1968 Summer Olympics / Football / Qualification

Qualification for the 1968 Olympic soccer tournament in Mexico City .

Qualified teams

4 from Europe	Czechoslovakia	Bulgaria	France	Spain
2 from South America	Brazil	Colombia
2 from North and Central America	Guatemala	El Salvador
3 from Africa	Guinea	Nigeria	Ghana
3 from Asia	Japan	Thailand	Israel
Defending champion:	Hungary			Host:	Mexico

Europe

The winners from the four groups played in the knockout system qualified for the final round.

Group 1

1 round

pairing			First leg	Return leg	total
Soviet Union	-	Albania	n / p ( 1 )	n / p ( 1 )	n / p ( 1 )

¹ Albania resigned.

2nd round

pairing			First leg	Return leg	total
Soviet Union	-	Poland	2: 1	1-0	3: 1
Czechoslovakia	-	Yugoslavia	n / p ( 2 )	n / p ( 2 )	n / p ( 2 )

² Yugoslavia resigned.

final

pairing			First leg	Return leg	total
Czechoslovakia	-	Soviet Union	3-0	2: 3	5: 3

Group 2

1 round

pairing			First leg	Return leg	total
GDR	-	Greece	5-0	5-0	10-0

2nd round

pairing			First leg	Return leg	total
Bulgaria	-	Turkey	3-0	3: 2	6: 2
GDR	-	Romania	1-0	1-0	2-0

final

pairing			First leg	Return leg	total
Bulgaria	-	GDR	4: 1	2: 3	6: 4

Group 3

1 round

pairing			First leg	Return leg	total
Finland	-	Netherlands	0-0	1-0	1-0

2nd round

pairing			First leg	Return leg	total
Austria	-	Switzerland	4: 1	0: 1	4: 2
France	-	Finland	3: 1	1: 1	4: 2

final

pairing			First leg	Return leg	total
France	-	Austria	3: 1	1: 1	4: 2

Group 4

1 round

pairing			First leg	Return leg	total
Spain	-	Iceland	1: 1	5: 3	6: 4

2nd round

pairing			First leg	Return leg	total
United Kingdom	-	BR Germany	2-0	0: 1	2: 1
Spain	-	Italy	n / p ( 3 )	n / p ( 3 )	n / p ( 3 )

³ Italy resigned.

final

pairing			First leg	Return leg	total
Spain	-	United Kingdom	1-0	0-0	1-0

Asia

Israel only had Ceylon as an opponent, because both India and Persia (Iran) had renounced. Ceylon only competed in Israel on the condition that he was reimbursed for travel and accommodation expenses for 18 footballers and the support staff. Israel won its matches against the island nation 4-0 and 6-0.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Box below: "One hand washes the other" . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna March 24, 1968, p. 16 ( Arbeiter-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).