1950 FIFA World Cup qualification

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1950 FIFA World Cup Qualification
Tournament details
Teams 36 (from 3 confederations)
Tournament statistics
Matches played 27
Goals scored 130 (4.81 per match)
← 1938
1954 →

A total of 34 teams entered the qualification rounds of the 1950 FIFA World Cup, 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 to 9 – The Americas: 6 places, contested by 10 teams.
  • Group 10 – Asia: 1 place, contested by 4 teams.

However, due to the withdrawals of India, Scotland and Turkey 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 27 qualifying matches were played, and 130 goals were scored (an average of 4.81 per match).

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

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:
    • 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.

Group 1

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See also: 1949–50 British Home Championship
Rank Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1  England 3 3 0 0 14 3 +11 6
2  Scotland 3 2 0 1 10 3 +7 4
3=  Wales 3 0 1 2 1 6 −5 1
3=  Ireland (IFA) 3 0 1 2 4 17 −13 1

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

Group 2

First round

Rank Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1  Turkey 1 1 0 0 7 0 +7 2
2  Syria 1 0 0 1 0 7 −7 0

Syria withdrew, and remaining match was not played.

Turkey advanced to the Final Round.

Final round

Rank Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
—  Turkey qualified, later withdrew
—  Austria withdrew

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.

Group 3

First round

Rank Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1  Yugoslavia 2 2 0 0 11 2 +9 4
2  Israel 2 0 0 2 2 11 −9 0

Yugoslavia advanced to the Final Round.

Final round

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

France 2–2 Yugoslavia on aggregate, and a play-off on neutral ground was played to decide who would qualify.

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

Group 4

First round

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

Switzerland advanced to the Final Round.

Final round

Belgium withdrew, so Switzerland qualified automatically.

Group 5

Rank Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1  Sweden 3 3 0 0 14 3 +11 6
2  Ireland (FAI) 4 1 1 2 6 7 −1 3
3  Finland 3 0 1 2 2 12 −10 1

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

Group 6

Rank Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 23x15px Spain 2 1 1 0 7 3 +4 3
2  Portugal 2 0 1 1 3 7 −4 1

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

Group 7

Argentina withdrew, so Bolivia and Chile qualified automatically.

Group 8

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

Group 9

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See also: 1949 NAFC Championship
Rank Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1  Mexico 4 4 0 0 17 2 +15 8
2  United States 4 1 1 2 8 15 −7 3
3  Cuba 4 0 1 3 3 11 −8 1

Mexico and the United States qualified.

Group 10

Burma, Indonesia and the Philippines all withdrew, so India qualified automatically. But India later also withdrew "because of the expense of travelling such a long way to play"[2] (or, according to some reports, after a FIFA ruling that players were not allowed to play barefoot[3]), and FIFA decided not to invite anyone else, leaving the World Cup three teams short.

However, another opinion about this was reported in an article of The Los Angeles Times in 2011. AIFF (the All India Football Federation) could not send their team from South Asia to South America due to financial problems, and wanted to concentrate its resources to attend the Olympics, which was regarded as more important.[4]

Qualified teams

FIFA World Cup qualification 1950
Participating countries after 3 of the 16 qualifying countries withdrew.
Team Finals appearance Streak Last appearance
 Bolivia 2nd 1 1930
23x15px 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
23x15px Spain 2nd 1 1934
 Scotland 1st 1 –
 Sweden 3rd 3 1938
  Switzerland 3rd 3 1938
 Turkey 1st 1 –
 United States 3rd 1 1934
 Uruguay 2nd 1 1930
 Yugoslavia 2nd 1 1930
  •  India,  Scotland and  Turkey withdrew after qualifying.
  • (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,[5] 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.
  • Myanmar, the Philippines and Indonesia all withdrew, so India qualified automatically. However, India withdrew later following a FIFA ruling that players were not allowed to play barefoot. India had never been able to qualify for the World Cup before and have never been able to do since then, which means they are the only team to have qualified for the World Cup and that never played a World Cup match.

References

  1. ↑ Invitation to World Cup turned down www.independent.ie, February 22, 2004
  2. ↑ "World Cup: US v England match recalls 1950 upset", BBC, June 2, 2010
  3. ↑ [1]
  4. ↑ "Did India withdraw from the 1950 World Cup because they were not allowed to play barefoot?", LA times, July 19, 2011, now in web archives.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. pp. 50.

External links

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