1962 FIFA World Cup qualification

1962 FIFA World Cup Qualification
Tournament details
Teams 56 (from 6 confederations)
Tournament statistics
Matches played 92
Goals scored 325 (3.53 per match)
1958
1966

A total of 56 teams entered the 1962 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds, competing for a total of 16 spots in the final tournament. Chile, as the hosts, and Brazil, as the defending champions, qualified automatically, leaving 14 spots open for competition.

As with previous World Cups, the rules of the qualification rounds were quite confusing. Moreover, the winners of the four weakest continental zones: North America (NAFC), Central America and Caribbean (CCCF), Africa (CAF) and Asia (AFC), were not guaranteed direct spots in the final tournament. Instead, each of them had to enter a play-off against a team from either Europe (UEFA) or South America (CONMEBOL), with the winners of the three play-offs qualifying.

The 16 spots available in the 1962 World Cup would be distributed among the continental zones as follows:

A total of 49 teams played at least one qualifying match. A total of 92 qualifying matches were played, and 325 goals were scored (an average of 3.53 per match).

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

Contents

Europe

The 30 teams were divided into 10 groups. The groups had different rules, as follows:

UEFA Group 1

Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
1=  Sweden 6 4 3 0 1 10 3 +7
1=  Switzerland 6 4 3 0 1 9 9 0
3  Belgium 0 4 0 0 4 3 10 −7





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

Switzerland qualified for FIFA World Cup 1962 in Chile

UEFA Group 2

Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
1=  France 6 4 3 0 1 10 3 +7
1=  Bulgaria 6 4 3 0 1 6 4 +2
3  Finland 0 4 0 0 4 3 12 −9





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

Bulgaria qualified for FIFA World Cup 1962 in Chile

UEFA Group 3

Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
1  West Germany 8 4 4 0 0 11 5 +6
2  Northern Ireland 2 4 1 0 3 7 8 −1
3  Greece 2 4 1 0 3 3 8 −5





West Germany qualified.

UEFA Group 4

Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
1  Hungary 7 4 3 1 0 11 5 +6
2  Netherlands 2 3 0 2 1 4 7 −3
3  East Germany 1 3 0 1 2 3 6 −3





Hungary qualified.

UEFA Group 5

Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
1  Soviet Union 8 4 4 0 0 11 3 +8
2  Turkey 4 4 2 0 2 4 4 0
3  Norway 0 4 0 0 4 3 11 −8





Soviet Union qualified.

UEFA Group 6

Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
1  England 7 4 3 1 0 16 2 +14
2  Portugal 3 4 1 1 2 9 7 +2
3  Luxembourg 2 4 1 0 3 5 21 −16





England qualified.

UEFA Group 7

First round

Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
1  Israel 3 2 1 1 0 7 2 +5
2  Cyprus 1 2 0 1 1 2 7 −5

Israel advanced to the Second Round.

Second round

Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
1  Italy advanced
 Romania withdrew

Romania withdrew, so Italy advanced to the Final Round automatically.

Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
1  Israel 4 2 2 0 0 4 2 +2
2  Ethiopia 0 2 0 0 2 2 4 −2

Israel advanced to the Final Round.

Final round

Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
1  Italy 4 2 2 0 0 10 2 +8
2  Israel 0 2 0 0 2 2 10 −8

Italy qualified.

UEFA Group 8

Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
1=  Czechoslovakia 6 4 3 0 1 16 5 +11
1=  Scotland 6 4 3 0 1 10 7 +3
3  Republic of Ireland 0 4 0 0 4 3 17 −14





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

Czechoslovakia qualified.

UEFA Group 9

Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
1  Spain 3 2 1 1 0 3 2 +1
2  Wales 1 2 0 1 1 2 3 −1

Spain advanced to the UEFA / CAF Intercontinental Play-off.

UEFA Group 10

Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
1  Yugoslavia 3 2 1 1 0 3 2 +1
2  Poland 1 2 0 1 1 2 3 −1

Yugoslavia advanced to the UEFA / AFC Intercontinental Play-off.

South America

Among the 7 teams, Paraguay were drawn to play in the CONMEBOL / CCCF / NAFC Intercontinental Play-off. The remaining 6 teams were divided into 3 groups of 2 teams each. The teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winners would qualify.

CONMEBOL Group 1

Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
1  Argentina 4 2 2 0 0 11 3 +8
2  Ecuador 0 2 0 0 2 3 11 −8

Argentina qualified.

CONMEBOL Group 2

Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
1  Uruguay 3 2 1 1 0 3 2 +1
2  Bolivia 1 2 0 1 1 2 3 −1

Uruguay qualified.

