The 32 teams were drawn into nine groups of three or four teams each; however, after the withdrawal of

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

, one group had just two teams. The teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winners would qualify.

Groups

Group 1

Group 2

Group 3

Group 4

Group 5

Group 6

Group 7

Group 8

Group 9

Goalscorers

7 goals *

Eusébio Eusébio da Silva Ferreira (; 25 January 1942 – 5 January 2014), nicknamed the "Black Panther", the "Black Pearl" or "O Rei" ("The King"), was a Portuguese footballer who played as a striker. He is considered one of the greatest players of ...

6 goals *

Mimis Papaioannou Dimitrios "Mimis" Papaioannou ( el, Δημήτριος "Μίμης" Παπαϊωάννου; born 23 August 1942) is a Greek former professional football player, who played as a forward, mostly for AEK Athens and a former manager. His nickname w ...

5 goals *

Paul Van Himst Paul Van Himst (born 2 October 1943) is a Belgian former football player and a football manager who played as a forward, most notably for R.S.C. Anderlecht. Career Van Himst was nicknamed ''Polle Gazon'' (''Polle'' is Paul in Brussels dialect ...

Georgi Asparuhov Georgi Asparuhov Rangelov ( bg, Георги Аспарухов Рангелов; 4 May 1943 – 30 June 1971), nicknamed Gundi, was a Bulgarian footballer who played as a striker. A prolific forward of his generation, Asparuhov was renowned ...

* Sandro Mazzola *

Johnny Crossan John Andrew Crossan (born 29 November 1938) is a Northern Irish author, radio sports analyst, entrepreneur, and former footballer. His brother Eddie was also a player. Club career Crossan began his career playing for Derry City, where he play ...

Włodzimierz Lubański Włodzimierz 'Włodek' Leonard Lubański (Polish pronunciation: ; born 28 February 1947 in Gliwice-Sośnica) is a former Polish football striker, the second all-time highest goal scorer for the Polish national team. For his national team, L ...

Anatoliy Banishevskiy Anatoliy Andreyevich Banishevskiy ( az, Anatoli Andreyeviç Banişevski; russian: Анатолий Андреевич Банишевский; 23 February 1946, in Baku – 10 December 1997, in Baku) was an Azerbaijani footballer. Throughout most o ...

4 goals * Nikola Kotkov * František Knebort *

Roy Vernon Thomas Royston "Roy" Vernon (14 April 1937 – 4 December 1993) was a Welsh international footballer who played for Blackburn Rovers, Everton and Stoke City. Vernon won 32 caps for Wales, scoring eight goals in total, and representing his cou ...

Milan Galić Milan Galić ( sr-Cyrl, Милан Галић, ; 8 March 1938 – 13 September 2014) was a Yugoslav and Serbian professional footballer who played as a striker. He was part of the Yugoslav squad that won gold at the 1960 Summer Olympics. During ...

3 goals *

Johnny Thio Johnny Thio (2 September 1944 in Roeselare – 4 August 2008 in Hooglede) was a Belgian footballer. During his career he played for Club Brugge K.V. He earned 18 caps Karol Jokl Karol Jokl (29 August 1945 – 28 October 1996) was a Slovak football player and manager. He played for ŠK Slovan Bratislava and Czechoslovakia. Between 1963 and 1975 he played in the Czechoslovak First League for ŠK Slovan Bratislava, scorin ...

Juhani Peltonen Juhani Peltonen (born 16 June 1936) is a retired Finland, Finnish association football player. Peltonen was the first Finnish player to play in the Germany, German Bundesliga. The Forward (association football), forward made 38 appearances for H ...

Nestor Combin Nestor may refer to: * Nestor (mythology), King of Pylos in Greek mythology Arts and entertainment * "Nestor" (''Ulysses'' episode) an episode in James Joyce's novel ''Ulysses'' * Nestor Studios, first-ever motion picture studio in Hollywood, L ...

