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A total of 75 teams entered the 1970 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds, competing for a total of
16 spots in the final tournament. Mexico, as the hosts, and England, as the defending
champions, qualified automatically, leaving 14 spots open for competition.
For the first time, the winners of both the African zone and the Asian and Oceanian zone were
guaranteed a direct place in the final tournament. The 16 spots available in the 1970 World Cup would
be distributed among the continental zones as follows:
Europe (UEFA): 9 places, 1 of them went to automatic qualifier England, while the other 8
places were contested by 30 teams.
South America (CONMEBOL): 3 places, contested by 10 teams.
North, Central America and Caribbean (CONCACAF): 2 places, 1 of them went to automatic
qualifier Mexico, while the other 1 place was contested by 13 teams.
Africa (CAF): 1 place, contested by 13 teams.
Asia (AFC) and Oceania (OFC): 1 place, contested by 7 teams (including Rhodesia).
A total of 68 teams played at least one qualifying match. A total of 172 qualifying matches were
played, and 542 goals were scored (an average of 3.15 per match).
Listed below are the dates and results of the qualification rounds.
[edit] Europe
FIFA rejected the entry of Albania. The remaining 29 teams were divided into 8 groups of 3 or 4
teams each (three groups with 3 teams and five groups with 4 teams). The teams would play against
each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winners would qualify.
1 Romania 8 6 3 2 1 7 6
2 Greece 7 6 2 3 1 13 9
3 Switzerland 5 6 2 1 3 5 8
4 Portugal 4 6 1 2 3 8 10
Romania qualified.
1= Czechoslovakia 9 6 4 1 1 12 6
1= Hungary 9 6 4 1 1 16 7
3 Denmark 5 6 2 1 3 6 10
4 Republic of Ireland 1 6 0 1 5 3 14
Czechoslovakia and Hungary finished level on points, and a play-off on neutral ground was played to
decide who would qualify.
Czechoslovakia qualified.
March 29, 1969, Berlin, East Germany - East Germany 2 - 2 Italy
April 16, 1969, Dresden, East Germany - East Germany 2 - 1 Wales
2 East Germany 5 4 2 1 1 7 7
3 Wales 0 4 0 0 4 3 10
Italy qualified.
October 23, 1968, Belfast, Northern Ireland - Northern Ireland 4 - 1 Turkey
September 10, 1969, Belfast, Northern Ireland - Northern Ireland 0 - 0 USSR
1 USSR 7 4 3 1 0 8 1
2 Northern Ireland 5 4 2 1 1 7 3
3 Turkey 0 4 0 0 4 2 13
USSR qualified.
1 Sweden 6 4 3 0 1 12 5
2 France 4 4 2 0 2 6 4
3 Norway 2 4 1 0 3 4 13
Sweden qualified.
2 Yugoslavia 7 6 3 1 2 19 7
3 Spain 6 6 2 2 2 10 6
4 Finland 2 6 1 0 5 6 28
Belgium qualified.
May 10, 1969, Nuremberg, West Germany - West Germany 1 - 0 Austria
May 21, 1969, Essen, West Germany - West Germany 12 - 0 Cyprus
October 22, 1969, Hamburg, West Germany - West Germany 3 - 2 Scotland
1 West Germany 11 6 5 1 0 20 3
2 Scotland 7 6 3 1 2 18 7
3 Austria 6 6 3 0 3 12 7
4 Cyprus 0 6 0 0 6 2 35
1 Bulgaria 9 6 4 1 1 12 7
2 Poland 8 6 4 0 2 19 8
3 Netherlands 7 6 3 1 2 9 5
4 Luxembourg 0 6 0 0 6 4 24
Bulgaria qualified.
1 Peru 5 4 2 1 1 7 4
2 Bolivia 4 4 2 0 2 5 6
3 Argentina 3 4 1 1 2 4 6
Peru qualified.
1 Brazil 12 6 6 0 0 23 2
2 Paraguay 8 6 4 0 2 6 5
3 Colombia 3 6 1 1 4 7 12
4 Venezuela 1 6 0 1 5 1 18
Brazil qualified.
1 Uruguay 7 4 3 1 0 5 0
2 Chile 4 4 1 2 1 5 4
3 Ecuador 1 4 0 1 3 2 8
Uruguay qualified.
First Round: The remaining 12 teams were divided into 4 groups of 3 teams each. The
teams would play against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winners would
advance to the Semifinal Round.
Semifinal Round: The 4 teams were paired up to play knockout matches on a home-and-
away basis. The winners would advance to the Final Round.
Final Round: The 2 teams would play against each other on a home-and-away basis. The
winner would qualify.
[edit] Group 1
1 USA 6 4 3 0 1 11 6
2 Canada 5 4 2 1 1 8 3
3 Bermuda 1 4 0 1 3 2 12
[edit] Group 2
All home matches of Trinidad and Tobago were played away instead.
