1950 FIFA World Cup qualification

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A total of 34 teams entered the 1950 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds, 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 and 8 - South America: 4 places, contested by 7 teams.
 Group 9 - North, Central America and Caribbean: 2 places, contested by 3 teams.
 Group 10 - Asia: 1 place, contested by 4 teams.

However, due to the withdrawals of  Scotland,  Turkey and  India 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 26 qualifying matches were played,
and 121 goals were scored (an average of 4.65 per match).

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

[edit] Groups
The 10 groups had different rules, as follows:

 Group 1 had 4 teams. The teams would play 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:
o First Round: The seeded team received a bye and advanced to the Final Round
directly. The unseeded teams would play against each other on a home-and-away
basis. The winner would advance to the Final Round.
o Final Round: The seeded team would play against the winner of the First Round on
a home-and-away basis. The winner would qualify.
 Group 5 had 3 teams. The teams would play against each other on a home-and-away
basis. The group winner would qualify.
 Group 6 had 2 teams. The teams would play 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 would play against each other twice. The group winner
and runner-up would qualify.
 Group 10 had 4 teams. The group winner would qualify.
[edit] Group 1

This group was also the 1949-1950 British Home Championship.

October 1, 1949, Belfast, Northern Ireland -  Northern Ireland 2 - 8  Scotland

October 15, 1949, Cardiff, Wales -  Wales 1 - 4  England

November 9, 1949, Glasgow, Scotland -  Scotland 2 - 0  Wales

November 16, 1949, Manchester, England -  England 9 - 2  Northern Ireland

March 8, 1950, Wrexham, Wales -  Wales 0 - 0  Northern Ireland

April 15, 1950, Glasgow, Scotland -  Scotland 0 - 1  England

Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA

1  England 6 3 3 0 0 14 3

2  Scotland 4 3 2 0 1 10 3

3=  Northern Ireland 1 3 0 1 2 4 17

3=  Wales 1 3 0 1 2 1 6

England qualified. Scotland also qualified, but withdrew as they had previously decided to participate
only if they finished top of the group. FIFA offered the place to  France, the runner-up of Group 3.
They initially accepted, but later declined. FIFA decided not to allow anyone else to qualify, leaving
the World Cup one team short.

[edit] Group 2

[edit] First round

November 20, 1949, Ankara, Turkey -  Turkey 7 - 0 Syria

Syria withdrew, and remaining match was not played.

Turkey advanced to the Final Round.

[edit] Final round

 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.

[edit] Group 3
[edit] First round

August 21, 1949, Belgrade, Yugoslavia -  Yugoslavia 6 - 0  Israel

September 18, 1949, Tel Aviv, Israel -  Israel 2 - 5  Yugoslavia

Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA

1  Yugoslavia 4 2 2 0 0 11 2

2  Israel 0 2 0 0 2 2 11

Yugoslavia advanced to the Final Round.

[edit] Final round

October 9, 1949, Belgrade, Yugoslavia -  Yugoslavia 1 - 1  France

August 30, 1949, Paris, France -  France 1 - 1  Yugoslavia

Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA

1=  France 2 2 0 2 0 2 2

1=  Yugoslavia 2 2 0 2 0 2 2

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 -  Yugoslavia 3 - 2 (aet)  France

Yugoslavia qualified.

[edit] Group 4

[edit] First round

June 26, 1949, Zurich, Switzerland -  Switzerland 5 - 2  Luxembourg

September 18, 1949, Luxembourg, Luxembourg -  Luxembourg 2 - 3  Switzerland

Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA

1  Switzerland 4 2 2 0 0 8 4

2  Luxembourg 0 2 0 0 2 4 8
Switzerland advanced to the Final Round.

[edit] Final round

 Belgium withdrew, so  Switzerland qualified automatically.

[edit] Group 5

June 2, 1949, Stockholm, Sweden -  Sweden 3 - 1 Republic of Ireland

September 8, 1949, Dublin, Ireland - Republic of Ireland 3 - 0  Finland

October 9, 1949, Helsinki, Finland -  Finland 1 - 1 Republic of Ireland

November 13, 1949, Dublin, Ireland - Republic of Ireland 1 - 3  Sweden

Finland withdrew, and the remaining matches were cancelled.

Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA

1  Sweden 4 2 2 0 0 6 2

2 Republic of Ireland 3 4 1 1 2 6 7

3  Finland 1 2 0 1 1 1 4

Sweden qualified.

[edit] Group 6

April 2, 1950, Madrid, Spain - Spain 5 - 1  Portugal

April 9, 1950, Lisbon, Portugal -  Portugal 2 - 2 Spain

Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA

1 Spain 3 2 1 1 0 7 3

2  Portugal 1 2 0 1 1 3 7

Spain qualified.

[edit] Group 7

Argentina withdrew, so  Chile and  Bolivia qualified automatically.

[edit] Group 8
  Peru and  Ecuador both withdrew, so  Uruguay and  Paraguay qualified automatically.

[edit] Group 9

September 4, 1949, Mexico City, Mexico - Mexico 6 - 0 USA

September 11, 1949, Mexico City, Mexico - Mexico 2 - 0  Cuba

September 14, 1949, Mexico City, Mexico -  Cuba 1 - 1 USA

September 18, 1949, Mexico City, Mexico - Mexico 6 - 2 USA

September 21, 1949, Mexico City, Mexico - USA 5 - 2  Cuba

September 25, 1949, Mexico City, Mexico - Mexico 3 - 0  Cuba

Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA

1 Mexico 8 4 4 0 0 17 2

2 USA 3 4 1 1 2 8 15

3  Cuba 1 4 0 1 3 3 11

Mexico and USA qualified.

[edit] Group 10

Burma,  Philippines and  Indonesia all withdrew, so  India 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.

[edit] Qualified teams

Qualifying countries

Finals Last
Team Streak
Appearance Appearance
  Bolivia 2nd 1 1930

 Brazil (h) 4th 4 1938

 Chile 2nd 1 1938

 England 1st 1 -

 Italy (c) 3rd 3 1938

Mexico 2nd 1 1930

 Paraguay 2nd 1 1930

Spain 2nd 1 1934

 Sweden 3rd 3 1938

 Switzerland 3rd 3 1938

USA 3rd 1 1934

 Uruguay 2nd 1 1930

 Yugoslavia 2nd 1 1930

  India,  Scotland and  Turkey all withdrew after qualifying.

(h) - qualified automatically as hosts

(c) - qualified automatically as defending champions

[edit] Notes
 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.