99 teams entered the 1974 FIFA World Cup

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 16 spots in the final tournament.

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 O ...

, as the hosts, and

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, as the defending champions, qualified automatically, leaving 14 spots open for competition. The 16 spots available in the 1974 World Cup would be distributed among the continental zones as follows: * Europe (

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 f ...

): ''9.5 places'', 1 of them went to automatic qualifier West Germany, while the other 8.5 places were contested by 32 teams. The winner of the 0.5 place would advance to the Intercontinental Play-offs (against a team from CONMEBOL). * South America ( CONMEBOL): ''3.5 places'', 1 of them went to automatic qualifier Brazil, while the other 2.5 places were contested by 9 teams. The winner of the 0.5 place would advance to the Intercontinental Play-offs (against a team from UEFA). * North, Central America and Caribbean (

CONCACAF The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football,, ; french: Confédération de football d'Amérique du Nord, d'Amérique centrale et des Caraïbes, . Dutch language, Dutch uses the English name. abbreviated as CON ...

): ''1 place'', contested by 14 teams. * Africa ( CAF): ''1 place'', contested by 24 teams. * Asia ( AFC) and

Oceania Oceania (, , ) is a geographical region that includes Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Spanning the Eastern and Western hemispheres, Oceania is estimated to have a land area of and a population of around 44.5 million ...

( OFC): ''1 place'', contested by 18 teams. 90 teams played at least one qualifying match. 226 qualifying matches were played, and 620 goals were scored (an average of 2.74 per match).

Confederation qualification

AFC and OFC

: Australia qualified.

CAF

Zaire Zaire (, ), officially the Republic of Zaire (french: République du Zaïre, link=no, ), was a Congolese state from 1971 to 1997 in Central Africa that was previously and is now again known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Zaire was, ...

qualified.

CONCACAF

: Haiti qualified.

CONMEBOL

:Group 1 -

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 ...

qualified. :Group 2 -

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 ...

qualified. :Group 3 -

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 ...

advanced to the UEFA / CONMEBOL Intercontinental Play-off.

UEFA

:Group 1 - Sweden qualified. :Group 2 -

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 ...

qualified. :Group 3 -

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

qualified. :Group 4 -

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

qualified. :Group 5 -

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

qualified. :Group 6 -

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

qualified. :Group 7 -

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

qualified. :Group 8 -

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

qualified. :Group 9 -

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

advanced to the UEFA / CONMEBOL Intercontinental Play-off.

Inter-confederation play-offs: UEFA v CONMEBOL

The teams would play against each other on a home-and-away basis, with the winner qualifying to the finals. The second leg was scratched as the

were disqualified after they refused to travel to Santiago for the return leg due to the

1973 Chilean coup d'état The 1973 Chilean coup d'état Enciclopedia Virtual > Historia > Historia de Chile > Del gobierno militar a la democracia" on LaTercera.cl. Retrieved 22 September 2006. In October 1972, Chile suffered the first of many strikes. Among the par ...

and the executions of left-wing prisoners in the Santiago stadium. The match did "go ahead" with the eleven Chilean players facing zero Soviet players before thousands of bemused spectators, and half a dozen Chilean players slowly passed the ball to each other in mock play until the captain walked the ball into the net.

Qualified teams

The following 16 teams qualified for the 1974 FIFA World Cup:

Top goalscorers

;12 goals *

Steve David Steve David (born 11 March 1951 in Point Fortin, Trinidad) is a Trinidadian former North American Soccer League and international football player. Club career David began his professional career with Police in Trinidad and Tobago. In 1974, he ...

;11 goals *

Emmanuel Sanon Emmanuel "Manno" Sanon (25 June 1951 – 21 February 2008) was a Haitian professional footballer who played as a striker. He starred in the Haiti national team winning the 1973 CONCACAF Championship. Haiti qualified for the finals of the 1974 ...

;7 goals *

Hristo Bonev Hristo Atanasov Bonev ( bg, Христо Aтанасов Бонев; born 3 February 1947), also known as Zuma ( bg, Зума), is a Bulgarian footballer manager and former player who last managed Lokomotiv Plovdiv in the Bulgarian A PFG. One o ...

Joachim Streich Joachim Streich (13 April 1951 – 16 April 2022) was a German footballer who won the bronze medal with East Germany at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. Playing career Born in Wismar, Streich played as a striker for Aufbau Wismar from 1957 t ...

Luigi Riva Luigi "Gigi" Riva (; born 7 November 1944) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a centre-forward. Considered to be one of the best players of his generation, as well as one of the greatest strikers of all time, Riva enjoye ...

Johan Cruyff Hendrik Johannes Cruijff (, internationally known as Johan Cruyff; 25 April 1947 – 24 March 2016) was a Dutch professional football player and manager. As a player, he won the Ballon d'Or three times, in 1971, 1973 and 1974. Cruyff was a ...

Notes

* For the first time in the qualifiers, goal difference was used as a tie-breaker for teams who finished level on points.

Aggregate score There are a number of formats used in various levels of competition in sports and games to determine an overall champion. Some of the most common are the ''single elimination'', the ''best-of-'' series, the ''total points series'' more commonly kn ...

was also used to determine the winners of two-legged ties. * Australia was the first team from OFC to qualify for a World Cup.

References

External links

FIFA World Cup Official Site - 1974 World Cup Qualification
{{1973 in Japanese football

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 ...