1950 FIFA World Cup qualification

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A total of 34 teams entered the 1950 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds, competing for a total of 16 spots in the final tournament.  Brazil, as the hosts, and  Italy, as the defending champions, qualified automatically, leaving 14 spots open for competition.

The remaining 32 teams were divided into 10 groups, based on geographical considerations, as follows:

• Groups 1 to 6 - Europe: 7 places, contested by 18 teams (including Israel and Syria).
• Groups 7 and 8 - South America: 4 places, contested by 7 teams.
• Group 9 - North, Central America and Caribbean: 2 places, contested by 3 teams.
• Group 10 - Asia: 1 place, contested by 4 teams.

However, due to the withdrawals of  Scotland,  Turkey and  India after qualifying, only 13 teams actually competed in the final tournament.

A total of 19 teams played at least one qualifying match. A total of 26 qualifying matches were played, and 121 goals were scored (an average of 4.65 per match).

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

Contents 1 Groups 2 Group 1 3 Group 2 3.1 First round 3.2 Final round 4 Group 3 4.1 First round 4.2 Final round 5 Group 4 5.1 First round 5.2 Final round 6 Group 5 7 Group 6 8 Group 7 9 Group 8 10 Group 9 11 Group 10 12 Qualified teams 13 Notes 14 References 15 External links

[edit] Groups

The 10 groups had different rules, as follows:

• Group 1 had 4 teams. The teams played against each other once. The group winner and runner-up would qualify.
• Groups 2, 3 and 4 had 3 teams each. The strongest team of each group was seeded. There would be two rounds of play:
  • First Round: The seeded team received a bye and advanced to the Final Round directly. The unseeded teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The winner would advance to the Final Round.
  • Final Round: The seeded team played against the winner of the First Round on a home-and-away basis. The winner would qualify.
• Group 5 had 3 teams. The teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winner would qualify.
• Group 6 had 2 teams. The teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winner would qualify.
• Group 7 had 3 teams. The group winner and runner-up would qualify.
• Group 8 had 4 teams. The group winner and runner-up would qualify.
• Group 9 had 3 teams. The teams played against each other twice. The group winner and runner-up would qualify.
• Group 10 had 4 teams. The group winner would qualify.

[edit] Group 1

See also: 1950 British Home Championship

October 1, 1949	Ireland (IFA)	2–8	Scotland	Windsor Park, Belfast
	Samuel Smyth 2		Henry Morris 3, William Waddell 2, Billy Steel, Lawrence Reilly, Jimmy Mason

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October 15, 1949	Wales	1–4	England	Ninian Park, Cardiff
	M. Griffiths		Jackie Milburn 3, Stan Mortensen

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November 9, 1949	Scotland	2–0	Wales	Hampden Park, Glasgow
	John McPhail, Alexander Linwood

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November 16, 1949	England	9–2	Ireland (IFA)	Maine Road, Manchester
	Jack Rowley 4, Stan Mortensen 2, Stan Pearson 2, Jack Froggatt		Samuel Smyth, Bobby Brennan

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March 8, 1950	Wales	0–0	Ireland (IFA)	Racecourse Ground, Wrexham

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May 25, 1950	Scotland	0–1	England	Hampden Park, Glasgow
			Roy Bentley

Rank	Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1	England	6	3	3	0	0	14	3
2	Scotland	4	3	2	0	1	10	3
3=	Ireland (IFA)	1	3	0	1	2	4	17
3=	Wales	1	3	0	1	2	1	6

England qualified. Scotland also qualified, but declined to travel.

[edit] Group 2

[edit] First round

November 20, 1949, Ankara, Turkey -  Turkey 7 - 0  Syria

Syria withdrew, and remaining match was not played.

Turkey advanced to the Final Round.

[edit] Final round

 Austria withdrew, so  Turkey qualified automatically. But Turkey later also withdrew, and FIFA offered the place to  Portugal, the runner-up of Group 6, but they declined. FIFA decided not to allow anyone else to qualify, leaving the World Cup two teams short.

[edit] Group 3

[edit] First round

August 21, 1949, Belgrade, Yugoslavia -  Yugoslavia 6 - 0  Israel

September 18, 1949, Tel Aviv, Israel -  Israel 2 - 5  Yugoslavia

Rank	Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1	Yugoslavia	4	2	2	0	0	11	2
2	Israel	0	2	0	0	2	2	11

Yugoslavia advanced to the Final Round.

[edit] Final round

October 9, 1949, Belgrade, Yugoslavia -  Yugoslavia 1 - 1  France

October 30, 1949, Colombes, France -  France 1 - 1  Yugoslavia

Rank	Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1=	France	2	2	0	2	0	2	2
1=	Yugoslavia	2	2	0	2	0	2	2

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

December 11, 1949, Florence, Italy -  Yugoslavia 3 - 2 (aet)  France

Yugoslavia qualified while France were also offered a place by FIFA. They initially accepted, but later declined.

[edit] Group 4

[edit] First round

June 26, 1949, Zurich, Switzerland -  Switzerland 5 - 2  Luxembourg

September 18, 1949, Luxembourg, Luxembourg -  Luxembourg 2 - 3  Switzerland

Rank	Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1	Switzerland	4	2	2	0	0	8	4
2	Luxembourg	0	2	0	0	2	4	8

Switzerland advanced to the Final Round.

[edit] Final round

 Belgium withdrew, so  Switzerland qualified automatically.

