1954 FIFA World Cup qualification explained

Tourney Name:	1954 FIFA World Cup Qualification
Num Teams:	37
Confederations:	3
Matches:	57
Goals:	208
Top Scorer:	Max Morlock (6 goals)
Prevseason:	1950
Nextseason:	1958

A total of 37 teams entered the 1954 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds, competing for a total of 16 spots in the final tournament. Switzerland, as the hosts, and Uruguay, as the defending champions, qualified automatically, leaving 14 spots open for competition.

37 teams were divided into 13 groups, based on geographical considerations, as follows:

• Groups 1 to 10 – Europe: 11 places, contested by 27 teams (including Egypt and Israel).
• Group 11 and 12 – The Americas: 2 places, contested by 7 teams.
• Group 13 – Asia: 1 place, contested by 3 teams.

A total of 33 teams played at least one qualifying match. A total of 57 qualifying matches were played, and 208 goals were scored (an average of 3.65 per match).

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

Groups

The 13 groups had different rules, as follows:

• Groups 1, 2, 4, 7, 8, and 10 had 3 teams each. The teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winners would qualify.
• Groups 5, 6 and 9 had 2 teams each. The teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winners would qualify.
• Group 3 had 4 teams. The teams played against each other once. The group winner and runner-up would qualify.
• Group 11 had 4 teams. The teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winner would qualify.
• Group 12 had 3 teams. The teams played against each other twice. The group winner would qualify.
• Group 13 had 3 teams. After Republic of China withdrew before the matches began, the remaining 2 teams played against each other twice. The group winner would qualify.

Group 1

See main article: 1954 FIFA World Cup qualification Group 1.

width=30	Pos.	width=165	Team	width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20
1		4	3	1	0	12	3	+9	7
2		4	1	1	2	4	8	−4	3
3		4	0	2	2	4	9	−5	2

--------------------

West Germany qualified.

Group 2

See main article: 1954 FIFA World Cup qualification Group 2.

width=30	Pos.	width=165	Team	width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20
1		4	3	1	0	11	6	+5	7
2		4	1	1	2	9	8	+1	3
3		4	0	2	2	7	13	−6	2

---- ---- ---- ---- ----

Belgium qualified. This was the first time Sweden failed to qualify.

Group 3

See main article: 1953–54 British Home Championship.

This group was also the 1953–54 British Home Championship.

width=30	Pos.	width=165	Team	width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20
1		3	3	0	0	11	4	+7	6
2		3	1	1	1	8	8	0	3
3		3	1	0	2	4	7	−3	2
4		3	0	1	2	5	9	−4	1

---- ---- ---- ---- ----

England and Scotland qualified.

Group 4

See main article: 1954 FIFA World Cup qualification Group 4.

width=30	Pos.	width=165	Team	width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20
1		4	4	0	0	20	4	+16	8
2		4	2	0	2	8	6	+2	4
3		4	0	0	4	1	19	−18	0

---- ---- ---- ---- ----

France qualified.

Group 5

See main article: 1954 FIFA World Cup qualification Group 5.

width=30	Pos.	width=165	Team	width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20
1		2	1	1	0	9	1	+8	3
2		2	0	1	1	1	9	−8	1

----

Austria qualified.

Group 6

See main article: 1954 FIFA World Cup qualification Group 6.

width=30	Pos.	width=165	Team	width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20
1		2	1	0	1	4	2	+2	2
		2	1	0	1	2	4	−2	2

----

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

Luigi Franco Gemma, a 14-year-old Italian boy whose father worked at the stadium, picked Turkey's name from the lots with his eyes blindfolded.^{[1] [2]} Since the 1970 FIFA World Cup finals, goal difference has been used as a tiebreaker for future qualifying rounds. Had those rules been in place, Spain would have qualified, and Turkey would have been eliminated. This is the first time Spain failed to qualify.Therefore, Turkey qualified. This was the only time winner of aggregate score failed to qualify.

Group 7

width=30	Pos.	width=165	Team	width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20
1		Qualified
—		Withdrew
—		Entry rejected

Poland withdrew and Iceland had their entry rejected so Hungary qualified automatically.

