A total of 37 teams entered the

1954 FIFA World Cup The 1954 FIFA World Cup was the fifth edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football tournament for senior men's national teams of the nations affiliated to FIFA. It was held in Switzerland from 16 June to 4 July. Switzer ...

qualification Qualification is either the process of qualifying for an achievement, or a credential attesting to that achievement, and may refer to: * Professional qualification, attributes developed by obtaining academic degrees or through professional exper ...

rounds, competing for a total of 16 spots in the final tournament.

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, as the hosts, and

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

, as the defending champions, qualified automatically, leaving 14 spots open for competition. 37 teams were divided into 13 groups, based on geographical considerations, as follows: * Groups 1 to 10 –

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

: ''11 places'', contested by 27 teams (including

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...

and

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

). * Group 11 and 12 –

The Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with th ...

: ''2 places'', contested by 7 teams. * Group 13 –

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

: ''1 place'', contested by 3 teams. A total of 33 teams played at least one qualifying match. A total of 57 qualifying matches were played, and 208 goals were scored (an average of 3.65 per match). Listed below are the dates and results of the qualification rounds.

Groups

The 13 groups had different rules, as follows: * Groups 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, and 10 had 3 teams each. The teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winners would qualify. * Groups 7 and 9 had 2 teams each. The teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winners would qualify. * Group 3 had 4 teams. The teams played against each other once. The group winner and runner-up would qualify. * Group 11 had 4 teams. The teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winner would qualify. * Group 12 had 3 teams. The teams played against each other twice. The group winner would qualify. * Group 13 had 3 teams. After Republic of China withdrew before the matches began, the remaining 2 teams played against each other twice. The group winner would qualify.

Group 1

---- ---- ---- ---- ---- West Germany qualified.

Group 2

---- ---- ---- ---- ---- Belgium qualified. This is the first time Sweden failed to qualify.

Group 3

This group was also the

1953–54 British Home Championship The 1953–54 British Home Championship was an international football tournament played between the British Home Nations during the 1953–54 season. This season's tournament also doubled as UEFA – Group 3 for 1954 FIFA World Cup qualificat ...

. ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- England and Scotland qualified.

Group 4

---- ---- ---- ---- ---- France qualified.

Group 5

---- Austria qualified.

Group 6

---- Spain and Turkey finished level on points, and a play-off on neutral ground was played to decide who would qualify. Luigi Franco Gemma, a 14-year-old Italian boy whose father worked at the stadium, picked Turkey's name from the lots with his eyes blindfolded. Since the

1970 FIFA World Cup The 1970 FIFA World Cup was the ninth edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football championship for men's senior national teams. Held from 31 May to 21 June in Mexico, it was the first World Cup tournament held outside ...

finals, goal difference has been used as a tiebreaker for future qualifying rounds. Had those rules been in place, Spain would have qualified, and Turkey would have been eliminated. This is the first time Spain failed to qualify. Therefore, Turkey qualified. This was the only time winner of aggregate score failed to qualify.

Group 7

Poland withdrew and Iceland had their entry rejected so Hungary qualified automatically.

Group 8

---- ---- ---- ---- ---- Czechoslovakia qualified. This was the first time Romania failed to qualify.

Group 9

---- Italy qualified.

Group 10

---- ---- ---- ---- ---- Yugoslavia qualified.

Group 11

---- ---- ---- ---- ---- Brazil qualified. Despite having participated in every World Cup, this was the first time they played qualifying matches.

Group 12

---- ---- ---- ---- ---- Mexico qualified.

Group 13

---- South Korea qualified.

Qualified teams

Qualification for the 1954 FIFA World Cup

(h) – qualified automatically as hosts (c) – qualified automatically as defending champions (w) – qualified automatically because Poland withdrew

Goalscorers

;6 goals * Max Morlock ;5 goals *

Erich Probst Erich Probst (5 December 1927 – 16 March 1988) was an Austrian footballer who played as a striker. International career Probst made his debut for Austria in a May 1951 friendly match against Scotland and was a participant at the 1954 FIFA Worl ...

* Baltazar * Tomás Balcázar ;4 goals *

Henri Coppens Henri 'Rik' François Louis Coppens (29 April 1930 – 5 February 2015) was a Belgian footballer who played as a striker. He played 389 games and scored 261 goals for Beerschot AC. Coppens won the first Belgian Golden Shoe in 1954. After his c ...

* José Luis Lamadrid * Nils-Åke Sandell * Bill Looby ;3 goals * František Vlk * Nat Lofthouse * Kalevi Lehtovirta * Just Fontaine *

Pedro Arnauda Pedro is a masculine given name. Pedro is the Spanish language, Spanish, Portuguese language, Portuguese, and Galician language, Galician name for ''Peter (given name), Peter''. Its French equivalent is Pierre while its English and Germanic fo ...

