-	Czechoslovakia	1: 1 (1: 1)
06/06/1973	Prague	Czechoslovakia	-	Denmark	6: 0 (0: 0)
09/26/1973	Glasgow	Scotland	-	Czechoslovakia	2: 1 (1: 1)
10/17/1973	Bratislava	Czechoslovakia	-	Scotland	1: 0 (1: 0)

Group 9

Closing table
Pl.	country	Gates	Pt.
1	Soviet Union	5: 2	6: 2
2	Ireland	4: 5	3: 5
3	France	3: 5	3: 5

Game results

October 13, 1972	Paris	France	-	Soviet Union	1: 0 (0: 0)
October 18, 1972	Dublin	Ireland	-	Soviet Union	1: 2 (0: 0)
11/15/1972	Dublin	Ireland	-	France	2: 1 (1: 0)
05/13/1973	Moscow	Soviet Union	-	Ireland	1: 0 (0: 0)
May 19, 1973	Paris	France	-	Ireland	1: 1 (0: 0)
05/26/1973	Moscow	Soviet Union	-	France	2: 0 (0: 0)

The Soviet Union thus qualified for the play-off games against Chile.

South American Zone / CONMEBOL

Nine teams registered for qualification. Brazil were automatically qualified as defending champions. The other teams were divided into three groups, two groups comprised three teams, group 3 only two teams. Their winner still had to compete against the winner of the Europe group 9. Venezuela withdrew its report. Uruguay, Argentina and Chile qualified.

Group 1

Closing table
Pl.	country	Gates	Pt.
1	Uruguay	6: 2	5: 3
2	Colombia	3: 2	5: 3
3	Ecuador	3: 8	2: 6

Game results

06/21/1973	Bogotá	Colombia	-	Ecuador	1: 1 (1: 0)
06/24/1973	Bogotá	Colombia	-	Uruguay	0-0
06/28/1973	Guayaquil	Ecuador	-	Colombia	1: 1 (1: 0)
07/01/1973	Quito	Ecuador	-	Uruguay	1: 2 (1: 1)
07/05/1973	Montevideo	Uruguay	-	Colombia	0: 1 (0: 0)
07/08/1973	Montevideo	Uruguay	-	Ecuador	4: 0 (3: 0)

Group 2

Closing table
Pl.	country	Gates	Pt.
1	Argentina	9: 2	7: 1
2	Paraguay	8: 5	5: 3
3	Bolivia	1: 11	0: 8

Game results

09/02/1973	La Paz	Bolivia	-	Paraguay	1: 2 (1: 1)
09/09/1973	Buenos Aires	Argentina	-	Bolivia	4: 0 (2: 0)
09/16/1973	Asunción	Paraguay	-	Argentina	1: 1 (1: 1)
09/23/1973	La Paz	Bolivia	-	Argentina	0: 1 (0: 1)
09/30/1973	Asunción	Paraguay	-	Bolivia	4: 0 (3: 0)
07.10.1973	Buenos Aires	Argentina	-	Paraguay	3: 1 (1: 1)

Group 3

Closing table
Pl.	country	Gates	Pt.
1	Chile	2: 2	2: 2
2	Peru	2: 2	2: 2
3	Venezuela	withdrawn

Game results

04/29/1973	Lima	Peru	-	Chile	2: 0 (1: 0)
05/13/1973	Santiago	Chile	-	Peru	2: 0 (0: 0)

Playoff

08/05/1973

Montevideo

Chile

-

Peru

2: 1 (1: 1)

North, Central American and Caribbean Zones / CONCACAF

The 14 registered teams were initially divided into six groups in the first round (two groups with three and four groups with two teams). The respective group winners then played in a group in the second round, which took place in Port-au-Prince in Haiti , for group victory and qualification for the World Cup finals in Germany. Host Haiti prevailed and qualified for the World Cup.

