A total of 34 teams entered the

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 of the

1950 FIFA World Cup The 1950 FIFA World Cup was the fourth edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football championship for senior men's national teams and held in Brazil from 24 June to 16 July 1950. The planned 1942 and 1946 World Cups were ...

, competing for a total of 16 spots in the final tournament.

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 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 ...

, as the defending champions, qualified automatically, leaving 14 spots open for competition. The remaining 32 teams were divided into 10 groups, based on geographical considerations, as follows: *Groups 1 to 6 –

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

: ''7 places'', contested by 18 teams (including

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

and

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 ...

). *Groups 7 to 9 –

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

: ''6 places'', contested by 10 teams. *Group 10 –

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

: ''1 place'', contested by 4 teams. However, due to the withdrawals of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

and

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula ...

after qualifying, only 13 teams actually competed in the final tournament. A total of 19 teams played at least one qualifying match. A total of 26 qualifying matches were played, and 121 goals were scored (an average of 4.65 per match). Listed below are the dates and results of the qualification rounds.

Groups

The 10 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 and 4 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 final round directly. The 2 unseeded teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The winner would advance to final round. ** Final Round: The seeded team played against the winner of the First Round on a home-and-away basis. The winner would qualify. *Group 5 had 3 teams. The teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winner would qualify. *Group 6 had 2 teams. The teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winner would qualify. *Group 7 had 3 teams. The group winner and runner-up would qualify. *Group 8 had 4 teams. The group winner and runner-up would qualify. *Group 9 had 3 teams. The teams played against each other twice. The group winner and runner-up would qualify. *Group 10 had 4 teams. The group winner would qualify.

Group 1

---- ---- ---- ---- ---- England qualified. Scotland also qualified, but declined to participate.

Group 2

First round

Syria withdrew, and remaining match was not played. Turkey advanced to the Final Round.

Final round

Austria withdrew, so Turkey qualified automatically. But Turkey later also withdrew, and FIFA offered the place to Portugal, the runner-up of Group 6, but they declined. FIFA decided not to allow anyone else to qualify, leaving the World Cup two teams short.

Group 3

First round

---- Yugoslavia advanced to the Final Round.

Final round

---- ''France 2–2 Yugoslavia on aggregate, and a play-off on neutral ground was played to decide who would qualify.'' Yugoslavia qualified while France were also offered a place by FIFA. France initially accepted, but later declined.

Group 4

First round

---- Switzerland advanced to the Final Round.

Final round

Belgium withdrew, so Switzerland qualified automatically.

Group 5

---- ---- ---- Sweden qualified. Finland withdrew before the group was completed. Ireland (FAI) were subsequently invited to enter competition but declined the opportunity because of travelling costs. Sweden beat Finland 8–1 on 2 October 1949 in Malmö. However, FIFA's website does not include this match in the list of matches or in the group standings.

RSSSF The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF) is an international organization dedicated to collecting statistics about association football. The foundation aims to build an exhaustive archive of football-related information from around the ...

's website lists the match with the note "Sweden played B-team", and does not provide group standings.

Group 6

---- Spain qualified. Portugal were also invited to take part but they declined.

Group 7

Argentina withdrew, so Bolivia and Chile qualified automatically.

Group 8

Ecuador and Peru withdrew, so Uruguay and Paraguay qualified automatically.

Group 9

---- ---- ---- ---- ---- Mexico and the United States qualified.

Group 10

Burma, Indonesia and the Philippines all withdrew before the draw, so India qualified automatically. But India later also withdrew "because of the expense of travelling such a long way to play," and the

AIFF Audio Interchange File Format (AIFF) is an audio file format standard used for storing sound data for personal computers and other electronic audio devices. The format was developed by Apple Inc. in 1988 based on Electronic Arts' Interchange ...

wanted to concentrate on the 1952 Olympics. Although according to some reports, it was caused by a FIFA ruling that players were not allowed to play barefoot.WM 1950 , Brasilien , sportschau.de
FIFA decided not to invite anyone else, leaving the World Cup three teams short.

Qualified teams

Qualification for the 1950 FIFA World Cup

*, and withdrew after qualifying. *(H) – qualified automatically as hosts *(c) – qualified automatically as defending champions

Goalscorers

;4 goals *

Jack Rowley John Frederick Rowley (7 October 1918 – 28 June 1998) was an English footballer who played as a forward from the 1930s to the 1950s, mainly remembered for a 17-year spell with Manchester United. He was nicknamed "The Gunner" because of his pr ...