Philippe Gondet Philippe Gondet (17 May 1942 – 21 January 2018) was a French footballer who played as a striker. He played for France during the 1966 FIFA World Cup The 1966 FIFA World Cup was the eighth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournamen ...

Giorgos Sideris Giorgos Sideris ( el, Γιώργος Σιδέρης, born 5 April 1938-) is a Greek former footballer, who played as striker. Club career Sideris began his youth career at Atromitos Piraeus playing in the centre of midfield but his coaches s ...

* Paolo Barison * Louis Pilot * Jerzy Sadek *

Valentin Kozmich Ivanov Valentin Kozmich Ivanov (russian: Валентин Козьмич Иванов, 19 November 1934 – 8 November 2011) was a Russian footballer who played as a midfielder. He was the co- leading scorer at the 1962 World Cup, and the co-1960 Euro ...

Slava Metreveli Slava Kalistratovich Metreveli ( ka, სლავა კალისტრატეს ძე მეტრეველი; russian: Слава Калистратович Метревели, 30 May 1936 – 7 January 1998) was a Soviet and G ...

* Chus Pereda * Köbi Kuhn * Ivor Allchurch * Rudolf Brunnenmeier 2 goals * Ivan Mráz * Ole Fritsen *

Ole Madsen Ole Eduard Fischer Madsen (21 December 1934 – 26 March 2006 Camilla Dam ''Danmarks Radio'', 26 March 2006) was a Danish international footballer, who scored 42 goals in 50 matches for the Denmark national team and competed at the 1964 Europea ...

* Peter Ducke * Jürgen Nöldner *

János Farkas János Farkas (27 March 1942 in Budapest – 29 September 1989 in Budapest) was a Hungarian footballer. During his club career he played for Vasas SC. He earned 33 caps and scored 20 goals for the Hungary national football team from 1961 ...

* Máté Fenyvesi * Giacinto Facchetti *

Bruno Mora Bruno Mora (; 29 March 1937 – 10 December 1986) was an Italian football player and coach, who played as a right winger. He began his club career with U.C. Sampdoria, and later won domestic and international titles with Juventus F.C. and A.C ...

Gianni Rivera Giovanni "Gianni" Rivera (; born 18 August 1943) is an Italian politician and former footballer who played as a midfielder. During his career as a footballer he was mostly utilised as an attacking midfielder. Dubbed Italy's "Golden Boy" by the ...

* Hennie van Nee *

George Best George Best (22 May 1946 – 25 November 2005) was a Northern Irish professional footballer who played as a winger, spending most of his club career at Manchester United. A highly skilful dribbler, Best is regarded as one of the greatest pla ...

* Harald Berg * Erik Johansen * Ernest Pol * Nicolae Georgescu *

Viorel Mateianu Viorel Mateianu (1 June 1938 – 25 November 1997) was a Romanian football player and coach. Club career Mateianu was born in Lipănești, Prahova and started playing football in the Romanian lower leagues at Flacăra Boldești and Progresu ...

* John Greig *

Denis Law Denis Law (born 24 February 1940) is a Scottish former footballer who played as a forward. His career as a football player began at Second Division Huddersfield Town in 1956. After four years at Huddersfield, he was signed by Manchester City ...

* Vladimir Barkaya * Lars Granström *

Bo Larsson Bo-Göran "Bosse" Larsson (born 5 May 1944) is a Swedish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder and striker. Best remembered for his time with Malmö FF, he also represented VfB Stuttgart and Trelleborgs FF during his caree ...

Agne Simonsson Tore Klas Agne Simonsson (19 October 1935 – 22 September 2020) was a Swedish footballer who played as a striker. Beginning his career with Örgryte IS in 1953, he went on to represent Real Madrid and Real Sociedad in La Liga in the early 1960 ...

* Torbjörn Jonsson * René-Pierre Quentin * Fevzi Zemzem * Werner Krämer *

Wolfgang Overath Wolfgang Overath (born 29 September 1943) is a former West German footballer. A true one-club man, Overath spent his entire professional career at 1. FC Köln. He represented his country three times in World Cup finals, culminating in 1974 wit ...