First round

Group 1

Closing table
Pl.	country	Gates	Pt.
1	Mexico	8: 3	8-0
2	Canada	6: 7	3: 5
3	United States	6:10	1: 7

Game results

08/20/1972	St. John's	Canada	-	United States	3: 2 (2: 0)
08/24/1972	Toronto	Canada	-	Mexico	0: 1 (0: 0)
08/29/1972	Baltimore	United States	-	Canada	2: 2 (2: 1)
09/03/1972	Mexico city	Mexico	-	United States	3: 1 (1: 0)
09/06/1972	Mexico city	Mexico	-	Canada	2: 1 (1: 1)
09/10/1972	los Angeles	United States	-	Mexico	1: 2 (1: 1)

Group 2

December 3, 1972	Guatemala City	Guatemala	-	El Salvador	1: 0 (0: 0)
December 10, 1972	San Salvador	El Salvador	-	Guatemala	0: 1 (0: 0)

Group 3

December 3, 1972	Tegucigalpa	Honduras	-	Costa Rica	2: 1 (1: 1)
December 10, 1972	San Jose	Costa Rica	-	Honduras	3: 3 (1: 0)

Group 4

Netherlands Antilles

-

Jamaica

Retreat Jamaica

Group 5

04/15/1972	Port-au-Prince	Haiti	-	Puerto Rico	7: 0 (5: 0)
04/23/1972	San Juan	Puerto Rico	-	Haiti	0: 5 (0: 2)

Group 6

Closing table
Pl.	country	Gates	Pt.
1	Trinidad and Tobago	16: 4	7: 1
2	Dutch Guiana	11: 4	5: 3
3	Antigua and Barbuda	3:22	0: 8

Game results

11/10/1972	Port of Spain	Trinidad & Tobago	-	Antigua & Barbuda	11: 1 (4: 1)
November 19, 1972	St. John's	Antigua & Barbuda	-	Trinidad & Tobago	01: 2 (0: 2)
11/28/1972	Port of Spain	Trinidad & Tobago	-	Suriname	02: 1 (0: 0)
11/30/1972	San Fernando	Suriname	-	Trinidad & Tobago	01: 1 (0: 0)
December 3, 1972	St. John's	Antigua & Barbuda	-	Suriname	00: 6 (2: 0)
05.12.1972	St. John's	Suriname	-	Antigua & Barbuda	03: 1 (2: 1)

Second round

The second round was held in Port-au-Prince in Haiti .

Closing table
Pl.	country	Gates	Pt.
1	Haiti	8: 3	8: 2
2	Trinidad and Tobago	11: 4	6: 4
3	Mexico	10: 5	6: 4
4th	Honduras	6: 6	5: 5
5	Guatemala	4: 6	3: 7
6th	Netherlands Antilles	4:19	2: 8

Game results

11/29/1973	Honduras	-	Trinidad & Tobago	2: 1 (1: 0)
11/30/1973	Mexico	-	Guatemala	0-0
December 01, 1973	Haiti	-	Dutch Antilles	3: 0 (2: 0)
December 3, 1973	Honduras	-	Mexico	1: 1 (0: 0)
December 04, 1973	Haiti	-	Trinidad & Tobago	2: 1 (1: 1)
December 05, 1973	Dutch Antilles	-	Guatemala	2: 2 (1: 1)
December 07, 1973	Haiti	-	Honduras	1: 0 (0: 0)
December 8, 1973	Mexico	-	Dutch Antilles	8: 0 (4: 0)
December 10, 1973	Trinidad & Tobago	-	Guatemala	1: 0 (1: 0)
12/12/1973	Honduras	-	Dutch Antilles	2: 2 (1: 0)
December 13, 1973	Haiti	-	Guatemala	2: 1 (1: 1)
December 14, 1973	Trinidad & Tobago	-	Mexico	4: 0 (2: 0)
December 15, 1973	Honduras	-	Guatemala	1: 1 (1: 0)
December 17, 1973	Trinidad & Tobago	-	Dutch Antilles	4: 0 (2: 0)
December 18, 1973	Haiti	-	Mexico	0: 1 (0: 1)

Asian Zone / AFC and Oceanic Zone / OFC

A total of 14 Asian teams registered for the World Cup qualification. There were also two teams from the Oceanic Zone, Australia and New Zealand.