[edit] Group 5

June 2, 1949	Sweden	3–1	Ireland (FAI)	Råsunda Stadion, Stockholm, Sweden Attendance: 38,000 Referee: Baert (Belgium)
	Anderson 17' (pen) Jeppson 37' Liedholm 69'	(Report)	Walsh 9'

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September 8, 1949	Ireland (FAI)	3–0	Finland	Dalymount Park, Dublin, Ireland Attendance: 22,479 Referee: Evans (England)
	Gavin 35' Martin 44' (pen), 68'	(Report)

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October 9, 1949	Ireland (FAI	1–1	Finland	Olympiastadion, Helsinki, Finland Attendance: 13,000 Referee: Bronkhorst (Netherlands)
	Farrell 65'	(Report)	Vaihela 89'

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November 13, 1949	Ireland (FAI)	1–3	Sweden	Dalymount Park, Dublin, Ireland Attendance: 41,031 Referee: Ling (England)
	Martin 61' (pen)	(Report)	Palmer 4', 40', 68'

Rank	Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1	Sweden	4	2	2	0	0	6	2
2	Ireland (FAI)	3	4	1	1	2	6	7
3	Finland	1	2	0	1	1	1	4

Sweden qualified. Finland withdrew before the group was completed. Ireland were subsequently invited to enter competition but declined the opportunity ^[1].

[edit] Group 6

April 2, 1950	Spain	5–1	Portugal	Nuevo Charmartin, Madrid, Spain Attendance: ??,??? Referee: Reg Leafe (England)
	Zarra 11', 58' Basora 13' Panizo 15' Molowny 65'	(Report)	Sabrita 36'

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April 9, 1950	Portugal	2–2	Spain	Jamor, Lisbon, Portugal Referee: Jack Mowat (Scotland)
	Travassos 51' Correia 53'	(Report)	Zarra, 24' Gaínza, 82'

Rank	Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1	Spain	3	2	1	1	0	7	3
2	Portugal	1	2	0	1	1	3	7

Spain qualified. Portugal were also invited to take part but they declined.

[edit] Group 7

 Argentina withdrew, so  Chile and  Bolivia qualified automatically.

[edit] Group 8

 Peru and  Ecuador both withdrew, so  Uruguay and  Paraguay qualified automatically.

[edit] Group 9

See also: 1949 NAFC Championship

September 4, 1949	USA	0-6	Mexico	Estadío de los Deportes Attendance: 60,000 Referee: José Tapia (Cuba)
		(Report)	Antonio Flores 20’ Luis Luna 30’ Luis de la Fuente 37’, 55’, 58’ Carlos Septien 85’

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September 11, 1949	Mexico	2-0	Cuba	Mexico City Attendance: Referee: Prudencio García (USA)
	Luis Luna 26’ Horacio Casarín 57’	(Report)

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September 14, 1949	Cuba	1-1	USA	Estadío de los Deportes Attendance: 8,000 Referee:
	José Gómez 28’	(Report)	Frank Wallace 23’

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September 18, 1949	Mexico	6-2	USA	Estadío de los Deportes Attendance: 54,500 Referee: José Tapia (Cuba)
	Héctor Ortíz 14’ Horacio Casarín 23’, 41’, 76’ Luis de la Fuente 47’ Mario Ochoa 89’	(Report)	John Souza 52’ Ben Wattman 90’

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September 21, 1949	USA	5-2	Cuba	Estadío de los Deportes Attendance: 60,000 Referee: José Tapia (Cuba)
	Walter Bahr 16’ John Souza 23’ Pete Matevich 30’, 35’ Frank Wallace 48’	(Report)	Jacinto Barquin 42’ Santiago Veiga 50’

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September 25, 1949	Mexico	3-0	Cuba	Estadío de los Deportes Attendance: Referee: Prudencio García (USA)
	José Naranjo 44’, 88’ Antonio Flores 58’	(Report)

Rank	Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1	Mexico	8	4	4	0	0	17	2
2	USA	3	4	1	1	2	8	15
3	Cuba	1	4	0	1	3	3	11

Mexico and USA qualified.

[edit] Group 10

Burma,  Philippines and  Indonesia all withdrew, so  India qualified automatically. But India later also withdrew after a FIFA ruling that players were not allowed to play barefoot, and FIFA decided not to invite anyone else, leaving the World Cup three teams short.

[edit] Qualified teams

Team	Finals Appearance	Streak	Last Appearance
Bolivia	2nd	1	1930
Brazil (h)	4th	4	1938
Chile	2nd	1	1930
England	1st	1	-
India	1st	1	-
Italy (c)	3rd	3	1938
Mexico	2nd	1	1930
Paraguay	2nd	1	1930
Spain	2nd	1	1934
Scotland	1st	1	-
Sweden	3rd	3	1938
Switzerland	3rd	3	1938
Turkey	1st	1	-
USA	3rd	1	1934
Uruguay	2nd	1	1930
Yugoslavia	2nd	1	1930

(h) - qualified automatically as hosts

(c) - qualified automatically as defending champions

[edit] Notes

• At the start of 1950 there were, in effect, two Ireland teams, chosen by two rival associations. Both associations, the Northern Ireland - based IFA and the Republic of Ireland - based FAI claimed jurisdiction over the whole of Ireland and selected players from the whole island. As a result several notable Irish players from this era played for both teams. Four players - Tom Aherne, Reg Ryan, Davy Walsh and Con Martin - actually played for both the FAI XI and the IFA XI in these qualifying rounds. FIFA intervened, after complaints from the FAI, and subsequently restricted players' eligibility based on the political border. In 1953 FIFA ruled neither team could be referred to as Ireland, decreeing that the FAI team be officially designated as the Republic of Ireland, while the IFA team was to become Northern Ireland.
• For the third qualifying tournament in a row, the South American teams qualified automatically after withdrawals. In Group 7, Bolivia and Chile did play two matches between them, but they were not classified as official World Cup qualifiers by FIFA.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• FIFA World Cup Official Site - 1950 World Cup Qualification
• RSSSF - 1950 World Cup Qualification

FIFA World Cup qualification v • d • e
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