Klaus-Dieter Sieloff Klaus-Dieter Sieloff (27 February 1942 – 13 December 2011) was a German footballer who played as a defender. He spent 11 seasons in the Bundesliga with VfB Stuttgart and Borussia Mönchengladbach. He played in two World Cup Qualifying matches ...

Dragan Džajić Dragan Džajić ( sr-Cyrl, Драган Џајић; born 30 May 1946) is a Yugoslav former footballer from Serbia. Džajić is widely considered to be one of the best footballers to emerge from the former Yugoslavia, and one of the greatest ...

1 goal *

Mexhit Haxhiu Mexhit Haxhiu (born 3 January 1943) is an Albanian former association football, footballer who played for Flamurtari Vlorë, Partizani Tirana and Besa Kavajë, as well as the Albania national football team, Albania national team. He is currently t ...

* Robert Jashari *

Erich Hof Erich Hof (3 August 1936 – 25 January 1995) was an Austrian footballer and coach who played as a forward. Career Born in the Brigittenau district of Vienna, Hof began playing football as a striker with FC Hochstädt. In 1952, he joined Wiener ...

Armand Jurion Armand Joseph Jurion (born 24 February 1937), nicknamed Jef, is a Belgian former professional footballer who played for the Belgium national team from 1955 to 1967. Jurion spent most of his club career at R.S.C. Anderlecht where he won nine cha ...

* Wilfried Puis *

Jacques Stockman Jacques ("Jacky") Stockman (8 October 1938 – 4 May 2013) was a Belgian football player. He played most of his career for R.S.C. Anderlecht and was selected 32 times for Belgium. He played in the Belgium- Netherlands match in 1964 with 10 fe ...

* Stoyan Kitov * Ivan Petkov Kolev * Alexander Horváth * Dušan Kabát * Andrej Kvašňák * Mogens Berg *

Kaj Poulsen Kaj Kvistgård Poulsen, known as Kaj Poulsen, (born 31 December 1942) is a Danish former association footballer in the striker position, who played 141 games and scored 29 goals for Vejle Boldklub. He played five matches for the Denmark national ...

Tommy Troelsen Tommy Brian Troelsen (10 July 1940 – 9 March 2021) was a Danish football player and manager, and television presenter. He played his entire club career with Vejle Boldklub, winning one Danish championship and two Danish Cup trophies. Troelse ...

Eberhard Vogel Eberhard "Ebse" Vogel (born 8 April 1943) is a former German footballer. Career Vogel played for FC Karl-Marx-Stadt (1961–1970) and FC Carl Zeiss Jena (1970–1982). His 440 appearances for both clubs combined was the record for East Germa ...

* Martti Hyvärinen * Semi Nuoranen * Marcel Artelesa *

André Guy André Guy (born 3 March 1941, in Bourg-en-Bresse Bourg-en-Bresse (; frp, Bôrg) is the prefecture of the Ain department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Eastern France. Located northeast of Lyon, it is the capital of the ancient prov ...

* Angel Rambert *

Andreas Papaemmanouil Andreas Papaemmanouil ( el, Ανδρέας Παπαεμμανουήλ; 18 February 1939 – 1 March 2020) was a Greek professional footballer who played as a forward and a later manager. Early life Papaemmanouil was born on 18 February 1939 i ...

Ferenc Bene Ferenc Bene (17 December 1944 – 27 February 2006) was a Hungarian Association football, football player of Újpest FC, Újpesti Dózsa, who was a member of the team that won the gold medal at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. A Forwar ...

Kálmán Mészöly Kálmán Mészöly (16 July 1941 – 21 November 2022) was a Hungarian professional football player and coach. He played his entire career at Vasas SC, where he operated as a centre-back. His nickname was "The Blond Rock". Mészöly played a ...

* Dezső Novák * Gyula Rákosi *

Andy McEvoy Andy McEvoy (15 July 1938 – 7 May 1994 in Bray) was an Irish professional football player. A native of Dublin, Andy McEvoy played for Bray Wanderers before joining Blackburn Rovers in October 1956. He marked his English First Division debut ...

