1966 FIFA World Cup qualification

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A total of 74 teams entered the 1966 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds, competing for a total of 16 spots in the final tournament. England, as the hosts, and Brazil, as the defending champions, qualified automatically, leaving 14 spots open for competition.

The 16 spots available in the 1966 World Cup would be distributed among the continental zones as follows:

A total of 51 teams played at least one qualifying match. A total of 127 qualifying matches were played, and 393 goals were scored (an average of 3.09 per match).

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

Contents

Europe

The 32 teams were divided into 9 groups of 3 or 4 teams each (four groups with 3 teams and five groups with 4 teams). The teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winners would qualify.

UEFA Group 1

Main article: 1966 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA - Group 1)
Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
1=  Belgium 6 4 3 0 1 11 3 +8
1=  Bulgaria 6 4 3 0 1 9 6 +3
3  Israel 0 4 0 0 4 1 12 −11


Belgium and Bulgaria finished level on points, and a play-off on neutral ground was played to decide who would qualify.

Bulgaria qualified.

UEFA Group 2

Main article: 1966 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA - Group 2)
Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
1  West Germany 7 4 3 1 0 14 2 +12
2  Sweden 5 4 2 1 1 10 3 +7
3  Cyprus 0 4 0 0 4 0 19 −19

West Germany qualified.

UEFA Group 3

Main article: 1966 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA - Group 3)
Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
1  France 10 6 5 0 1 9 2 +7
2  Norway 7 6 3 1 2 10 5 +5
3  Yugoslavia 7 6 3 1 2 10 8 +2
4  Luxembourg 0 6 0 0 6 6 20 −14

France qualified.

UEFA Group 4

Main article: 1966 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA - Group 4)
Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
1  Portugal 9 6 4 1 1 9 4 +5
2  Czechoslovakia 7 6 3 1 2 12 4 +8
3  Romania 6 6 3 0 3 9 7 +2
4  Turkey 2 6 1 0 5 4 19 −15

Portugal qualified.

UEFA Group 5

Main article: 1966 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA - Group 5)
Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
1  Switzerland 9 6 4 1 1 7 3 +4
2  Northern Ireland 8 6 3 2 1 9 5 +4
3  Netherlands 6 6 2 2 2 6 4 +2
4  Albania 1 6 0 1 5 2 12 −10

Switzerland qualified.

UEFA Group 6

Main article: 1966 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA - Group 6)
Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
1  Hungary 7 4 3 1 0 8 3 +5
2  East Germany 4 4 1 2 1 5 5 0
3  Austria 1 4 0 1 3 1 6 −5

Hungary qualified.

UEFA Group 7

Main article: 1966 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA - Group 7)
Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
1  Soviet Union 10 6 5 0 1 19 6 +13
2  Wales 6 6 3 0 3 11 9 +2
3  Greece 5 6 2 1 3 10 14 −4
4  Denmark 3 6 1 1 4 7 18 −11

Soviet Union qualified.

UEFA Group 8

Main article: 1966 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA - Group 8)
Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
1  Italy 9 6 4 1 1 17 3 +14
2  Scotland 7 6 3 1 2 8 8 0
3  Poland 6 6 2 2 2 11 10 +1
4  Finland 2 6 1 0 5 5 20 −15

Italy qualified.

UEFA Group 9

Main article: 1966 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA - Group 9)
Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
1=  Spain 2 2 1 0 1 4 2 +2
1=  Republic of Ireland 2 2 1 0 1 2 4 −2
— Iraq Syria withdrew

Syria withdrew to support the African teams who withdrew in protest at the of allocation of spots. Republic of Ireland and Spain finished level on points, and a play-off on neutral ground was played to decide who would qualify. This match was initially to be played in London, which would have been ideal for the Irish given the large Irish immigrant population there, but the Spanish and Irish football associations later came to an agreement and moved the match to Paris.[citation needed] The agreement was seen[who?] as a buyout as it turned a possible Irish victory into a much more unlikely proposition as the Stade Colombes was instead mainly made up of Spanish supporters.[citation needed]

Spain qualified.

South America

The 9 teams were divided into 3 groups of 3 teams each. The teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winners would qualify.

CONMEBOL Group 1

Main article: 1966 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONMEBOL - Group 1)
Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
1  Uruguay 8 4 4 0 0 11 2 +9
2  Peru 4 4 2 0 2 8 6 +2
3  Venezuela 0 4 0 0 4 4 15 −11

Uruguay qualified.

CONMEBOL Group 2

Main article: 1966 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONMEBOL - Group 2)
Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
1=  Chile 5 4 2 1 1 12 7 +5
1=  Ecuador 5 4 2 1 1 6 5 +1
3  Colombia 2 4 1 0 3 4 10 −6

Chile and Ecuador finished level on points, and a play-off on neutral ground was played to decide who would qualify.

Chile qualified.

CONMEBOL Group 3

Main article: 1966 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONMEBOL - Group 3)
Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
1  Argentina 7 4 3 1 0 9 2 +7
2  Paraguay 3 4 1 1 2 3 5 −2
3  Bolivia 2 4 1 0 3 4 9 −5

Argentina qualified.