* Manuel Lugo *

Choi Chung-Min Choi Chung-min (; 30 August 1930 – 8 August 1983) was a former South Korean football player and manager. Nicknamed the "Golden Legs", Choi was one of Asia's greatest strikers in the 1950s. Playing career Choi was born in Taedong and grew u ...

* Chung Nam-Sik *

John Charles William John Charles (27 December 1931 – 21 February 2004) was a Welsh footballer who played as a centre-forward or as a centre-back. Best known for his first stint at Leeds United and Juventus, he was rated by many as the greatest all-ro ...

;2 goals * Léopold Anoul * Mathieu Bollen * Júlio Botelho *

Harold Hassall Harold William Hassall (4 March 1929 – 30 January 2015) was a professional footballer, who played as a forward for Huddersfield Town and Bolton Wanderers in the 1940s and 1950s. Harold was one of four Hassall brothers. He lived relatively ne ...

* Dennis Wilshaw * Olavi Lahtinen * Jean Desgranges *

Pierre Flamion Pierre Émile Flamion (13 December 1924 – 3 January 2004) was a French football manager and former player who played striker. Honours As a player Reims * Division 1: 1948–49 *Coupe de France The Coupe de France, formerly known as t ...

* Léon Glovacki * Roger Piantoni *

Joseph Ujlaki Joseph Ujlaki ( hu, Újlaki József) (10 August 1929 – 13 February 2006) was a French footballer of Hungarian descent, one of the best strikers in Division 1 (190 goals) in the 1950s and 1960s. He acquired French nationality by naturalizatio ...

* Jean Vincent * Gerard Ellie * Arthur Fitzsimons *

Reg Ryan Reginald Alphonso Ryan (30 October 1925 – 13 February 1997), also referred to as Paddy Ryan, was an Irish footballer who played for West Bromwich Albion, Derby County and Coventry City. Ryan was also a dual international, playing for both ...

Giampiero Boniperti Giampiero Boniperti (; 4 July 1928 – 18 June 2021) was an Italian footballer who played his entire 15-season career at Juventus between 1946 and 1961, winning five Serie A titles and two Coppa Italia titles. He also played for the Italy nati ...

Amleto Frignani Amleto Frignani (; 5 March 1932 in – 2 March 1997) was an Italian footballer who played as a striker. Club career Frignani played 9 seasons (248 games, 40 goals) in the Italian Serie A for A.C. Milan, Udinese Calcio and Genoa C.F.C. In ...

* Toshio Iwatani *

Alfredo Torres Juan Alfredo Torres González (31 May 1935 – 10 November 2022) was a Mexican footballer who played as a forward. He represented the Mexico national team in the 1954 FIFA World Cup. Career Torres began playing youth football with local sid ...

* Peter McParland * José Parodi * József Pecsovszky * Allan Brown * Charlie Fleming * Burhan Sargın * Ivor Allchurch * Fritz Walter ;1 goal *

Robert Dienst Robert Dienst (1 March 1928 – 13 June 2000) was an Austrian football forward. He died in 2000 after a long illness. Club career Robert Dienst started his career at Floridsdorfer AC, where he played his first game as a midfielder during World ...

* Ernst Happel *

Ernst Ocwirk Ernst Ocwirk (7 March 1926 – 23 January 1980) was an Austrian football player and coach. He is regarded as one of the greatest Austrian footballers of all time. He spent the majority of his playing and coaching years between Austria and Ital ...

Theodor Wagner Theodor "Turl" Wagner (6 August 1927 – 21 January 2020) was an Austrian footballer who played as a striker. International career He made his debut for Austria in a November 1946 friendly match against Switzerland and was a participant at the ...

* Victor Lemberechts *

Victor Mees Victor Mees (26 January 1927 – 11 November 2012), nicknamed Vic or Vicky, was a Belgian footballer who played all of his career at Royal Antwerp. Club career Mees was born in Antwerp. He made his first team debut at the age of 17, just ...

* Jean-Louis Straetmans * Maurinho * Stefan Bozhkov * Ivan Kolev *

Dobromir Tashkov Dobromir Tashkov ( bg, Добромир Ташков; 10 April 1925 – 26 May 2017) was a Bulgarian football player and manager who played as a forward. Tashkov was born in Varna. He spent his whole career at Spartak Varna and Slavia Sofia. ...

* Ted Robledo * Emil Pažický * František Šafránek *

Ad-Diba Mohamed Diab Al-Attar, known as Ad-Diba, ( ar, محمد دياب العطار‎; 17 November 1927 – 30 December 2016), was a footballer who played for the Al Ittihad Alexandria Club and the Egypt national football team. He later served as ...