First, the 16 participants were divided into four groups (A – D) with four teams each. Since the Philippines did not participate, group A consisted of only three teams. Then the group winners and runners-up in groups A and B played out a finalist in the semi-finals and finals. From groups C and D only the group winners played for participation in the final. The winner of the playoffs eventually qualified for the World Cup finals.

Groups A and B

All games took place in the South Korean capital Seoul .

Group assignment games

05/16/1973	South Vietnam	-	Thailand	1: 0 (0: 0)
05/16/1973	Hong Kong	-	Malaysia	1: 0 (0: 0)
05/17/1973	Israel	-	Japan	2: 1 (1: 1)
	South Korea	-	Philippines	Philippines waived

Group A

Closing table
Pl.	country	Gates	Pt.
1	Hong Kong	2-0	4-0
2	Japan	4: 1	2: 2
3	South Vietnam	0: 5	0: 4

Game results

05/20/1973	Japan	-	South Vietnam	4: 0 (2: 0)
May 22, 1973	Hong Kong	-	South Vietnam	1: 0 (0: 0)
May 24, 1973	Hong Kong	-	Japan	1: 0 (0: 0)

Group B

Closing table
Pl.	country	Gates	Pt.
1	Israel	9-0	5: 1
2	South Korea	4-0	4: 2
3	Malaysia	2: 3	3: 3
4th	Thailand	0: 12	0: 6

Game results

May 19, 1973	South Korea	-	Thailand	4: 0 (0: 0)
May 19, 1973	Israel	-	Malaysia	3: 0 (0: 0)
May 21, 1973	South Korea	-	Malaysia	0-0
May 21, 1973	Israel	-	Thailand	6: 0 (1: 0)
May 23, 1973	South Korea	-	Israel	0-0
May 23, 1973	Malaysia	-	Thailand	2: 0 (0: 0)

Semifinals

05/26/1973	South Korea	-	Hong Kong	3: 1 (1: 1)
05/26/1973	Israel	-	Japan	1: 0 a.d. (0: 0)

final

05/28/1973

South Korea

-

Israel

1: 0 a.d. (0: 0)

South Korea thus qualified for the playoffs against the winners of groups C and D.

Groups C and D

Group C

All Group C games were played in Tehran , Iran .

 India decided not to participate. In their place, North Korea was approved by FIFA on March 24, 1973 (almost two years after the registration deadline).

Closing table
Pl.	country	Gates	Pt.
1	Iran	7: 3	9: 3
2	Syria	6: 6	7: 5
3	North Korea	5: 5	5: 7
4th	Kuwait	4: 8	3: 9

Game results

05/04/1973	Iran	-	North Korea	0-0
05/04/1973	Syria	-	Kuwait	2: 1 (0: 0)
05/06/1973	North Korea	-	Syria	1: 1 (0: 0)
05/06/1973	Iran	-	Kuwait	2: 1 (1: 0)
05/08/1973	Kuwait	-	North Korea	0-0
05/08/1973	Iran	-	Syria	1: 0 (0: 0)
05/11/1973	Iran	-	North Korea	2: 1 (1: 0)
05/11/1973	Syria	-	Kuwait	2: 0 (1: 0)
05/13/1973	North Korea	-	Syria	3: 0 (2: 0)
05/13/1973	Iran	-	Kuwait	2: 0 (0: 0)
05/15/1973	Syria	-	Iran	1: 0 (1: 0)
05/15/1973	Kuwait	-	North Korea	2: 0 (1: 0)

Group D

Group D games took place in Australia - with the exception of the New Zealand - Australia game, which was played in New Zealand.

