1962 FIFA World Cup qualification

Tournament details
Dates	21 August 1960 – 16 December 1961
Teams	56 (from 6 confederations)
Tournament statistics
Matches played	92
Goals scored	325 (3.53 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Andrej Kvašňák (7 goals)
← 1958 1966 →

A total of 56 teams entered the 1962 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds, competing for a total of 16 spots in the final tournament. Chile, as the hosts, and Brazil, as the defending champions, qualified automatically, leaving 14 spots open for competition.

As with previous World Cups, the rules of the qualification rounds varied by confederation.^[1] The winners of the four weakest continental zones: North America (NAFC), Central America and Caribbean (CCCF), Africa (CAF) and Asia (AFC), were not guaranteed direct spots in the final tournament. Instead, they entered a play-off against a team from either Europe (UEFA) or South America (CONMEBOL), with the winners of the three play-offs qualifying.

The 16 spots available in the 1962 World Cup would be distributed among the continental zones as follows:

• Europe (UEFA): 8 direct places + 2 spots in the Intercontinental Play-offs (against teams from CAF and AFC), contested by 30 teams (including Israel and Ethiopia).
• South America (CONMEBOL): 5 direct places + 1 spot in the Intercontinental Play-offs (against a team from CCCF/NAFC); 2 direct places went to automatic qualifiers Chile and Brazil, while the other 3.5 places were contested by 7 teams.
• North, Central America and Caribbean (CCCF/NAFC): 1 spot in the Intercontinental Play-offs (against a team from CONMEBOL), contested by 8 teams.
• Africa (CAF): 1 spot in the Intercontinental Play-offs (against a team from UEFA), contested by 6 teams.
• Asia (AFC): 1 spot in the Intercontinental Play-offs (against a team from UEFA), contested by 3 teams.

A total of 49 teams played at least one qualifying match. A total of 92 qualifying matches were played, and 325 goals were scored (an average of 3.53 per match).

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

There would be only one round of play. The 3 teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winner would advance to the UEFA/AFC Intercontinental Play-off.

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	Pts
1	South Korea	2	4
2	Japan	2	0
3	Indonesia	0	0

There would be two rounds of play:

• First round: The 6 teams were divided into 3 groups of 2 teams each. The teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winners would advance to the Final Round.
• Final round: The 3 teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winner would advance to the UEFA/CAF Intercontinental Play-off.

Group 1	Group 2	Group 3
Sudan and the United Arab Republic both withdrew; the Group was scratched.[3]	Pos Team v t e Pld Pts 1  Morocco 2 2 2  Tunisia 2 2 Source: RSSSF[2]	Pos Team v t e Pld Pts 1  Ghana 2 3 2  Nigeria 2 1 Source: RSSSF[2]

Second round
Pos Team v t e Pld Pts 1  Morocco 2 3 2  Ghana 2 1 Source: RSSSF[2]

There would be two rounds of play:

• First Round: The remaining 7 teams (Canada withdrew before the matches began) were divided into 3 groups of 2 or 3 teams each (Group 1 with teams from Northern America and Mexico, Group 2 with teams from Central America and Group 3 with teams from Caribbean). The teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winners would advance to the Final Round.
• Final Round: The 3 teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winner would advance to the CONMEBOL/CCCF/NAFC Intercontinental Play-off.

Group 1	Group 2	Group 3
Pos Team v t e Pld Pts 1  Mexico 2 3 2  United States 2 1 Source: FIFA[4]	Pos Team v t e Pld Pts 1  Costa Rica 4 5 2  Honduras 4 5 3  Guatemala 4 2 Source: FIFA[4]	Pos Team v t e Pld Pts 1  Netherlands Antilles 2 3 2  Suriname 2 1 Source: FIFA[4]

Second round
Pos Team v t e Pld Pts 1  Mexico 4 5 2  Costa Rica 4 4 3  Netherlands Antilles 4 3 Source: FIFA[4]

Among the 7 teams, Paraguay were drawn to play in the CONMEBOL / CCCF / NAFC Intercontinental Play-off. The remaining 6 teams were divided into 3 groups of 2 teams each. The teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winners would qualify.