* Alaa El-Hamouly *

Ronnie Allen Ronald Allen (15 January 1929 – 9 June 2001) was an English international football player and manager. He was a professional footballer for nineteen years, between 1946 and 1964, making 638 appearances in the Football League, and scoring 2 ...

* Ivor Broadis * Jimmy Mullen * Johnny Nicholls * Nils Rikberg * Jorma Vaihela *

Raymond Cicci Raymond Cicci (11 August 1929 – 20 February 2012) was a French footballer. He played in one match for the France national football team in 1953. He was also named in France's squad for the Group 4 qualification tournament for the 1954 FI ...

* Jacques Foix * Édouard Kargu *

Raymond Kopa Raymond Kopa (né Kopaszewski; 13 October 1931 – 3 March 2017) was a French professional footballer, integral to the France national team of the 1950s. At club level he was part of the legendary Real Madrid team of the 1950s, winning three Eu ...

Armand Penverne Armand Penverne (26 November 1926 – 27 February 2012) was a French football defender and coach. He played the majority of his professional career for Stade de Reims winning four French championships and appearing in one European Cup final. He ...

* Thanasis Bembis *

Georgios Kamaras Giorgos Kamaras born Georgios Katrodavlis ( el, Γιώργος Καμάρας;5 May 1929 - 2000) was a Greek footballer. His name has been joined with the history of Apollon Athens. The stadium of Apollon Athens, in the Athenian district of Rizou ...

* Dimitris Kokkinakis * George Cummins * Tommy Eglington *

Frank O'Farrell Francis O'Farrell (9 October 1927 – 6 March 2022) was an Irish football player and manager. He played as a wing half for Cork United, West Ham United and Preston North End. He made over 300 appearances in the Football League before joining We ...

Davy Walsh David Joseph Walsh (28 April 1923 – 14 March 2016), commonly referred to as Davy Walsh or Dave Walsh, was an Irish footballer who played as a centre forward for, among others, Linfield, West Bromwich Albion and Aston Villa. Walsh was a dual ...

Ermes Muccinelli Ermes Muccinelli (; 28 July 1927 – 4 November 1994) was an Italian footballer who played as a forward, mainly as a winger.Egisto Pandolfini Egisto Pandolfini (; 17 February 1926 – 29 January 2019) was an Italian footballer who played as a midfielder. Club career Pandolfini was born in Lastra a Signa. He played for 12 seasons (316 games, 75 goals) in the Serie A for ACF Fiorent ...

* Eduardo Ricagni * Ken Naganuma *

Antoine Kohn Antoine "Spitz" Kohn (1 November 1933 – 24 November 2012) was a Luxembourg football player and football manager. Club career Kohn played as a striker, and spent most of his career plying his trade abroad, in Germany, Switzerland, and f ...

* Rafael Ávalos * Gregorio Gómez * José Naranjo * Nicolás Tellez * Norman Lockhart * Eddie McMorran * Knut Dahlen * Harald Hennum * Hans Nordahl * Gunnar Thoresen * Ireneo Hermosilla *

Eulogio Martínez Eulogio Ramiro Martínez (11 June 1935 – 30 September 1984) was a Paraguayan-born footballer who played as a striker. He played for the Spanish side FC Barcelona in the 1950s and 1960s, and is remembered for being a prolific striker with an e ...

Silvio Parodi Silvio Parodi (Genoa, 16 February 1878 – Savignone, 19 June 1944) was an Italian Fascist politician and soldier. Biography Born into a middle-class family, he attended the Military Academy of Modena and graduated as a infantry second lie ...

* José Águas * Valeriu Călinoiu * Alexandru Ene * Gavril Serfözö * Herbert Binkert * Herbert Martin * Werner Otto * Gerhard Siedl *

Jackie Henderson John Gillespie Henderson (17 January 1932 – 26 January 2005) was a Scottish international footballer who played as a forward in the English Football League for Portsmouth, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Arsenal and Fulham. Club career Henderson w ...

Bobby Johnstone Robert Johnstone (7 September 1929 – 22 August 2001) was a Scottish footballer, who played for Selkirk, Hibernian, Manchester City, Oldham Athletic and Witton Albion. Johnstone also represented Scotland and the Scottish League. Johnstone ...

Willie Ormond William Esplin Ormond (23 February 1927 – 4 May 1984) was a Scottish football player and manager. As a player, Ormond was well known as one of Hibernian's Famous Five forward line, winning three league championships in the late 1940s an ...