Closing table
Pl.	country	Gates	Pt.
1	Australia	15: 6	9: 3
2	Iraq	11: 6	8: 4
3	Indonesia	6: 13	4: 8
4th	New Zealand	5:12	3: 9

Game results

03/04/1973	Auckland	New Zealand	-	Australia	1: 1 (0: 0)
03/11/1973	Sydney	Australia	-	Iraq	3: 1 (0: 0)
03/11/1973	Sydney	New Zealand	-	Indonesia	1: 1 (0: 1)
03/13/1973	Sydney	Australia	-	Indonesia	2: 1 (2: 1)
03/13/1973	Sydney	Iraq	-	New Zealand	2: 0 (2: 0)
March 16, 1973	Sydney	Australia	-	New Zealand	3: 3 (3: 1)
March 16, 1973	Sydney	Indonesia	-	Iraq	1: 1 (1: 1)
03/18/1973	Melbourne	Iraq	-	Australia	0-0
03/18/1973	Melbourne	Indonesia	-	New Zealand	1: 0 (1: 0)
03/21/1973	Sydney	Iraq	-	Indonesia	3: 2 (2: 1)
March 24, 1973	Sydney	New Zealand	-	Iraq	0: 4 (0: 3)
March 24, 1973	Sydney	Australia	-	Indonesia	6: 0 (3: 0)

final

08/18/1973	Sydney	Australia	-	Iran	3: 0 (1: 0)
08/24/1973	Tehran	Iran	-	Australia	2: 0 (2: 0)

Australia thus took part in the playoffs against the winner of groups A and B.

Playoffs

10/28/1973	Sydney	Australia	-	South Korea	0-0
11/10/1973	Seoul	South Korea	-	Australia	2: 2 (2: 1)
11/13/1973	Hong Kong	Australia	-	South Korea	1: 0 (1: 0)

Australia qualified for the World Cup finals.

African Zone / CAF

24 nations from Africa competed for a place in the finals. After Madagascar and Gambia withdrew, 22 teams remained. The qualification was first played in three rounds in the knockout system , then the three remaining teams played in a group in two-legged matches for the qualification. Zaire was finally able to qualify for the finals of the World Cup.

First round

Group 1

02.03.1972	Algiers	Algeria	-	Guinea	1: 0 (0: 0)
03/12/1972	Conakry	Guinea	-	Algeria	5: 1 (2: 0)
October 15, 1972	Freetown	Sierra Leone	-	Ivory Coast	0: 1 (0: 1)
October 29, 1972	Abidjan	Ivory Coast	-	Sierra Leone	2: 0 (1: 0)
November 19, 1972	Agadir	Morocco	-	Senegal	0-0
December 3, 1972	Dakar	Senegal	-	Morocco	1: 2 (1: 1)
December 8th, 1972	Cairo	Egypt	-	Tunisia	2: 1 (1: 0)
December 17, 1972	Tunis	Tunisia	-	Egypt	2: 0 (1: 0)

Group 2

06/06/1972	Lomé	Togo	-	Zaire	0-0
06/20/1972	Kinshasa	Zaire	-	Togo	4: 0 (2: 0)
06/18/1972	Cotonou	Dahomey	-	Ghana	0: 5 (0: 3)
07/02/1972	Kumasi	Ghana	-	Dahomey	5: 1 (2: 0)
08/05/1972	Ibadan	Nigeria	-	Congo	2: 1 (1: 0)
08/15/1972	Brazzaville	Congo	-	Nigeria	1: 1 (0: 1)
		Cameroon	-	Gabon	Gabon waived