North, Central America and Caribbean

FIFA rejected the entry of Guatemala. There would be two rounds of play:

CONCACAF First Round

Group 1

Main article: 1966 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONCACAF - Group 1)
Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
1  Mexico 7 4 3 1 0 8 2 +6
2  United States 4 4 1 2 1 4 5 −1
3  Honduras 1 4 0 1 3 1 6 −5

Mexico advanced to the Final Round.

Group 2

Main article: 1966 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONCACAF - Group 2)
Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
1  Jamaica 5 4 2 1 1 5 2 +3
2  Netherlands Antilles 4 4 1 2 1 2 3 −1
3  Cuba 3 4 1 1 2 3 5 −2

Jamaica advanced to the Final Round.

Group 3

Main article: 1966 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONCACAF - Group 3)
Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
1  Costa Rica 8 4 4 0 0 9 1 +8
2  Dutch Guiana 2 4 1 0 3 8 9 −1
3  Trinidad and Tobago 2 4 1 0 3 5 12 −7

Costa Rica advanced to the Final Round.

CONCACAF Final Round

Main article: 1966 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONCACAF - Final Group)
Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
1  Mexico 7 4 3 1 0 12 2 +10
2  Costa Rica 4 4 1 2 1 8 2 +6
3  Jamaica 1 4 0 1 3 3 19 −16

Mexico qualified.

Africa and Asia

South Africa was suspended by FIFA due to apartheid. FIFA also rejected the entries of Congo and the Philippines. The African teams would compete for three spots in the Final Round through two rounds of play, while the Asian teams would compete for one spot in the Final Round by playing in a tournament in neutral ground. The winner of the Final Round would qualify.

CAF First Round

Group 1

Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
—  Ghana withdrew
—  Guinea withdrew

Ghana and Guinea both withdrew to protest the allocation of spots.

Group 2

Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
—  Cameroon withdrew
—  Sudan withdrew

Cameroon and Sudan both withdrew to protest the allocation of spots.

Group 3

Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
—  Algeria withdrew
—  Liberia withdrew
—  Tunisia withdrew

Algeria, Liberia and Tunisia all withdrew to protest the allocation of spots.

Group 4

Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
—  Mali withdrew
—  Morocco withdrew
—  Senegal withdrew

Mali, Morocco and Senegal all withdrew to protest the allocation of spots.

Group 5

Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
—  Ethiopia withdrew
—  Gabon withdrew

Ethiopia and Gabon both withdrew to protest the allocation of spots.

Group 6

Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
—  Libya withdrew
—  Nigeria withdrew
—  United Arab Republic withdrew

Libya, Nigeria and the United Arab Republic all withdrew to protest the allocation of spots.

CAF Second Round

The matchups would have been winners of Group 1 vs winners of Group 5, winners of Group 2 vs winners of Group 4, and winners of Group 3 vs winners of Group 6. However, no matches were played due to the withdrawals of all African teams.

AFC First Round

Main article: 1966 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC)
Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
1  Korea DPR 4 2 2 0 0 9 2 +7
2  Australia 0 2 0 0 2 2 9 −7
—  Korea Republic withdrew

Korea Republic withdrew to protest the tournament being moved from Japan to Cambodia. Korea DPR advanced to the Final Round.

CAF / AFC Final Round

Because of the withdrawal of the African teams, Korea DPR qualified automatically.

Qualified teams

Qualifying countries


Team Finals Appearance Streak Last Appearance
 Argentina 5th 3 1962
 Brazil (c) 8th 8 1962
 Bulgaria 2nd 2 1962
 Chile 4th 2 1962
 England (h) 5th 5 1962
 France 6th 1 1958
 Hungary 6th 4 1962
 Italy 6th 2 1962
 Korea DPR 1st 1 –
 Mexico 6th 5 1962
 Portugal 1st 1 –
 Spain 4th 2 1962
 Switzerland 6th 2 1962
 Uruguay 5th 2 1962
 Soviet Union 3rd 3 1962
 West Germany 6th 4 1962

(h) - qualified automatically as hosts

(c) - qualified automatically as defending champions

Notes

  • After having no teams from Africa or Asia qualifying for the previous two World Cups, FIFA decided to allocate a single spot to the winner of a play-off between the winners of the African and Asian zones. However, the African teams believed that winning their zone should have been enough to go straight through to the final tournament, and all of them withdrew as a protest.
  • Innovations in the run-up to the 1966 World Cup included the introduction of doping controls, and a prohibition on the naturalisation of footballers, two issues that had had negative repercussions during the last tournament of 1962.[citation needed]
  • Several weak nations withdrew from the competition, but the stronger nations were still very much in the game. The squad of the Spanish national team was given a boost by a rejuvenated Real Madrid, and the Germans reaped the rewards of the Bundesliga national league, as well as the introduction of full-time professional football.[citation needed]

References

  1. ^ This match was played in Honduras instead of in the United States.
  2. ^ a b Netherlands Antilles' games were all played away.

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