Group 1	Group 2	Group 3
Pos Team v t e Pld Pts 1  Argentina 2 4 2  Ecuador 2 0 Source: FIFA[5]	Pos Team v t e Pld Pts 1  Uruguay 2 3 2  Bolivia 2 1 Source: FIFA[6]	Pos Team v t e Pld Pts 1  Colombia 2 3 2  Peru 2 1 Source: FIFA[7]

The 30 teams were divided into 10 groups. The groups had different rules, as follows:

• Groups 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 8 had 3 teams each. The teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winners would qualify. If the top two teams finished on level points, then a play-off at a neutral ground determined the final qualifier.
• Group 7 had 5 teams. The teams played in a knockout tournament, with matches on a home-and-away basis. The group winner would qualify.
• Group 9 had 2 teams. The teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winner would advance to the UEFA / CAF Intercontinental Play-off. If the top two teams finished on level points, then a play-off at a neutral ground determined the final qualifier.
• Group 10 had 2 teams. The teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winner would advance to the UEFA / AFC Intercontinental Play-off. If the top two teams finished on level points, then a play-off at a neutral ground determined the final qualifier.

Group 1	Group 2	Group 3
Pos Team v t e Pld Pts 1  Sweden 4 6 2   Switzerland 4 6 3  Belgium 4 0 Source: FIFA[8]	Pos Team v t e Pld Pts 1  France 4 6 2  Bulgaria 4 6 3  Finland 4 0 Source: FIFA[9]	Pos Team v t e Pld Pts 1  West Germany 4 8 2  Northern Ireland 4 2 3  Greece 4 2 Source: FIFA[10]
Group 4	Group 5	Group 6
Pos Team v t e Pld Pts 1  Hungary 4 7 2  Netherlands 3 2 3  East Germany 3 1 Source: FIFA[11]	Pos Team v t e Pld Pts 1  Soviet Union 4 8 2  Turkey 4 4 3  Norway 4 0 Source: FIFA[12]	Pos Team v t e Pld Pts 1  England 4 7 2  Portugal 4 3 3  Luxembourg 4 2 Source: FIFA[13]
Group 8	Group 9	Group 10
Pos Team v t e Pld Pts 1  Czechoslovakia 4 6 2  Scotland 4 6 3  Republic of Ireland 4 0 Source: FIFA[14]	Pos Team v t e Pld Pts 1  Spain 2 3 2  Wales 2 1 Source: FIFA[15]	Pos Team v t e Pld Pts 1  Yugoslavia 2 3 2  Poland 2 1 Source: FIFA[16]

Group 7
First Round Second Round Final Round  Italy w/o  Romania (withdrew)  Italy 4 6 10  Israel 2 0 2  Ethiopia 0 2 2  Israel 1 6 7  Israel 1 3 4  Cyprus 1 1 2

In each play-off, the teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The winners would qualify.

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Spain	2	2	0	0	4	2	+2	4	Qualification to 1962 FIFA World Cup		—	3–2
2	Morocco	2	0	0	2	2	4	−2	0			0–1	—

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Yugoslavia	2	2	0	0	8	2	+6	4	Qualification to 1962 FIFA World Cup		—	5–1
2	South Korea	2	0	0	2	2	8	−6	0			1–3	—

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Mexico	2	1	1	0	1	0	+1	3	Qualification to 1962 FIFA World Cup		—	1–0
2	Paraguay	2	0	1	1	0	1	−1	1			0–0	—

Team	Date of qualification	Finals appearance	Streak	Last appearance
Argentina	17 December 1960	4th	2	1958
Brazil (defending champions)	29 June 1958	7th	7	1958
Bulgaria	16 December 1961	1st	1	–
Chile (hosts)	11 June 1956	3rd	1	1950
Colombia	7 May 1961	1st	1	–
Czechoslovakia	29 November 1961	5th	3	1958
England	25 October 1961	4th	4	1958
Hungary	10 September 1961	5th	3	1958
Italy	4 November 1961	5th	1	1954
Mexico	5 November 1961	5th	4	1958
Spain	23 November 1961	3rd	1	1950
Switzerland	12 November 1961	5th	1	1954
Uruguay	30 July 1961	4th	1	1954
Soviet Union	12 November 1961	2nd	2	1958
West Germany	22 October 1961	5th	3	1958
Yugoslavia	26 November 1961	5th	4	1958

7 goals

6 goals

5 goals

4 goals

3 goals

2 goals

1 goal

1 own goal

• For the second World Cup in a row, no teams from Africa or Asia qualified.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Qualification for the 1962 FIFA World Cup.

• FIFA World Cup Official Site – 1962 World Cup Qualification
• RSSSF – 1962 World Cup Qualification