Group 8

width=30	Pos.	width=165	Team	width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20
1		4	3	1	0	5	1	+4	7
2		4	2	0	2	5	5	0	4
3		4	0	1	3	3	7	−4	1

---- ---- ---- ---- ----

Czechoslovakia qualified. This was the first time Romania failed to qualify.

Group 9

See main article: 1954 FIFA World Cup qualification Group 9.

width=30	Pos.	width=165	Team	width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20
1		2	2	0	0	7	2	+5	4
2		2	0	0	2	2	7	−5	0

----

Italy qualified.

Group 10

See main article: 1954 FIFA World Cup qualification Group 10.

width=30	Pos.	width=165	Team	width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20
1		4	4	0	0	4	0	+4	8
2		4	2	0	2	3	2	+1	4
3		4	0	0	4	0	5	−5	0

---- ---- ---- ---- ----

Yugoslavia qualified.

Group 11

width=30	Pos.	width=165	Team	width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20
1		4	4	0	0	8	1	+7	8
2		4	2	0	2	8	6	+2	4
3		4	0	0	4	1	10	−9	0
—		Withdrew
—		Entry rejected

---- ---- ---- ---- ----

Brazil qualified. Despite having participated in every World Cup, this was the first time they played qualifying matches.

Group 12

width=30	Pos.	width=165	Team	width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20
1		4	4	0	0	19	1	+18	8
2		4	2	0	2	7	9	−2	4
3		4	0	0	4	2	18	−16	0
4		Entry rejected
5		Entry rejected

---- ---- ---- ---- ----

Mexico qualified.

Group 13

See main article: 1954 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC – Group 13).

width=30	Pos.	width=165	Team	width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20
1		2	1	1	0	7	3	+4	3
2		2	0	1	1	3	7	−4	1
3		Withdrew
4		Entry rejected
5		Entry rejected

----

South Korea qualified.

Qualified teams

width=200	Team	width=120	Date of qualification	width=80	Finals appearance	width=50	Streak	width=80	Last appearance
	29 November 1953	3rd	1	1938
	8 October 1953	4th	1	1938
	21 March 1954	5th	5	1950
	25 October 1953	3rd	1	1938
	11 November 1953	2nd	2	1950
	25 November 1953	4th	1	1938
(w)		3rd	1	1938
	24 January 1954	4th	4	1950
	14 March 1954	1st	1	—
	14 January 1954	3rd	2	1950
	31 March 1954	1st	1	—
(h)	22 July 1946	4th	4	1950
	17 March 1954	1st	1	—
(c)	16 July 1950	3rd	2	1950
	28 March 1954	3rd	1	1938
	28 March 1954	3rd	2	1950

(h) – qualified automatically as hosts

(c) – qualified automatically as defending champions

(w) – qualified automatically because Poland withdrew

Goalscorers

6 goals

• Max Morlock

5 goals

• Erich Probst
• Baltazar
• Tomás Balcázar

4 goals

• Henri Coppens
• José Luis Lamadrid
• Nils-Åke Sandell
• Bill Looby

3 goals

• František Vlk
• Nat Lofthouse
• Kalevi Lehtovirta
• Just Fontaine
• Pedro Arnauda
• Manuel Lugo
• Choi Chung-Min
• Chung Nam-Sik
• John Charles

2 goals

• Léopold Anoul
• Mathieu Bollen
• Júlio Botelho
• Harold Hassall
• Dennis Wilshaw
• Olavi Lahtinen
• Jean Desgranges
• Pierre Flamion
• Léon Glovacki
• Roger Piantoni
• Joseph Ujlaki
• Jean Vincent
• Gerard Ellie
• Arthur Fitzsimons
• Reg Ryan
• Giampiero Boniperti
• Amleto Frignani
• Toshio Iwatani
• Alfredo Torres
• Peter McParland
• José Parodi
• József Pecsovszky
• Allan Brown
• Charlie Fleming
• Burhan Sargın
• Ivor Allchurch
• Fritz Walter