* Rahamim Talbi * Giacomo Bulgarelli *

Ezio Pascutti Ezio Pascutti (; 1 June 1937 – 4 January 2017) was an Italian football manager and player, who played as a forward, either as a striker or as a winger. He spent his entire club career with Bologna, and represented Italy at two FIFA World Cu ...

* Ernest Brenner * Edy Dublin *

Ady Schmit Adolphe Schmit (born 17 August 1940), known as Ady Schmit, is a Luxembourgish former footballer. Schmit played most of his career in France. He scored three of his six goals for the Luxembourg national team on 8 October 1961 during a 4–2 win i ...

* Frans Geurtsen *

Theo Laseroms Matheus Wilhelmus Theodorus "Theo" Laseroms (8 March 1940 – 25 April 1991) was a Dutch football defender who made a name for himself when he played for Feijenoord. He gained six caps for the Netherlands national team. Club career Laseroms, ...

* Bennie Muller * Daan Schrijvers *

Willie Irvine William John Irvine (born 18 June 1943) is a Northern Irish former professional footballer who played as a centre forward. Born in Eden, County Antrim, into a large family, he grew up in the nearby town of Carrickfergus. He did well at school, ...

* Terry Neill * Per Kristoffersen *

Olav Nilsen Nils Olav Nilsen (24 January 1942 – 11 October 2021) was a Norwegian footballer who played as a striker in his early career, but was later used as a midfielder. He scored 19 goals in 62 matches for the Norway national team. On club level Ni ...

Arne Pedersen Arne Knut Pedersen (1 November 1931 – 16 November 2013) was a Norwegian footballer. He was a deep-lying inside forward, or offensive midfielder by today's terminology, who spent his entire playing career at his hometown club Fredrikstad FK, w ...

* Finn Seemann * Kai Sjøberg * Ole Stavrum * Roman Lentner * Mário Coluna * Jaime Graça *

Sorin Avram Sorin Aristotel Avram (29 March 1943 – 29 September 2015) was a Romanian football player and coach. He started his career in 1956, by joining the youth team of Letea Bacău. From there he moved to Dinamo Bacău in 1959 and then to Viitorul ...

Alexandru Badea Alexandru Badea (8 March 1938 – 17 July 1986) was a Romanian footballer. International career Alexandru Badea played four matches at international level for Romania, scoring two goals. He made his debut against Eusébio's Portugal in a 1966 F ...

* Dan Coe * Carol Creiniceanu * Ion Pârcălab *

Stevie Chalmers Thomas Stephen Chalmers (26 December 1935 – 29 April 2019) was a Scottish footballer who played as a centre-forward and spent the majority of his career with Celtic. He is the club's fifth-highest goalscorer with 236 goals and is consid ...

* Dave Gibson *

Billy McNeill William McNeill (2 March 1940 – 22 April 2019) was a Scottish football player and manager. He had a long association with Celtic, spanning more than sixty years as a player, manager and club ambassador. McNeill captained Celtic's 'Lisbon Lio ...

* Davie Wilson *

Boris Kazakov Boris Aleksandrovich Kazakov (russian: Борис Александрович Казаков) (born November 6, 1940 in Kuibyshev; died November 25, 1978 in Kuibyshev) was a Soviet football player. He died when he tried to drive his car over the ...

Galimzyan Khusainov Galimzyan Salikhovich Khusainov ( tt-Cyrl, Галимҗан Салих улы Хөсәенев, russian: Галимзян Салихович Хусаинов) (27 June 1937 – 5 February 2010) was a Soviet football player of Tatar ethnicity who ...

Mikheil Meskhi Mikheil Meskhi (Georgian: მიხეილ მესხი; Russian: Михаил Шалвович Месхи; born 12 January 1937 in Tbilisi; died 22 April 1991 in Tbilisi) was a Georgian footballer. Nicknamed the "Georgian Garrincha" for ...

