1962 FIFA World Cup qualification

A total of 56 teams entered the 1962 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds, competing for a total of 16 spots in the final tournament. fb|CHI, as the hosts, and fb|BRA|1960, 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:
*Europe (UEFA): "8 direct places + 2 spots in the Intercontinental Play-offs" (against teams from CAF and AFC), contested by 30 teams (including Israel and Ethiopia).
*South America (CONMEBOL): "5 direct places + 1 spot in the Intercontinental Play-offs" (against a team from CCCF/NAFC); 2 direct places went to automatic qualifiers Chile and Brazil, while the other 3.5 places were contested by 7 teams.
*North, Central America and Caribbean (CCCF/NAFC): "1 spot in the Intercontinental Play-offs" (against a team from CONMEBOL), contested by 8 teams.
*Africa (CAF): "1 spot in the Intercontinental Play-offs" (against a team from UEFA), contested by 6 teams.
*Asia (AFC): "1 spot in the Intercontinental Play-offs" (against a team from UEFA), contested by 3 teams.

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.

Europe

The 30 teams were divided into 10 groups. The groups had different rules, as follows:
*Groups 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 8 had 3 teams each. The teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winners would qualify.
*Group 7 had 5 teams. The teams played in a knockout tournament, with matches on a home-and-away basis. The group winner would qualify.
*Group 9 had 2 teams. The teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winner would advance to the UEFA / CAF Intercontinental Play-off.
*Group 10 had 2 teams. The teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winner would advance to the UEFA / AFC Intercontinental Play-off.

UEFA Group 1

October 19, 1960, Stockholm, Sweden - fb|SWE 2 - 0 fb|BEL

November 20, 1960, Brussels, Belgium - fb|BEL 2 - 4 fb|SUI

May 20, 1961, Lausanne, Switzerland - fb|SUI 2 - 1 fb|BEL

May 28, 1961, Stockholm, Sweden - fb|SWE 4 - 0 fb|SUI

October 4, 1961, Brussels, Belgium - fb|BEL 0 - 2 fb|SWE

October 29, 1961, Berne, Switzerland - fb|SUI 3 - 2 fb|SWE

West Germany qualified.

UEFA Group 4

April 16, 1961, Budapest, Hungary - fb|HUN|1957 2 - 0 fb|GDR

April 30, 1961, Rotterdam, Netherlands - fb|NED 0 - 3 fb|HUN|1957

May 14, 1961, Leipzig, Germany - fb|GDR 1 - 1 fb|NED

September 10, 1961, East Berlin, Germany - fb|GDR 2 - 3 fb|HUN|1957

October 1, 1961, Netherlands - fb|NED vs. fb|GDR 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.

October 22, 1961, Budapest, Hungary - fb|HUN|1957 3 - 3 fb|NED

England qualified.

UEFA Group 7

First round

November 13, 1960, Nicosia, Cyprus - fb|CYP 1 - 1 fb|ISR

November 27, 1960, Ramat Gan, Israel - fb|ISR 6 - 1 fb|CYP

Italy qualified.

UEFA Group 8

May 3, 1961, Glasgow, Scotland - fb|SCO 4 - 1 fb|IRL

May 7, 1961, Dublin, Ireland - fb|IRL 0 - 3 fb|SCO

May 14, 1961, Bratislava, Czechoslovakia - fb|TCH 4 - 0 fb|SCO

September 26, 1961, Glasgow, Scotland - fb|SCO 3 - 2 fb|TCH

October 8, 1961, Dublin, Ireland - fb|IRL 1 - 3 fb|TCH

October 29, 1961, Prague, Czechoslovakia - fb|TCH 7 - 1 fb|IRL

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

outh America

Among the 7 teams, "fb|PAR" were drawn to play in the CONMEBOL / CONCACAF 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

December 4, 1960, Guayaquil, Ecuador - fb|ECU 3 - 6 fb|ARG|alt

December 18, 1960, Buenos Aires, Argentina - fb|ARG|alt 5 - 0 fb|ECU

Colombia qualified.

North, Central America and Caribbean

fb|CAN|1957 withdrew before the matches began. There would be two rounds of play:
*First Round: The remaining 7 teams were divided into 3 groups of 2 or 3 teams each (Group 1 with teams from North America, Group 2 with teams from Central America and Group 3 with teams from Caribbean). The teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winners would advance to the Final Round.
*Final Round: The 3 teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winner would advance to the CONMEBOL/CCCF/NAFC Intercontinental Play-off.

CCCF/NAFC First Round

Group 1

November 6, 1960, Los Angeles, USA - fb|USA 3 - 3 fb|MEX|1934

November 13, 1960, Mexico City, Mexico - fb|MEX|1934 3 - 0 fb|USA

"Netherlands Antilles" advanced to the Final Round.

CCCF/NAFC Final Round

March 22, 1961, San José, Costa Rica - fb|CRC 1 - 0 fb|MEX|1934

March 29, 1961, San José, Costa Rica - fb|CRC 6 - 0 fb|ANT|1959

April 5, 1961, Mexico City, Mexico - fb|MEX|1934 7 - 0 fb|ANT|1959

April 12, 1961, Mexico City, Mexico - fb|MEX|1934 4 - 1 fb|CRC

April 23, 1961, Willemstad, Netherlands Antilles - fb|ANT|1959 2 - 0 fb|CRC

May 21, 1961, Willemstad, Netherlands Antilles - fb|ANT|1959 0 - 0 fb|MEX|1934

"Ghana" advanced to the Final Round.

CAF Final Round

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

April 2, 1961, Accra, Ghana - fb|GHA 0 - 0 fb|MAR

May 28, 1961, Casablanca, Morocco - fb|MAR 1 - 0 fb|GHA

Spain qualified.

UEFA/AFC Intercontinental Play-off

October 8, 1961, Belgrade, Yugoslavia - fb|YUG 5 - 1 fb|KOR

November 26, 1961, Seoul, South Korea - fb|KOR 1 - 3 fb|YUG

(h) - qualified automatically as hosts

(c) - qualified automatically as defending champions

Notes

*For the second World Cup in a row, no teams from Africa or Asia qualified.

External links

* [http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/p/pwc/q/1962.html FIFA World Cup Official Site - 1962 World Cup Qualification]
* [http://www.rsssf.com/tables/62q.html RSSSF - 1962 World Cup Qualification]