* Lawrence Reilly * Choi Kwang-Suk * Rafael Alsua * José Artetxe *

Adrián Escudero Adrián Escudero García (24 November 19277 March 2011) was a Spanish footballer who played as a striker. He is the second the all-time leading goalscorer for Atlético Madrid with 169 goals, having appeared for the club in 13 La Liga seasons ...

Agustín Gaínza Agustín Gaínza Vicandi (28 May 1922 – 6 January 1995) was a Spanish football forward and manager. Club career Nicknamed ''Piru'', Gaínza's entire career was spent with Athletic Bilbao. Born in Basauri, Biscay, he made his official debu ...

* Miguel González * Venancio García *

Bengt Berndtsson Bengt Ryno Berndtsson (26 January 1933 – 4 June 2015) was a Swedish football winger. Born in Gothenburg, he was nicknamed ''Fölet'' (meaning ''The Foal''). After starting his career playing for two local clubs, he joined IFK Göteborg in ...

* Hans Persson *

Gösta Sandberg Gösta "Knivsta" Sandberg (6 August 1932 – 27 April 2006) was a Swedish football, ice hockey, and bandy player who is best remembered for representing Djurgårdens IF. He was capped 52 times for the national team in football, eight times in ...

* Herbert Sandin *

Arne Selmosson Arne Selmosson (29 March 1931 – 19 February 2002) was a Swedish footballer who played as a striker. Club career Born in Götene, Selmosson played for Jönköpings Södra, Udinese, Lazio, Roma and Skövde AIK. International career Selmos ...

Recep Adanır Recep Adanır (3 May 1929 – 20 May 2017) was a Turkish professional footballer who played most of his career with Beşiktaş, the club he managed following his retirement. He also played for Ankaragücü, Kasımpaşa, Galatasaray and Karag� ...

* Suat Mamat *

Cornelius Casey Cornelius "Neil" Casey (January 9, 1929 – October 17, 2001) was a former Irish-American football (soccer) player. He earned four cap (sports), caps, scoring one goal, as a member of the USMNT, U.S. national team. Youth Casey was born in Ca ...

Efrain Chacurian Efraín or Yeprem "Chico" Chacurian (22 February 1924 - 15 February 2019) was an Argentine-American soccer forward. He earned four caps, scoring one goal, as a member of the U.S. national team in 1953 and 1954. He was inducted into the National ...

* Ruben Mendoza * Helmut Rahn * Horst Schade * Hans Schäfer * Ottmar Walter * Frane Matošić * Miloš Milutinović * Todor Veselinović *

Branko Zebec Branislav "Branko" Zebec (17 May 1929 – 26 September 1988) was a Croatian footballer and manager who played for Yugoslavia. In his heyday, Zebec fascinated the world with his performances at the World Cups in 1954 and 1958. With Partizan he ...

;1 own goal *

William Scheppel William Sheppell (March 11, 1926 - August 24, 2012), also known as Billy Sheppell, was an American association football, soccer Striker (association football), forward who played in both the American Soccer League (1933-1983), American Soccer Le ...

(playing against

Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...

)

Notes

* Turkey qualified via the drawing of lots, after they and Spain finished level on points in Group 6 and a drawn play-off match in Rome. * For the first time, qualification matches were actually played in South America; in the four previous World Cups, the South American teams qualified automatically due to withdrawals (in the case of 1934) or through the South American Football Championship (for the

1938 Events January * January 1 ** The new constitution of Estonia enters into force, which many consider to be the ending of the Era of Silence and the authoritarian regime. ** State-owned railway networks are created by merger, in France ...

and 1950 tournaments), while there was no qualifying process in

1930 Events January * January 15 – The Moon moves into its nearest point to Earth, called perigee, at the same time as its fullest phase of the Lunar Cycle. This is the closest moon distance at in recent history, and the next one will b ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest ...

did not take part in the qualification process. * As the French-occupied

Saarland protectorate The Saar Protectorate (german: Saarprotektorat ; french: Protectorat de la Sarre) officially Saarland (french: Sarre) was a French protectorate separated from Germany; which was later opposed by the Soviet Union, one side occupying Germany l ...

did not become part of Germany until 1957, the Saarland national team entered their only World Cup competition and actually had to play Germany in the qualifiers. *The entries of

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribb ...

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

and

South Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam ( vi, Việt Nam Cộng hòa), was a state in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975, the period when the southern portion of Vietnam was a member of the Western Bloc during part of th ...

were rejected by FIFA. * After being banned from the 1950 tournament following the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

and

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

were both allowed to play again. West Germany qualified and became champions after defeating

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Cr ...

with a score of 3–2 in the final that became known as the Miracle of Bern.

References

External links

FIFA World Cup Official Site – 1954 World Cup Qualification

{{1954 in Japanese football

Football World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' (FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament has ...

FIFA World Cup qualification