Group 3

04/30/1972	Maseru	Lesotho	-	Zambia	0-0
06/04/1972	Ndola	Zambia	-	Lesotho	6: 1 (3: 1)
07/16/1972	Nairobi	Kenya	-	Sudan	2: 0 (1: 0)
07/23/1972	Khartoum	Sudan	-	Kenya	1: 0 (1: 0)
11/25/1972	Dar es Salaam	Tanzania	-	Ethiopia	1: 1 (0: 1)
December 3, 1972	Addis Ababa	Ethiopia	-	Tanzania	0-0
December 10, 1972	Addis Ababa	Ethiopia	-	Tanzania	3: 0 (3: 0)
		Mauritius	-	Madagascar	Madagascar waived

Second round

Group 1

02/11/1973	Tunis	Tunisia	-	Ivory Coast	1: 1 (0: 1)
02/25/1973	Abidjan	Ivory Coast	-	Tunisia	2: 1 (1: 1)
02/11/1973	Conakry	Guinea	-	Morocco	1: 1 (1: 1)
02/25/1973	Tetouan	Morocco	-	Guinea	2: 0 (0: 0)

Group 2

02/04/1973	Douala	Cameroon	-	Zaire	0: 1 (0: 1)
02/25/1973	Kinshasa	Zaire	-	Cameroon	0: 1 (0: 1)
02/27/1973	Kinshasa	Zaire	-	Cameroon	2: 0 (1: 0)
02/10/1973	Lagos	Nigeria	-	Ghana	2: 3 (2: 1)
02/25/1973	Accra	Ghana	-	Nigeria	0-0

Group 3

December 10, 1972	Port Louis	Mauritius	-	Kenya	1: 3 (1: 1)
December 17, 1972	Nairobi	Kenya	-	Mauritius	2: 2 (0: 2)
04/01/1973	Addis Ababa	Ethiopia	-	Zambia	0-0
04/15/1973	Lusaka	Zambia	-	Ethiopia	4: 2 (0: 1)

Third round

Group 1

05/20/1973	Abidjan	Ivory Coast	-	Morocco	1: 1 (0: 1)
06/03/1973	Tetouan	Morocco	-	Ivory Coast	4: 1 (2: 1)

Group 2

08/05/1973	Accra	Ghana	-	Zaire	1: 0 (1: 0)
08/19/1973	Kinshasa	Zaire	-	Ghana	4: 1 (2: 0)

Group 3

08/12/1973	Ndola	Zambia	-	Kenya	2: 0 (1: 0)
08/19/1973	Nairobi	Kenya	-	Zambia	2: 2 (0: 2)

Fourth round

Closing table
Pl.	country	Gates	Pt.
1	Zaire	9: 1	8-0
2	Zambia	5: 6	2: 6
3	Morocco	2: 9	2: 6

Game results

10/21/1973	Lusaka	Zambia	-	Morocco	4: 0 (2: 0)
04/11/1973	Lusaka	Zambia	-	Zaire	0: 2 (0: 2)
11/18/1973	Kinshasa	Zaire	-	Zambia	2: 1 (1: 1)
11/25/1973	Tetouan	Morocco	-	Zambia	2: 0 (1: 0)
December 9, 1973	Kinshasa	Zaire	-	Morocco	3: 0 (0: 0)
December 23, 1973		Morocco	-	Zaire	0: 2 1

¹ The game was rated 0-2 by FIFA as Morocco no longer competed.

Intercontinental play-off Europe - South America

09/26/1973	Moscow	Soviet Union	-	Chile	0-0
11/21/1973	Santiago	Chile	-	Soviet Union	Rating 2: 0

Due to the events of the 1973 coup in Chile , which was supported by the CIA , the Soviet Union did not play for the second leg in Chile at the Estadio Nacional de Chile . In front of 30,000 spectators, Chile competed alone and scored 1-0 in the first minute. Then the "game" was canceled, as no restart was possible due to a lack of participating Soviet players. FIFA scored the game 2-0 and Chile qualified for the World Cup finals.

Web links

• FIFA.com - Germany 1974
• RSSSF - Qualification for the 1974 World Cup

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Paul Doyle: The Joy of Six: football fiascos , Guardian article, Jan. 17, 2014.