1938 FIFA World Cup qualification



























1938 FIFA World Cup Qualification
Tournament details
Teams 37 (from 3 confederations)
Tournament statistics
Matches played 22
Goals scored 96 (4.36 per match)
Top scorer(s)
Latvia Fricis Kaņeps
Hungary Gyula Zsengellér
(5 goals each)

← 1934


1950 →


A total of 37 teams entered the 1938 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds, competing for a total of 16 spots in the final tournament. For the first time the title holders and the host country were given automatic qualification. Therefore, France, as the hosts, and Italy, as the defending champions, qualified automatically, leaving 14 spots open for competition.


Due to the Spanish Civil War, Spain withdrew from the competition. The remaining 34 teams were divided into 12 groups, based on geographical considerations, as follows:



  • Groups 1 to 9 - Europe: 11 places, contested by 23 teams (including Egypt and Palestine).

  • Groups 10 and 11 - The Americas: 2 places, contested by 9 teams.

  • Group 12 - Asia: 1 place, contested by 2 teams.


However, due to the withdrawal of Austria after qualifying (they had been annexed by Germany), only 15 teams actually competed in the final tournament. FIFA did not offer participation to the runner-up of the group that Austria had played in, Latvia.


A total of 21 teams played at least one qualifying match. A total of 22 qualifying matches were played, and 96 goals were scored (an average of 4.36 per match).




Contents






  • 1 Format


  • 2 Group 1


  • 3 Group 2


  • 4 Group 3


  • 5 Group 4


  • 6 Group 5


  • 7 Group 6


    • 7.1 First round


    • 7.2 Final round




  • 8 Group 7


  • 9 Group 8


    • 9.1 First round


    • 9.2 Final round




  • 10 Group 9


  • 11 Group 10


  • 12 Group 11


    • 12.1 First round




  • 13 Group 12


  • 14 Qualified teams


  • 15 Goalscorers


  • 16 Notes


  • 17 References


  • 18 External links





Format


The 12 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, 4, 5 and 7 had 2 teams each. The teams, except in Group 5, played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winners would qualify. In Group 5, Switzerland and Portugal were to play only one match on a neutral ground with the winner to qualify.


  • Groups 6 and 8 had 3 teams each. The strongest team of each group was seeded. There would be two rounds of play:


    • First Round: The seeded team received a bye and advanced to the Final Round directly. The remaining 2 teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The winner would advance to the Final Round.


    • Final Round: The seeded team played against the winner of the First Round at home. The winner would qualify.




  • Group 9 had 3 teams. The teams played against each other once. The group winner and runner-up would qualify.


  • Group 10 had 2 teams. The group winner would qualify.


  • Group 11 had 7 teams. The group winner would qualify.


  • Group 12 had 2 teams. The group winner would qualify.


Key:



  • Teams highlighted in green qualified for the finals.

  • Teams highlighted in Orange qualified for the final phase of their group.



Group 1
































































Rank
Team

Pld

W

D

L

GF

GA

GAv

Pts

1

 Germany
3 3 0 0 11 1 11.0
6

2

 Sweden
3 2 0 1 11 7 1.57
4

3

 Estonia
3 1 0 2 4 11 0.36
2

4

 Finland
3 0 0 3 0 7 0.00
0


Sweden  v  Finland




















Sweden  v  Estonia




















Finland  v  Germany




















Finland  v  Estonia




















Germany  v  Estonia




















Germany  v  Sweden

















Germany and Sweden qualified.



Group 2








































Rank
Team

Pld

W

D

L

GF

GA

GAv

Pts

1

 Norway
2 1 1 0 6 5 1.20
3

2

 Irish Free State
2 0 1 1 5 6 0.83
1


Norway  v  Irish Free State




















Irish Free State  v  Norway

















Norway qualified.



Group 3








































Rank
Team

Pld

W

D

L

GF

GA

GAv

Pts

1

 Poland
2 1 0 1 4 1 4.00
2

2

 Yugoslavia
2 1 0 1 1 4 0.25
2


Poland  v  Yugoslavia




















Yugoslavia  v  Poland

















Poland finished above Yugoslavia on goal average, and thus qualified.



Group 4

























Rank
Team

Pld

W

D

L

GF

GA

GD

Pts



 Romania

qualified



 Egypt

withdrew

Egypt were to play Romania on 17 December 1937, but Egypt refused to play Romania during the Ramadan month, with Egyptian officials arguing that it was "impossible" to play football during that time period.

After Egyptian officials invited Austrian club side First Vienna FC to Egypt to participate in a friendly game against the national team during the holy month, Egypt were withdrawn by FIFA, and Romania qualified automatically.[1]



Group 5








































Rank
Team

Pld

W

D

L

GF

GA

GAv

Pts

1

  Switzerland
1 1 0 0 2 1 2.00
2

2

 Portugal
1 0 0 1 1 2 0.50
0


Switzerland   v  Portugal

















Switzerland qualified.