CONMEBOL Group 3

Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
1  Colombia 3 2 1 1 0 2 1 +1
2  Peru 1 2 0 1 1 1 2 −1

Colombia qualified.

North, Central America and Caribbean

There would be two rounds of play:

CCCF/NAFC First Round

Group 1

Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
1  Mexico 3 2 1 1 0 6 3 +3
2  United States 1 2 0 1 1 3 6 −3
 Canada withdrew

Mexico advanced to the Final Round.

Group 2

Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
1=  Costa Rica 5 4 2 1 1 13 8 +5
1=  Honduras 5 4 2 1 1 5 7 −2
3  Guatemala 2 4 0 2 2 7 10 −3





Costa Rica and Honduras finished level on points, and a play-off on neutral ground was played to decide who would advance to the Final Round.

Costa Rica advanced to the Final Round.

Group 3

Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
1  Netherlands Antilles 3 2 1 1 0 2 1 +1
2  Dutch Guiana 1 2 0 1 1 1 2 −1

Netherlands Antilles advanced to the Final Round.

CCCF/NAFC Final Round

Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
1  Mexico 5 4 2 1 1 11 2 +9
2  Costa Rica 4 4 2 0 2 8 6 +2
3  Netherlands Antilles 3 4 1 1 2 2 13 −11





Mexico advanced to the CONMEBOL/CCCF/NAFC Intercontinental Play-off.

Africa

There would be two rounds of play:

CAF First Round

Group 1

Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
 United Arab Republic withdrew
 Sudan withdrew

United Arab Republic and Sudan both withdrew as FIFA refused to allow them to rearrange their games to avoid the monsoon season.[1]

Group 2

Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
1=  Morocco 2 2 1 0 1 3 3 0
1=  Tunisia 2 2 1 0 1 3 3 0

Morocco and Tunisia finished level on points, and a play-off on neutral ground was played to decide who would advance to the Final Round.

Morocco advanced to the Final Round by winning a coin toss.

Group 3

Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
1  Ghana 3 2 1 1 0 6 3 +3
2  Nigeria 1 2 0 1 1 3 6 −3

Ghana advanced to the Final Round.

CAF Final Round

Only 2 teams competed due to the withdrawals of both teams in Group 1.

Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
1  Morocco 3 2 1 1 0 1 0 +1
2  Ghana 1 2 0 1 1 0 1 −1

Morocco advanced to the UEFA/CAF Intercontinental Play-off.

Asia

There would be only one round of play. The 3 teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winner would advance to the UEFA/AFC Intercontinental Play-off.

AFC Final Round

Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
1  South Korea 4 2 2 0 0 4 1 +3
2  Japan 0 2 0 0 2 1 4 −3
 Indonesia withdrew

Korea Republic advanced to the UEFA/AFC Intercontinental Play-off.

Intercontinental Play-offs

In each play-off, the teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The winners would qualify.

UEFA/CAF Intercontinental Play-off

Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
1  Spain 4 2 2 0 0 4 2 +2
2  Morocco 0 2 0 0 2 2 4 −2

Spain qualified.

UEFA/AFC Intercontinental Play-off

Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
1  Yugoslavia 4 2 2 0 0 8 2 +6
2  South Korea 0 2 0 0 2 2 8 −6

Yugoslavia qualified.

CONMEBOL/CCCF/NAFC Intercontinental Play-off

Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
1  Mexico 3 2 1 1 0 1 0 +1
2  Paraguay 1 2 0 1 1 0 1 −1

Mexico qualified.

Qualified teams


Team Finals Appearance Streak Last Appearance
 Argentina 4th 2 1958
 Brazil (c) 7th 7 1958
 Bulgaria 1st 1
 Chile (h) 3rd 1 1950
 Colombia 1st 1
 Czechoslovakia 5th 3 1958
 England 4th 4 1958
 Hungary 5th 3 1958
 Italy 5th 1 1954
 Mexico 5th 4 1958
 Spain 3rd 1 1950
 Switzerland 5th 1 1954
 Uruguay 4th 1 1954
 Soviet Union 2nd 2 1958
 West Germany 5th 3 1958
 Yugoslavia 5th 4 1958

(h) - qualified automatically as host nation

(c) - qualified automatically as defending champions

Notes

References

  1. ^ Netherlands v. East Germany was not played as due to visa problems; the East German players were not allowed to enter the Netherlands. Hungary was already de-facto qualified with three wins, and no other date was arranged.
  2. ^ FIFA awarded Honduras a 2-0 win because Guatemala forfeited.

External links