Horacio Casarín Horacio Casarín Garcilazo (25 May 1918 – 10 April 2005) was a Mexican professional football player and coach who established himself as one of his country's most popular sports figures in the 1940s and 1950s. A symbol for Atlante, the team ...

* Luis de la Fuente *

Željko Čajkovski Željko Čajkovski (5 May 1925 – 11 November 2016) was a Croatian football player and coach, who played as a forward. He was born in Zagreb, Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. Biography With the Yugoslavia national team he won the silver ...

;3 goals *

Jackie Milburn John Edward Thompson "Jackie" Milburn (11 May 1924 – 9 October 1988) was a football player principally associated with Newcastle United and England, though he also spent four seasons at Linfield. He was also known as Wor Jackie (particularly ...

Stan Mortensen Stanley Harding Mortensen (26 May 1921 – 22 May 1991) was an English professional footballer, most famous for his part in the 1953 FA Cup Final (subsequently known as the "Matthews Final"), in which he became the only player ever to score a ha ...

* Samuel Smyth * Con Martin * Henry Morris * Telmo Zarra * Karl-Erik Palmér *

Jacques Fatton Jacques Fatton (19 December 1925 – 26 July 2011) was a Swiss footballer. Career Fatton, who was born in Exincourt, France, was capped 53 times and scored 28 goals for the Switzerland national football team. He played in two FIFA World Cups, ...

* Fahreddin Cansever * Stjepan Bobek * Milutin Pajević ;2 goals * Stan Pearson * Henri Baillot *

Yehoshua Glazer Yehoshua Glazer ( he, יהושע גלזר, 29 December 1927 – 29 December 2018) was an Israeli footballer who played for Maccabi Tel Aviv and for the Israel national football team his entire career. Honours *Israeli Premier League (6): **1946� ...

* Antonio Flores * Luis Luna * José Naranjo * William Waddell *

René Maillard René Maillard (8 April 1931 – 4 December 2012) was a French composer. Life Born in Bois-Colombes, Maillard had his first violin lessons during the Second World War with Charles Maillier, who was a violin teacher in Limoges. He was then a stu ...

* Pete Matevich *

John Souza John Souza-Benavides (July 12, 1920 – March 11, 2012) known as John "Clarkie" Souza, was an American soccer player who earned 14 caps and scored 2 goals for the United States men's national soccer team, and played in the U.S. team's histori ...

* Frank Wallace * Prvoslav Mihajlović *

Marko Valok Marko Valok ( sr-Cyrl, Марко Валок, ; born 5 March 1927) is a Serbian retired professional footballer who represented Yugoslavia internationally. Playing career Napredak Kruševac He was part of the FK Napredak Kruševac team right at t ...

;1 goal * Jacinto Barquín * José Gómez * Santiago Veiga *

Roy Bentley Roy Thomas Frank Bentley (17 May 1924 – 20 April 2018) was an English football player and manager. A former forward, Bentley played 367 games for Chelsea and captained the club to their first League Championship in the 1954–55 season. H ...

* Jack Froggatt * Jorma Vaihela *

Jean Luciano Jean Luciano (2 January 1921 – 7 July 1997) was a French football player and manager who played as a midfielder. He coached OGC Nice, Sporting CP, Vitória S.C., SC Toulon, AS Monaco FC and Gazélec Ajaccio Gazélec Football Club Ajac ...

* Marius Walter * Bobby Brennan * Peter Farrell * Johnny Gavin *

Davy Walsh David Joseph Walsh (28 April 1923 – 14 March 2016), commonly referred to as Davy Walsh or Dave Walsh, was an Irish footballer who played as a centre forward for, among others, Linfield, West Bromwich Albion and Aston Villa. Walsh was a dual ...

* Jim Kremer * Armand Muller * Michel Reuter * Camille Wagner * Mario Ochoa * Héctor Ortiz *

Carlos Septién Carlos Septién González (18 January 1923 – 1978) was a Mexican football forward who played for Mexico in the 1950 and 1954 FIFA World Cups. He also played for Real Club España and Jaibos Tampico Madero. Septién played for Mexico a ...

* Fernando Cabrita * António Jesus Correia *

José Travassos José António Barreto Travassos (22 February 1926 – 12 February 2002) was a Portuguese footballer who played as a forward. Club career Born in Lisbon, Travassos joined Sporting CP in 1946 from G.D. CUF. During his spell with the club, he ap ...

