1934 FIFA World Cup qualification

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The 1934 FIFA World Cup was the first World Cup where the teams had to qualify, since the first edition in 1930 had no qualification rounds (the participating teams were invited by FIFA). This time, a total of 32 teams entered the competition, so FIFA had to organize qualification (or preliminary) rounds to reduce the field to 16 teams for the final tournament. Curiously, Italy had to qualify despite being the hosts of the World Cup (the only time the hosts had to qualify), while the defending champions Uruguay refused to participate and defend their title because many European nations declined to take part in the 1930 World Cup held in Uruguay.

The 32 teams were divided into 12 groups, based on geographical considerations, as follows:

Groups 1 to 8 - Europe: 12 places, contested by 21 teams.
Groups 9 and 10 - South America: 2 places, contested by 4 teams.
Group 11 - North, Central America and Caribbean: 1 place, contested by 4 teams.
Group 12 - Africa and Asia: 1 place, contested by 3 teams (including Turkey).

A total of 27 teams played at least one qualifying match. A total of 27 qualifying matches were played, and 141 goals were scored (an average of 5.22 per match).

Listed below are the dates and results of the qualification rounds.

[edit] Format

The 12 groups had different rules, as follows:

Group 1 had 3 teams. The teams played against each other once. The group winner would qualify.
Groups 2, 3 and 5 had 2 teams each. The teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winners would qualify.
Group 4 had 3 teams. The teams played against each other twice. The group winner and runner-up would qualify.
Groups 6, 7 and 8 had 3 teams each. The teams played against each other once. The group winners and runners-up would qualify.
Groups 9 and 10 had 2 teams each. The group winners would qualify.
Group 11 had 4 teams. There would be three rounds of play:
- First Round: Haiti played against Cuba in three matches at home. The winner would advance to the Second Round.
- Second Round: Mexico played against the winner of the First Round in three matches at home. The winner would advance to the Final Round.
- Final Round: USA played against the winner of the Second Round in a single match on neutral ground. The winner would qualify.
Group 12 had 3 teams. After Turkey withdrew before the matches began, the remaining 2 teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winner would qualify.

[edit] Group 1

[edit] Table

Rank	Team	Pts	Pld	W	L	GF	GA
1	Sweden	4	2	2	0	8	2
2	Lithuania	0	1	0	1	0	2
3	Estonia	0	1	0	1	2	6

Sweden qualified.
Estonia vs Lithuania was not played, since neither team could qualify with a win.

[edit] Results

June 11, 1933 1934 World Cup qualification № 174	Sweden	6–2	Estonia	Stockholms Stadion, Stockholm Attendance: 8,123 Referee: Randers-Johansen (Norway)
	Kroon 7' L. Bunke 10' Ericsson 13', 70' T. Bunke 43' Andersson 79' (p)		Kass 47' Kuremaa 61'

June 29, 1933 1934 World Cup qualification № 176	Lithuania	0–2	Sweden	Kariuomenės stadionas, Kaunas Attendance: 6,000 Referee: Silber (Estonia)
			Hansson 55', 65'

[edit] Group 2

March 12, 1934, Madrid, Spain - Spain 9 - 0 Portugal

March 18, 1934, Lisbon, Portugal - Portugal 1 - 2 Spain

Rank	Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1	Spain	4	2	2	0	0	11	1
2	Portugal	0	2	0	0	2	1	11

Spain qualified.

[edit] Group 3

March 25, 1934, Milan, Italy - Italy 4 - 0 Greece

Italy qualified, as Greece withdrew after the first match.

[edit] Group 4

March 25, 1934, Sofia, Bulgaria - Bulgaria 1 - 4 Hungary

April 25, 1934, Vienna, Austria - Austria 6 - 1 Bulgaria

April 28, 1934, Budapest, Hungary - Hungary 4 - 1 Bulgaria

Bulgaria withdrew, and the remaining matches were not played since Hungary and Austria were already assured of the top two spots.

Rank	Team	Pts	Pld	W	L	GF	GA
1	Hungary	4	2	2	0	8	2
2	Austria	2	1	1	0	6	1
3	Bulgaria	0	3	0	3	3	14

Hungary and Austria qualified.

[edit] Group 5

October 15, 1933, Warsaw, Poland - Poland 1 - 2 Czechoslovakia

April 15, 1934, Prague, Czechoslovakia - Czechoslovakia 2 - 0 Poland

FIFA awarded Czechoslovakia a 2-0 win because Poland had withdrawn.