Group 6




First round







































Rank
Team

Pld

W

D

L

GF

GA

GAv

Pts

1

 Greece
2 2 0 0 4 1 4.00
4

2

 Palestine, British Mandate
2 0 0 2 1 4 0.25
0


Palestine, British Mandate  v  Greece




















Greece  v  Palestine, British Mandate

















Greece qualified for the final round.



Final round







































Rank
Team

Pld

W

D

L

GF

GA

GAv

Pts

1

 Hungary
1 1 0 0 11 1 11.0
2

2

 Greece
1 0 0 1 1 11 0.09
0


Hungary  v  Greece

















Hungary qualified.



Group 7








































Rank
Team

Pld

W

D

L

GF

GA

GAv

Pts

1

 Czechoslovakia
2 1 1 0 7 1 7.00
3

2

 Bulgaria
2 0 1 1 1 7 0.14
1


Bulgaria  v  Czechoslovakia




















Czechoslovakia  v  Bulgaria

















Czechoslovakia qualified.



Group 8



First round







































Rank
Team

Pld

W

D

L

GF

GA

GAv

Pts

1

 Latvia
2 2 0 0 9 3 3.00
4

2

 Lithuania
2 0 0 2 3 9 0.33
0


Latvia  v  Lithuania




















Lithuania  v  Latvia

















Latvia qualified for the final round.



Final round







































Rank
Team

Pld

W

D

L

GF

GA

GAv

Pts

1

 Austria
1 1 0 0 2 1 2.00
2

2

 Latvia
1 0 0 1 1 2 0.50
0


Austria  v  Latvia

















Austria qualified, but was later incorporated by Germany during the Anschluss. FIFA offered the place to England (winner of the 1937–38 British Home Championship), who had opted not to enter the competition, but they declined the offer; FIFA decided not to allow anyone else to qualify, leaving the World Cup one team short.



Group 9



















































Pos.
Team

Pld

W

D

L

GF

GA

GAv

Pts

1

 Netherlands
2 1 1 0 5 1 5.00
3

2

 Belgium
2 1 1 0 4 3 1.33
3

3

 Luxembourg
2 0 0 2 2 7 0.29
0


Netherlands  v  Luxembourg




















Luxembourg  v  Belgium




















Belgium  v  Netherlands

















Netherlands and Belgium qualified.



Group 10

























Rank
Team

Pld

W

D

L

GF

GA

GAv

Pts

1

 Brazil

Bye

2

 Argentina

Withdrew

Argentina withdrew, so Brazil qualified automatically.



Group 11



First round






























Rank
Team

Pld

W

D

L

GF

GA

GAv

Pts

1

 Cuba

Bye

2

 Costa Rica

Withdrew

 Dutch Guiana

 El Salvador

 Colombia

 Mexico

 United States

Costa Rica, Dutch Guiana, El Salvador, Mexico, Colombia and the United States all withdrew, so Cuba qualified automatically.



Group 12

























Rank
Team

Pld

W

D

L

GF

GA

GAv

Pts

1

 Dutch East Indies

Bye

2

 Japan

Withdrew

Japan withdrew, so Dutch East Indies qualified automatically.



Qualified teams




FIFA World Cup qualification 1938




Qualifying countries









































































































Team
Finals Appearance
Streak
Last Appearance

 Austria
2nd 2
1934

 Belgium
3rd 3
1934

 Brazil
3rd 3
1934

 Cuba
1st 1

 Czechoslovakia
2nd 2
1934

 Dutch East Indies
1st 1

 France (h)
3rd 3
1934

 Germany
2nd 2
1934

 Hungary
2nd 2
1934

 Italy (c)
2nd 2
1934

 Netherlands
2nd 2
1934

 Norway
1st 1

 Poland
1st 1

 Romania
3rd 3
1934

 Sweden
2nd 2
1934

  Switzerland
2nd 2
1934



  •  Austria withdrew after qualifying due to the Anschluss.

  • (h) - qualified automatically as hosts

  • (c) - qualified automatically as defending champions


11 of the 15 teams subsequently failed to qualify for the 1950 finals: Belgium, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, Dutch East Indies, France, Germany, Hungary, Netherlands, Norway, Poland and Romania.



Goalscorers


5 goals






4 goals






3 goals










2 goals










1 goal











Notes


  • It was originally intended that the World Cup would be held alternately between the continents of South America and Europe. However Jules Rimet, the creator of the World Cup, convinced FIFA to hold the competition in France,[citation needed] his home country. Because of this controversial move, many American countries, including Argentina (the most likely hosts if the event was held in South America), Chile, Paraguay, Peru, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Mexico, Dutch Guiana, Uruguay, and the United States, all withdrew or refused to enter.[citation needed]. Brazil and Cuba were the only countries from the Americas to enter qualification and thus qualified for the World Cup by default.


References





  1. ^ Dietschy, Paul (6 June 2013). "Making football global? FIFA, Europe, and the non-European football world, 1912–74". Journal of Global History. 8 (02): 288. doi:10.1017/S1740022813000223..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg/12px-Wikisource-logo.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#33aa33;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}




External links



  • FIFA World Cup Official Site - 1938 World Cup Qualification

  • RSSSF - 1938 World Cup Qualification









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