November 17, 1968, Guatemala City, Guatemala - Guatemala 4 - 0 Trinidad and Tobago
November 20, 1968, Guatemala City, Guatemala - Trinidad and Tobago 0 - 0 Guatemala
November 23, 1968, Port au Prince, Haiti - Trinidad and Tobago 0 - 4 Haiti
November 25, 1968, Port au Prince, Haiti - Haiti 2 - 4 Trinidad and Tobago
1 Haiti 5 4 2 1 1 9 5
2 Guatemala 4 4 1 2 1 5 3
[edit] Group 3
November 27, 1968, San José, Costa Rica - Costa Rica 3 - 0 Jamaica
December 1, 1968, San José, Costa Rica - Jamaica 1 - 3 Costa Rica
December 29, 1968, San José, Costa Rica - Costa Rica 1 - 1 Honduras
1 Honduras 7 4 3 1 0 7 2
2 Costa Rica 5 4 2 1 1 7 3
3 Jamaica 0 4 0 0 4 2 11
[edit] Group 4
November 24, 1968, Paramaribo, Dutch Guyana - Dutch Guiana 6 - 0 Netherlands Antilles
December 1, 1968, San Salvador, El Salvador - El Salvador 6 - 0 Dutch Guiana
December 5, 1968, Oranjestad, Netherlands Antilles - Netherlands Antilles 2 - 0 Dutch Guiana
December 12, 1968, San Salvador, El Salvador - El Salvador 1 - 0 Netherlands Antilles
December 15, 1968, San Salvador, El Salvador - Netherlands Antilles 1 - 2 El Salvador
December 22, 1968, Paramaribo, Dutch Guyana - Dutch Guiana 4 - 1 El Salvador
1 El Salvador 6 4 3 0 1 10 5
2 Dutch Guiana 4 4 2 0 2 10 9
3 Netherlands Antilles 2 4 1 0 3 3 9
El Salvador advanced to the Semifinal Round.
[edit] Group 1
1 Haiti 4 2 2 0 0 3 0
2 USA 0 2 0 0 2 0 3
[edit] Group 2
June 15, 1969, San Salvador, El Salvador - El Salvador 3 - 0 Honduras
1= El Salvador 2 2 1 0 1 3 1
1= Honduras 2 2 1 0 1 1 3
El Salvador and Honduras finished level on points, and a play-off on neutral ground was played to
decide who would advance to the Final Round.
June 26, 1969, Mexico City, Mexico - El Salvador 3 - 2 (aet) Honduras
September 21, 1969, Port au Prince, Haiti - Haiti 1 - 2 El Salvador
September 28, 1969, San Salvador, El Salvador - El Salvador 0 - 3 Haiti
Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA
1= El Salvador 2 2 1 0 1 2 4
1= Haiti 2 2 1 0 1 4 2
El Salvador and Haiti finished level on points, and a play-off on neutral ground was played to decide
who would qualify.
El Salvador qualified.
[edit] Africa
FIFA rejected the entries of Guinea and Zaire. There would be three rounds of play:
First Round: Ghana received a bye and advanced to the Second Round directly. The
remaining 10 teams were paired up to play knockout matches on a home-and-away basis.
The winners (determined by aggregate score) would advance to the Second Round.
Second Round: The 6 teams were paired up to play knockout matches on a home-and-
away basis. The winners would advance to the Final Round.
Final Round: The 3 teams would play against each other on a home-and-away basis. The
group winner would qualify.
The aggregate score was tied 2-2, and since extra time was not played in the second match, a play-off
on neutral ground was played to decide who would advance to the Second Round.
The aggregate score was tied 6-6, but Sudan advanced to the Second Round since they scored more
goals in the second match.
The aggregate score was tied 0-0, and a play-off on neutral ground was played to decide who would
advance to the Final Round.
1 Morocco 5 4 2 1 1 5 3
2 Nigeria 4 4 1 2 1 8 7
3 Sudan 3 4 0 3 1 5 8
Morocco qualified.
First Round: Israel, New Zealand and Rhodesia received byes and advanced to the
Second Round directly. The remaining 3 teams, Australia, Japan and South Korea, would
play against each other twice in South Korea. The group winner would advance to the
Second Round.
Second Round: The 4 teams were divided into 2 groups of 2 teams each. The teams
would play against each other twice. The group winners would advance to the Final Round.
Final Round: The 2 teams would play against each other on a home-and-away basis. The
winner would qualify.
October 12, 1969, Seoul, South Korea - Japan 2 - 2 Korea Republic
October 14, 1969, Seoul, South Korea - Australia 2 - 1 Korea Republic
October 18, 1969, Seoul, South Korea - Korea Republic 2 - 0 Japan
October 20, 1969, Seoul, South Korea - Korea Republic 1 - 1 Australia
Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA
1 Australia 6 4 2 2 0 7 4
2 Korea Republic 4 4 1 2 1 6 5
3 Japan 2 4 0 2 2 4 8
[edit] Group 1
Both matches were played on neutral ground due to the boycott of Rhodesia.
1= Australia 2 2 0 2 0 1 1
1= Rhodesia 2 2 0 2 0 1 1
Australia and Rhodesia finished level on points, and a play-off was played to decide who would
advance to the Final Round.
[edit] Group 2
September 28, 1969, Ramat Gan, Israel - Israel 4 - 0 New Zealand
1 Israel 4 2 2 0 0 6 0
2 New Zealand 0 2 0 0 2 0 6
1 Israel 3 2 1 1 0 2 1
2 Australia 1 2 0 1 1 1 2
Israel qualified.
Qualifying countries
Finals Last
Team Streak
Appearance Appearance
Israel 1st 1 -
Morocco 1st 1 -