Rank	Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1	Czechoslovakia	4	2	2	0	0	4	1
2	Poland	0	2	0	0	2	1	4

Czechoslovakia qualified.

[edit] Group 6

September 24, 1933, Belgrade, Yugoslavia - Yugoslavia 2 - 2 Switzerland

October 29, 1933, Bern, Switzerland - Switzerland 2 - 0 Romania

The match ended 2-2, but FIFA awarded Switzerland a 2-0 win because Romania had fielded an ineligible player.

April 29, 1934, Bucharest, Romania - Romania 2 - 1 Yugoslavia

Rank	Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1	Switzerland	3	2	1	1	0	4	2
2	Romania	2	2	1	0	1	2	3
3	Yugoslavia	1	2	0	1	1	3	4

Switzerland and Romania qualified.

[edit] Group 7

February 25, 1934, Dublin, Irish Free State - Irish Free State 4 - 4 Belgium

April 8, 1934, Amsterdam, Netherlands - Netherlands 5 - 2 Irish Free State

April 29, 1934, Antwerp, Belgium - Belgium 2 - 4 Netherlands

Rank	Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Ave
1	Netherlands	4	2	2	0	0	9	4	2.25
2	Belgium	1	2	0	1	1	6	8	0.75
3	Irish Free State	1	2	0	1	1	6	9	0.66667

Netherlands and Belgium qualified (Belgium finished above the Irish Free State on goal average).

[edit] Group 8

March 11, 1934, Luxembourg, Luxembourg - Luxembourg 1 - 9 Germany

April 13, 1934, Luxembourg, Luxembourg - Luxembourg 1 - 6 France

Germany vs France was not played, since both teams were already assured of the top two spots.

Rank	Team	Pts	Pld	W	L	GF	GA
1	Germany	2	1	1	0	9	1
2	France	2	1	1	0	6	1
3	Luxembourg	0	2	0	2	2	15

Germany and France qualified.

[edit] Group 9

Peru withdrew, so Brazil qualified automatically.

[edit] Group 10

Chile withdrew, so Argentina qualified automatically.

[edit] Group 11

[edit] First round

January 28, 1934, Port au Prince, Haiti - Haiti 1 - 3 Cuba

February 1, 1934, Port au Prince, Haiti - Haiti 1 - 1 Cuba

February 4, 1934, Port au Prince, Haiti - Haiti 0 - 6 Cuba

Rank	Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1	Cuba	5	3	2	1	0	10	2
2	Haiti	1	3	0	1	2	2	10

Cuba advanced to the Second Round.

[edit] Second round

March 4, 1934, Mexico City, Mexico - Mexico 3 - 2 Cuba

March 11, 1934, Mexico City, Mexico - Mexico 5 - 0 Cuba

March 18, 1934, Mexico City, Mexico - Mexico 4 - 1 Cuba

Rank	Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1	Mexico	6	3	3	0	0	12	3
2	Cuba	0	3	0	0	3	3	12

Mexico advanced to the Final Round.

[edit] Final round

May 24, 1934, Rome, Italy - USA 4 - 2 Mexico

USA qualified.

[edit] Group 12

Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
Egypt	4	2	2	0	0	11	2
Palestine	0	2	0	0	2	2	11

Turkey withdrew.

March 16, 1934
Egypt	7 – 1	Palestine	Cairo, Egypt
April 6, 1934
Palestine	1 – 4	Egypt	Tel Aviv, Palestine

[edit] Qualified teams

Qualifying countries

Team	Finals Appearance	Streak	Last Appearance
Argentina	2nd	2	1930
Austria	1st	1	-
Belgium	2nd	2	1930
Brazil	2nd	2	1930
Czechoslovakia	1st	1	-
Egypt	1st	1	-
France	2nd	2	1930
Germany	1st	1	-
Hungary	1st	1	-
Italy	1st	1	-
Netherlands	1st	1	-
Romania	2nd	2	1930
Spain	1st	1	-
Sweden	1st	1	-
Switzerland	1st	1	-
USA	2nd	2	1930

[edit] Notes

The match to decide whether USA or Mexico would qualify was played in Italy only three days before the start of the final tournament, as the USA team submitted their entry too late. Thus, the match was played on Italian ground, so that the winner would effectively stay for the tournament (the teams travelled by ship at that time, and travelling from America to Europe took around 15 days).

[edit] External links

FIFA World Cup qualification

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