Yozhef Sabo Yozhef Yozhefovich Sabo ( uk, Йожеф Йожефович Сабо; hu, Szabó József; born 29 February 1940) is a former Ukrainian football player and football manager. He is of Hungarian background. He is baptized as a Greek-Catholic. ...

Valery Voronin Valery Ivanovich Voronin (russian: Валерий Иванович Воронин; 17 July 1939 – 22 May 1984) was a Soviet Association football, footballer who represented FC Torpedo Moscow, Torpedo Moscow and the Soviet Union national foot ...

Carlos Lapetra Carlos Lapetra Coarasa (29 November 1938 – 24 December 1995) was a Spanish footballer who played as a forward. He spent ten of his 11 years as a professional with Zaragoza, appearing in 279 official games (62 goals) and winning three major ti ...

* José Ufarte * Kurt Hamrin *

Ove Kindvall Bengt Ove Kindvall (born 16 May 1943) is a Swedish former professional footballer who played as a striker. He started his career at IFK Norrköping, where he played until he joined Feyenoord in 1966 and became professional. The same year, he w ...

* Anton Allemann *

Robert Hosp Robert Hosp (13 December 1939 – 5 October 2021) was a Swiss footballer who played as a forward. He represented the Switzerland national team at the 1966 FIFA World Cup. At club level, he most notably played for FC Lausanne-Sport FC Laus ...

* Ayhan Elmastaşoğlu * Nedim Doğan * Ron Davies *

Wyn Davies Ronald Wyn Davies (born 20 March 1942) is a Welsh former professional footballer who made over 550 Football League appearances in the 1960s and 1970s, and who was also capped by Wales. Domestic career Although he began his career with Wrexham, ...

* Mike England *

Ronnie Rees Ronald Raymond Rees (born 4 April 1944) is a former Welsh international footballer. He played predominantly as a winger and was able to play down either flank. Rees was a graduate of the Coventry City youth team, and was given his debut for t ...

* Alfred Heiß *

Uwe Seeler Uwe Seeler (; 5 November 1936 – 21 July 2022) was a German footballer and football official. As a striker, he was a prolific scorer for Hamburger SV and also made 72 appearances for the West Germany national team. Widely regarded as one of ...

* Heinz Strehl * Horst Szymaniak *

Dražan Jerković Dražan Jerković (; 6 August 1936 – 9 December 2008) was a Yugoslav and Croatian professional football manager and player. His professional playing career spanned from 1954 to 1966, during which he played for Dinamo Zagreb and AA La Gantoise. ...

* Vladica Kovačević * Džemaludin Mušović *

Velibor Vasović Velibor Vasović (Serbian Cyrillic: Велибор Васовић; 3 October 1939 – 4 March 2002) was a Serbian footballer and manager, also one of the legendary players of Partizan Belgrade and Ajax and one of greatest defenders of his gener ...

1 own goal *

Ivan Vutsov Ivan Kolev Vutsov ( bg, Иван Кoлeв Вуцов; 14 December 1939 – 18 January 2019) was a Bulgarian football player and coach. His career included periods playing for and later managing the Bulgarian national team. He played in three mat ...

(playing against

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

) *

Kostas Panayiotou Konstantinos "Kostas" Panayiotou ( el, Κωνσταντίνος "Κώστα" Παναγιώτου; 1937 – 17 June 2014) was a Cypriot footballer who played as a defender and made 19 appearances for the Cyprus national team. Career Early in ...

(playing against

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 ...

) *

Stig Holmqvist Stig Holmqvist (13 February 1936 – 6 April 2020) was a Finnish footballer who played as a midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up ...

(playing against

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

) *

José Ángel Iribar José Ángel Iribar Kortajarena (born 1 March 1943), nicknamed ''El Chopo'' ("the Populus, Poplar"), is a Spanish retired Association football, football Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper and Manager (association football), manager. ...

(playing against

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

) * Graham Williams (playing against the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

)

References

{{1966 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers

UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs fo ...

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo ...