A total of 37 teams entered the

1938 FIFA World Cup The 1938 FIFA World Cup was the third edition of the World Cup, the quadrennial international football championship for senior men's national teams and was held in France from 4 June until 19 June 1938. Italy defended its title in the final, beat ...

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. For the first time the title holders and the host country were given automatic qualification. Therefore,

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, as the hosts, and

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 re ...

, as the defending champions, qualified automatically, leaving 14 spots open for competition. Due to the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

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 Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

and

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

). *Groups 10 and 11 –

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

: ''2 places'', contested by 9 teams. *Group 12 – Asia: ''1 place'', contested by 2 teams. However, due to the withdrawal of

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

after qualifying (they had been annexed by

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 betwe ...

), 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 Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

. 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).

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 Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

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

Groups

Group 1

---- ---- ---- ---- ---- Germany and Sweden qualified.

Group 2

---- Norway qualified.

Group 3

---- Poland finished above Yugoslavia on

goal average A goal is an idea of the future or desired result that a person or a group of people envision, plan and commit to achieve. People endeavour to reach goals within a finite time by setting deadlines. A goal is roughly similar to a purpose or ai ...

, and thus qualified.

Group 4

Egypt were to play Romania on 17 December 1937. However, Egypt withdrew from the competition after Egyptian officials objected to playing on this date since it was in the holy month of Ramadan. Therefore, Romania qualified after Egypt invited Austrian club side First Vienna to play the friendly match against the national team.

Group 5

Switzerland qualified.

Group 6

First round

---- Greece qualified for the final round.

Final round

Hungary qualified.

Group 7

---- Czechoslovakia qualified.

Group 8

First round

---- Latvia qualified for the final round.

Final round

Austria qualified, but was later incorporated by Germany during the

Anschluss The (, or , ), also known as the (, en, Annexation of Austria), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into the German Reich on 13 March 1938. The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a " Greater Germany ...

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

offered the place to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

(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

---- ---- Netherlands and Belgium qualified.

Group 10

Argentina withdrew, so Brazil qualified automatically.

Group 11

First round

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

Second round

All other teams than Cuba had withdrawn from competition, so thus qualified automatically for the finals.

Group 12

Japan withdrew, so Indonesia qualified automatically.

Qualified teams

Qualification for the 1938 FIFA World Cup

* withdrew after qualifying due to the

. *(h) – qualified automatically as hosts *(c) – qualified automatically as defending champions

Goalscorers

;5 goals *

Gyula Zsengellér Gyula Zsengellér (27 December 1915 – 29 March 1999) was a Hungarian footballer who played as a striker. A legend of Újpest FC, he is most famous for his part in taking the Hungarian national team to the 1938 World Cup Final. He was that ...

Fricis Kaņeps Fricis Kaņeps (10 August 1916, in Ventspils – 30 November 1981, in Staicele) was a Latvian footballer. He was one of the most powerful Latvian forwards of the 1930s who didn't have a very good technique but compensated it mostly by his physica ...

;4 goals *

Reidar Kvammen Reidar Kvammen (23 July 1914 – 27 October 1998) was a Norwegian football (soccer), footballer. Kvammen was an inside-forward who played his entire career for Viking F.K., Viking, and is regarded as one of Norway's greatest footballers of al ...

;3 goals * Ladislav Šimůnek *

Ernst Lehner Ernst Lehner (7 November 1912 – 10 January 1986) was a German footballer. He was born in Augsburg and died in Aschaffenburg. International He played for the Germany national football team in the 1934 FIFA World Cup and the 1938 FIFA World Cup. ...

Kleanthis Vikelidis Kleanthis Vikelides ( el, Κλεάνθης Βικελίδης; 23 October 1916 – 4 November 1988) was a Greek footballer who played for Aris Thessaloniki and the Greece national football team. He was also a manager, taking charge of Aris Thess ...

* József Nemes *

Iļja Vestermans Iļja Vestermans (28 September 1915 – 2005) was a Latvian football forward of Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins an ...

* Piet de Boer *

Lennart Bunke Lennart Bunke (3 April 1912 – 17 August 1988) was a Swedish football forward who played for Sweden. He also played for Helsingborgs IF Helsingborgs IF (full name Helsingborgs Idrottsförening), commonly referred to as HIF (), is a Swedish p ...

Gustav Wetterström Karl Gustav Evert Wetterström (15 October 1911 – 16 November 1991) was a Swedish footballer who played as a striker. He played for IK Sleipner and the Sweden national football team, for whom he appeared in the 1938 FIFA World Cup. He scored ...

;2 goals *

Oldřich Nejedlý Oldřich Nejedlý (26 December 1909 – 11 June 1990) was a Czechs, Czech Association football, footballer, who spent his entire professional career at Sparta Prague as an Forward (association football)#Inside forward, inside-forward. He is cons ...

Georg Siimenson Georg Siimenson (14 April 1912 – 12 June 1978) was an Estonian international footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association footb ...

Josef Gauchel Josef "Jupp" Gauchel (11 September 1916 – 21 March 1963) was a German football striker. In the 1930s, he played for TuS Neuendorf (now TuS Koblenz) and was an active member of the squad. Between 1936 and 1942, he played 16 times for Germany, ...

Helmut Schön Helmut Schön (15 September 1915 – 23 February 1996) was a German football player and manager. He is best remembered for his exceptional career as manager of the West German national team in four consecutive World Cup tournaments, including ...

Otto Siffling Otto Siffling (3 August 1912 – 20 October 1939) was a German footballer who played as a forward for SV Waldhof Mannheim and the Germany national team. As Germany international, he made 31 appearances scoring 17 goals between 1934 and 1938 an ...

Pál Titkos Pál Titkos (8 January 1908 – 8 October 1988) was a Hungary, Hungarian Association football , footballer. He played for MTK Hungária FC and the Hungary national football team. He scored two goals in the 1938 FIFA World Cup, including one in t ...

Jimmy Dunne James Dunne (3 September 1905 – 14 November 1949) was an Irish footballer who played for, among others, Shamrock Rovers, Sheffield United, Arsenal and Southampton. Dunne was also a dual internationalist and played for both Ireland teams: ...

* Vaclavs Borduško * Jonas Paulionis * Alf Martinsen * Leonard Piontek * Gustaf Josefsson ;1 goal *

Franz Binder Franz "Bimbo" Binder (1 December 1911 – 24 April 1989) was an Austrian football player and coach who played as a forward. Internationally he represented the Austria national football team and the Germany national football team during the Ansch ...

* Camillo Jerusalem *

Raymond Braine Raymond Ernest Michel Braine (28 April 1907 – 24 December 1978) was a Belgian football striker. He was also the first Belgian professional player, when he obtained a transfer to Sparta Prague in 1930. Braine played in 54 matches for the Be ...

Hendrik Isemborghs Hendrik Victor "Rik" Isemborghs (30 January 1914 in Antwerp – 9 March 1973) was a Belgian footballer. He played for Royal Beerschot AC and the Belgium national football team. He appeared in the 1938 FIFA World Cup The 1938 FIFA World ...

Bernard Voorhoof Bernard Voorhoof (10 May 1910 – 18 February 1974) was a Belgian footballer, for 34 years the Belgium national team top scorer with 30 goals in 61 matches. He was joined by Paul Van Himst in 1972 who needed 81 matches to score the same number ...

François Devries François De Vries , also named ''Sooi'' or ''Frans'' (born 21 August 1913 in Antwerp — died 17 February 1972) was a Belgian footballer. Biography He played for Royal Antwerp FC as a striker. He played with the Belgium team at the World ...

* Georgi Panchediev * Josef Ludl *

Jan Říha Jan Říha (11 November 1915 – 15 December 1995) was a Czech football player. He played for Czechoslovakia, for which he played 25 matches and scored 9 goals. Profile He was a participant in the 1938 FIFA World Cup The 1938 FIFA World Cup ...

Richard Kuremaa Richard Kuremaa (12 January 1912 – 10 January 1991) was an Estonian footballer - one of the most famous before World War II. He played 42 times for Estonia national football team scoring 19 goals. He debuted on 11 June 1933 in game versus Swe ...

Heinrich Uukkivi Heinrich Uukkivi (10 May 1912 – 12 April 1943) was an Estonian association football, bandy and ice hockey player. He won the Estonian Football Championship five times, the Estonian Bandy Championship three times and the Estonian Ice Hockey Cha ...

Fritz Szepan Friedrich "Fritz" Szepan (2 September 1907 – 14 December 1974) was a German footballer in the period leading up to and including World War II. He spent his entire career with Schalke 04 where he won six national championships and one German C ...

Adolf Urban Adolf Urban (9 January 1914 – 23 May 1943) was a German footballer. Urban, a forward, played for Schalke 04, among others, and made 21 appearances for Germany between 1935 and 1941, scoring 11 goals. He was also part of Germany's squad at t ...

* Lefteris Makris *

Antonis Migiakis Antonis Migiakis ( el, Aντώνης Mηγιάκης; born 23 October 1911 – 19 November 1999) was a star forward for Greek football team Panathinaikos in the 1930s. He is probably best remembered for his memorable performance in his team's 8� ...

Jenő Vincze Jenő Vincze ''( sr, Eugen Vince)'' (20 November 1908 – 20 November 1988) was a Hungarians, Hungarian footballer and a legend of Újpest FC, most famous for playing for the Hungary national football team, Hungarian national team in the 1938 FI ...

Harry Duggan Henry Anthony Duggan (1903–1968) was an Irish footballer. Described as a talented and speedy right winger, he played for both Leeds United and Newport County. Duggan was a dual internationalist and played for both Ireland teams – the FA ...

Matty Geoghegan Matthew Geoghegan was a Republic of Ireland international footballer. Geoghegan was capped twice for the Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisti ...

Kevin O'Flanagan Kevin Patrick O'Flanagan (10 June 1919 – 26 May 2006) was an Irish sportsman, physician and sports administrator. An outstanding all-rounder, he represented his country at both soccer and rugby union. He was also a noted sprinter and long jum ...

Juozas Gudelis Juozas is a Lithuanian masculine given name, a shortened version of Juozapas, which in turn is the equivalent of English ''Joseph''. List of people named Juozas * Juozas Adomaitis-Šernas (1859–1922), Lithuanian scientific writer and book smugg ...

Gusty Kemp Gustave "Gusty" Kemp (24 February 1917 – 14 April 1948) was a Luxembourger footballer who played as a midfielder for the Luxembourg national football team The Luxembourg national football team (nicknamed the ''Red Lions''; lb, Lëtzeb ...

Camille Libar Camille Libar (27 December 1917 – 9 October 1991) was a football player and manager from Luxembourg. Club career Libar played for Stade Dudelange, RC Strasbourg, FC Girondins de Bordeaux, FC Metz and Toulouse. In the 1948–49 season, he ...

* Peri Neufeld *

Kick Smit Johannes Chrishostomus "Kick" Smit (3 November 1911 – 1 July 1974) was a Dutch football player. He earned 29 caps and scored 26 goals for the Netherlands national football team, and played in the 1934 and 1938 World Cups.Henk van Spaandonck *

Ernst Wilimowski Ernest Otton Wilimowski (, born Ernst Otto Prandella; 23 June 1916 – 30 August 1997), nicknamed "Ezi", was a Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward. He ranks among the best goalscorers in the h ...

* Jerzy Wostal *

Fernando Peyroteo Fernando Baptista de Seixas Peyroteo de Vasconcelos (10 March 1918 – 28 November 1978) was a Portuguese footballer who played as a striker. He spent his entire professional career with Sporting CP, scoring 544 goals in all competitions, winn ...

Sven Jonasson Sven Jonasson (9 July 1909 – 17 September 1984) was a Swedish football striker and manager. Career He played for Sweden at the 1936 Summer Olympics. He was born in Borås and died in Varberg. He played for IF Elfsborg and the Sweden national ...

* Erik Persson *

Kurt Svanström Kurt Svanström (24 March 1915 – 16 January 1996) was a Swedish football midfielder who played for Sweden in the 1938 FIFA World Cup.

* Georges Aeby *

Lauro Amadò Lauro Amadò (3 March 1912 – 6 June 1971), also known as Lajo, was a Swiss football player. Career Amadò was born in Lugano. He played 54 international games for the Switzerland national football team and scored 21 goals. The striker took ...

Blagoje Marjanović Blagoje "Moša" Marjanović ( sr-Cyrl, Благоје "Моша" Марјановић, ; 9 September 1907 – 1 October 1984) was a Serbian football player and manager. Early life Born to merchant father Dimitrije and housewife mother Sofija, yo ...

Notes

* It was originally intended that the World Cup would be held alternately between the continents of South America and Europe. However

Jules Rimet Jules Rimet (; 14 October 1873 – 16 October 1956) was a French football administrator who was the 3rd President of FIFA, serving from 1921 to 1954. He is FIFA's longest-serving president, in office for 33 years. He also served as the presid ...

, the creator of the World Cup, convinced

to hold the competition in France, his home country. Because of this controversial move, many American countries, including

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 second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

(the most likely hosts if the event was held in South America),

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

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 ...

El Salvador El Salvador (; , meaning " The Saviour"), officially the Republic of El Salvador ( es, República de El Salvador), is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south b ...

, Mexico, Dutch Guiana,

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 ...

, and the United States, all withdrew or refused to enter.. Brazil and Cuba were the only countries from the Americas to enter qualification and thus qualified for the World Cup by default.

References

External links

FIFA World Cup Official Site - 1938 World Cup Qualification
{{FIFA World Cup qualification

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 ...

FIFA World Cup qualification

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 ...