1958 FIFA World Cup qualification


A total of 55 teams entered the 1958 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds, competing for a total of 16 spots in the final tournament. Sweden as the hosts and West Germany, as the defending champions, qualified automatically, leaving 14 spots open for competition.
The qualification rounds for the four previous World Cups were very confusing, with controversial rules and many withdrawals. From this tournament onwards, FIFA decided to divide the teams into several continental zones, assign a pre-determined number of places in the final tournament to each zone, and delegate the organization of the qualifying tournaments to its confederations: UEFA of Europe, CONMEBOL of South America, NAFC of North America, CCCF of Central America and Caribbean, CAF of Africa and AFC of Asia. This led to a more organized qualification process with clearer rules, but not yet withdrawal-proof.
The 16 spots available in the 1958 World Cup would be distributed among the continental zones as follows:
However, FIFA also imposed a rule that no team would qualify without playing at least one match because many teams qualified for previous World Cups without playing due to withdrawals of their opponents. Because Israel won the African and Asian zone under this circumstance, FIFA required them to enter a play-off against a team from Europe who initially did not qualify, with the winner of this play-off qualifying. Therefore, effectively in the end, a total of 11.5 places were granted to Europe while only 0.5 places were granted to Africa and Asia.
A total of 46 teams played at least one qualifying match. A total of 89 qualifying matches were played, and 341 goals were scored.
Listed below are the dates and results of the qualification rounds.

Europe

The 27 teams were divided into 9 groups, each featuring 3 teams. The teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winners qualified. The Soviet Union and Iceland took part for the first time.

UEFA Group 1

RankTeam
1743101553.00
254211670.86
3040044130.31

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----
----
----
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England qualified.

UEFA Group 2

RankTeam
1743101944.75
25421116111.45
3040046260.23

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----
----
----
----
France qualified.

UEFA Group 3

RankTeam
1643011243.00
2442021171.57
3241033150.20

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----
----
----
----
Hungary qualified.

UEFA Group 4

RankTeam
164301933.00
244202651.20
3241035120.42

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----
----
----
----
Czechoslovakia qualified. Wales received another chance to qualify after being drawn to play against Israel in a special play-off; see [|CAF / AFC Final Round and Play-off].

UEFA Group 5

RankTeam
1743101434.67
2542111271.71
3040043190.16

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----
----
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Austria qualified.

UEFA Group 6

RankTeam
1=643011635.33
1=64301951.80
3040042190.11

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Poland and USSR finished level on points, a play-off on neutral ground was played to decide who would qualify.
USSR qualified.

UEFA Group 7

RankTeam
164220723.50
254211641.50
314013290.22

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----
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Yugoslavia qualified.

UEFA Group 8

RankTeam
154211632.00
244202551.00
334112470.57

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----
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The 15 January 1958 fixture of Italy at Northern Ireland was originally scheduled for 4 December 1957, but heavy fog in London prevented the referee from arriving for the match in time. The fixture was postponed, but the match continued as a friendly, and ended in a 2–2 draw and a riot as the crowd invaded the pitch. The 'friendly' match was dubbed the 'Battle of Belfast'. Danny Blanchflower, Northern Ireland captain at the time, helped save the situation by ordering his players to escort their Italian counterparts off the field while the police dealt with the crowd.
Northern Ireland qualified.
This was the only time that Italy failed to qualify for the World Cup until their failure to qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

UEFA Group 9

RankTeam
1643011091.11
2542111281.50
3140136110.55

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----
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Scotland qualified.

South America

The 9 teams were divided into 3 groups of 3 teams each. The teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winners would qualify.

CONMEBOL Group 1

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Brazil qualified.

CONMEBOL Group 2

RankTeamPtsPldWDLGFGA
164301102
24420266
324103210

----
----
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----
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Argentina qualified.

CONMEBOL Group 3

RankTeamPtsPldWDLGFGA
164301114
25421146
31401338

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Paraguay qualified.

North, Central America and Caribbean

There were two rounds of play:

Group 1

RankTeamPtsPldWDLGFGA
184400182
24420288
304004521

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Mexico advanced to the Final Round.

Group 2

RankTeam
184400154
2 Territory of Curaçao2310247
303003412

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Costa Rica advanced to the Final Round. Territory of Curaçao v Guatemala was not played because the Guatemalan players were not permitted to travel to the Netherlands Antilles. However, neither team would have been able to advance with a win regardless.

CCCF / NAFC Final Round

RankTeamPtsPldWDLGFGA
13211031
21201113

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Mexico qualified.

Africa and Asia

FIFA rejected the entries of Ethiopia and South Korea. The remaining 10 teams played in a knockout tournament, with matches on a home-and-away basis. The tournament winner would qualify.

CAF / AFC Preliminary Round

Republic of China withdrew, so China PR and Indonesia advanced to the First Round automatically.

CAF / AFC First Round

Group 1

RankTeamPtsPldWDLGFGAAve
1=22101541.25
1=22101450.8

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China PR and Indonesia finished level on points, and a play-off on neutral ground was played to decide who would advance to the Second Round.
Indonesia advanced to the Second Round by having a better goal average.

Group 2

Turkey refused to compete in the Asian group, so Israel advanced to the Second Round automatically.

Group 3

Cyprus withdrew, so Egypt advanced to the Second Round automatically.

Group 4

RankTeamPtsPldWDLGFGA
13211021
21201112

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Sudan advanced.

CAF / AFC Second Round

Indonesia withdrew after FIFA rejected their request to play against Israel on neutral ground.
Israel advanced to the Final Round automatically. Egypt withdrew, so Sudan advanced to the Final Round automatically.

CAF / AFC Final Round

Sudan refused to play against Israel because of the Arab League boycott of Israel, so Israel would technically qualify automatically, but before the qualification rounds began, FIFA had ruled that no team would qualify without playing at least one match, and Israel had yet to play any.

Inter-confederation play-offs: CAF/AFC v UEFA

A special play-off was created between Israel and the runner-up of one of the UEFA Groups, where the teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis, with the winner qualifying. After Belgium refused, Wales, the runner-up of UEFA Group 4, was the team drawn from the UEFA group runners-up.

Qualified teams

TeamFinals AppearanceStreakLast Appearance
3rd11934
3rd21954
6th61954
4th21954
3rd31954
5th21954
4th21954
4th31954
1st1–
3rd11950
2nd21954
4th11950
1st1–
1st1–
4th21954
4th31954

7 of the 16 teams subsequently failed to qualify for the 1962 finals: Austria, France, Northern Ireland, Paraguay, Scotland, Sweden and Wales.

Goalscorers

;8 goals
;7 goals
;5 goals
;4 goals
;3 goals
;2 goals
;1 goal
;1 own goal