1950 FIFA World Cup qualification

A total of 34 teams entered the 1950 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds, competing for a total of 16 spots in the final tournament.
goals1 =
goals2 = Roy Bentley
stadium = Hampden Park, Glasgow

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 - fb|YUG 3 - 2 (aet) fb|FRA

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

Group 4

First round

June 26, 1949, Zurich, Switzerland - fb|SUI 5 - 2 fb|LUX

September 18, 1949, Luxembourg, Luxembourg - fb|LUX 2 - 3 fb|SUI

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

Group 7

fb|ARG|alt withdrew, so fb|CHI and fb|BOL qualified automatically.

Group 8

fb|PER and fb|ECU both withdrew, so fb|URU and fb|PAR qualified automatically.

Group 9

----footballbox | date = September 11, 1949
team1 = fb|MEX |score = 2-0|report= (Report) |team2 = fb|CUB |goals1 = Luis Luna 26’
Horacio Casarín 57’|goals2 = |stadium = Mexico City
Attendance:
Referee: Prudencio García (USA)----footballbox | date = September 14, 1949
team1 = fb|CUB |score = 1-1|report= (Report) |team2 = fb|USA |goals1 = José Gómez 28’ |goals2 = Frank Wallace 23’ |stadium = Estadío de los Deportes
Attendance: 8,000
Referee: ----footballbox | date = September 18, 1949
team1 = fb|MEX |score = 6-2|report= (Report) |team2 = fb|USA |goals1 = Héctor Ortíz 14’
Horacio Casarín 23’, 41’, 76’
Luis de la Fuente 47’
Mario Ochoa 89’ |goals2 = John Souza 52’
Ben Wattman 90’ |stadium = Estadío de los Deportes
Attendance: 54,500
Referee: José Tapia (Cuba)----footballbox | date = September 21, 1949
team1 = fb|USA |score = 5-2|report= (Report) |team2 = fb|CUB |goals1 = Walter Bahr 16’
John Souza 23’
Pete Matevich 30’, 35’
Frank Wallace 48’|goals2 = Jacinto Barquin 42’
Santiago Veiga 50’|stadium = Estadío de los Deportes
Attendance: 60,000
Referee: José Tapia (Cuba)----footballbox | date = September 25, 1949
team1 = fb|MEX |score = 3-0|report= (Report) |team2 = fb|CUB |goals1 = José Naranjo 44’, 88’
Antonio Flores 58’ |goals2 = |stadium = Estadío de los Deportes
Attendance:
Referee: Prudencio García (USA)

Mexico and USA qualified.

Group 10

flagicon|Burma Burma, fb|PHI and fb|IDN all withdrew, so fb|IND 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.

Qualified teams

(h) - qualified automatically as hosts

(c) - qualified automatically as defending champions

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.

References

External links

* [http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/p/pwc/q/1950.html FIFA World Cup Official Site - 1950 World Cup Qualification]
* [http://www.rsssf.com/tables/50q.html RSSSF - 1950 World Cup Qualification]