1 goal

• Robert Dienst
• Ernst Happel
• Ernst Ocwirk
• Theodor Wagner
• Victor Lemberechts
• Victor Mees
• Jean-Louis Straetmans
• Maurinho
• Stefan Bozhkov
• Ivan Kolev
• Dobromir Tashkov
• Ted Robledo
• Emil Pažický
• František Šafránek
• Ad-Diba
• Alaa El-Hamouly
• Ronnie Allen
• Ivor Broadis
• Jimmy Mullen
• Johnny Nicholls
• Nils Rikberg
• Jorma Vaihela
• Raymond Cicci
• Jacques Foix
• Édouard Kargu
• Raymond Kopa
• Armand Penverne
• Thanasis Bembis
• Georgios Kamaras
• Dimitris Kokkinakis
• George Cummins
• Tommy Eglington
• Frank O'Farrell
• Davy Walsh
• Ermes Muccinelli
• Egisto Pandolfini
• Eduardo Ricagni
• Ken Naganuma
• Antoine Kohn
• Rafael Ávalos
• Gregorio Gómez
• José Naranjo
• Nicolás Tellez
• Norman Lockhart
• Eddie McMorran
• Knut Dahlen
• Harald Hennum
• Hans Nordahl
• Gunnar Thoresen
• Ireneo Hermosilla
• Eulogio Martínez
• Silvio Parodi
• José Águas
• Valeriu Călinoiu
• Alexandru Ene
• Gavril Serfözö
• Herbert Binkert
• Herbert Martin
• Werner Otto
• Gerhard Siedl
• Jackie Henderson
• Bobby Johnstone
• Willie Ormond
• Lawrence Reilly
• Choi Kwang-Suk
• Rafael Alsua
• José Artetxe
• Adrián Escudero
• Agustín Gaínza
• Miguel González
• Venancio García
• Bengt Berndtsson
• Hans Persson
• Gösta Sandberg
• Herbert Sandin
• Arne Selmosson
• Recep Adanır
• Suat Mamat
• Cornelius Casey
• Efrain Chacurian
• Ruben Mendoza
• Helmut Rahn
• Horst Schade
• Hans Schäfer
• Ottmar Walter
• Frane Matošić
• Miloš Milutinović
• Todor Veselinović
• Branko Zebec

1 own goal

• William Scheppel (playing against Mexico)

Notes

• Turkey qualified via the drawing of lots, after they and Spain finished level on points in Group 6 and a drawn play-off match in Rome.
• For the first time, qualification matches were actually played in South America; in the four previous World Cups, the South American teams qualified automatically due to withdrawals (in the case of 1934) or through the South American Football Championship (for the 1938 and 1950 tournaments), while there was no qualifying process in 1930. Argentina did not take part in the qualification process.
• As the French-occupied Saarland protectorate did not become part of Germany until 1957, the Saarland national team entered their only World Cup competition and actually had to play Germany in the qualifiers.
• The entries of Bolivia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Iceland, India and South Vietnam were rejected by FIFA.^[3]
• After being banned from the 1950 tournament following the Second World War, Germany and Japan were both allowed to play again. West Germany qualified and became champions after defeating Hungary with a score of 3–2 in the final that became known as the Miracle of Bern.

External links

• FIFA World Cup Official Site – 1954 World Cup Qualification
• RSSSF – 1954 World Cup Qualification

Notes and References

1. Web site: Play-off history provides no clues for Spain. 20 Oct 2005. FIFA. 2 November 2017. 21 October 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171021005325/http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/news/y=2005/m=10/news=play-off-history-provides-clues-for-spain-37037.html. dead.
2. News: Rogers. Iain. Don't mention the draw!. Reuters. 27 March 2009. 20 October 2017. 15 November 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201115052022/http://blogs.reuters.com/soccer/2009/03/27/dont-mention-the-draw/. dead.
3. Web site: History of the FIFA World Cup Preliminary Competition (by year). FIFA. 20 June 2014. 9 July 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140709172018/http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/fifafacts/mcwc/ip-fwc_preliminaryhistory%28byyear%29_36285.pdf#page=10. dead.