* Alexander Linwood * Jimmy Mason * John McPhail * Lawrence Reilly *

Billy Steel William Steel (1 May 1923 – 13 May 1982) was a Scottish professional footballer who played for St Mirren, Morton, Derby County, Dundee and the Scotland national team. One of Scotland's greatest inside forwards, Billy Steel combined a bril ...

* Estanislao Basora *

Agustín Gaínza Agustín Gaínza Vicandi (28 May 1922 – 6 January 1995) was a Spanish football forward and manager. Club career Nicknamed ''Piru'', Gaínza's entire career was spent with Athletic Bilbao. Born in Basauri, Biscay, he made his official debu ...

Luis Molowny Luis Molowny Arbelo (12 May 1925 – 12 February 2010) was a Spanish football midfielder and coach. He amassed La Liga totals of 175 matches and 90 goals during 12 seasons, with Real Madrid and Las Palmas. He went on to work as a manager with t ...

José Luis Panizo José Luis López Panizo (6 February 1922 – 14 February 1990) was a Spanish footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. During 16 seasons he played for Athletic Bilbao, appearing in 413 official matches (179 goals) and winning seven ma ...

* Sune Anderson * Hasse Jeppson *

Nils Liedholm Nils Erik Liedholm (; 8 October 1922 – 5 November 2007) was a Swedish football midfielder and coach. ''Il Barone'' (The Baron), as he is affectionately known in Italy, was renowned for being part of the Swedish "Gre-No-Li" trio of strikers al ...

* Kiki Antenen *

Robert Ballaman Robert Ballaman (21 June 1926 – 5 September 2011) was a Swiss footballer who played as a centre forward. Career Born in Reconvilier, Ballaman began playing football with FC Reconvilier at age 15. in 1946, he joined FC Biel-Bienne, where he wo ...

* Hans-Peter Friedländer *

Walter Bahr Walter may refer to: People * Walter (name), both a surname and a given name * Little Walter, American blues harmonica player Marion Walter Jacobs (1930–1968) * Gunther (wrestler), Austrian professional wrestler and trainer Walter Hahn (born 19 ...

* Ben Wattman * Bülent Eken * Erol Keskin *

Gündüz Kılıç "Baba" Gündüz Kılıç (29 October 1918 – 17 May 1980) was a Turkish football player and coach. He was Ali Kılıç's son and Altemur Kılıç's brother. Biography Born in 1918 in Istanbul, Gündüz Kılıç attended Galatasaray Lycee ...

* Lefter Kücükandonyadis * Mal Griffiths *

Zlatko Čajkovski Zlatko "Čik" Čajkovski (24 November 1923 – 27 July 1998) was a Croatian and Yugoslavian football player and coach. His brother, Željko Čajkovski, was a footballer as well. Normally a defensive midfielder, Čajkovski was renowned for his ...

* Božidar Senčar

Notes

* At the start of 1950 there were, in effect, two ''Ireland'' teams, chosen by two rival associations. Both associations, the

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is #Descriptions, variously described as ...

-based

IFA IFA or Ifa may refer to: Organisations Economics * Independent financial adviser, a type of financial services professional in the UK * Index Fund Advisors * Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, representing actuaries in the UK * Institute of Ac ...

and the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. ...

-based FAI claimed jurisdiction over the whole of

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 ...

and selected players from the whole island. As a result, several notable Irish players from this era played for both teams. Four players – Tom Aherne,

Reg Ryan Reginald Alphonso Ryan (30 October 1925 – 13 February 1997), also referred to as Paddy Ryan, was an Irish footballer who played for West Bromwich Albion, Derby County and Coventry City. Ryan was also a dual international, playing for both ...

and Con Martin – actually played for both the FAI XI and the IFA XI in these qualifying rounds.

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 ...

intervened, after complaints from the FAI, pp. 50. and subsequently restricted players' eligibility based on the political border. In 1953 FIFA ruled neither team could be referred to as ''Ireland'', decreeing that the FAI team be officially designated as the

, while the IFA team was to become

. * For the third qualifying tournament in a row, the South American teams qualified automatically after withdrawals. In Group 7, Bolivia and Chile did play two matches between them, but they were not classified as official World Cup qualifiers by FIFA. * Burma, the Philippines and Indonesia all withdrew, so

qualified automatically. However, India withdrew later because of "disagreements over team selection and insufficient practice time.". India had never been able to qualify for the World Cup before and have never been able to do since then, which means they are the only team to have qualified for the World Cup and that never played a World Cup match. *

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 betwee ...

and

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

were both banned because of their actions during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, despite originally being a member of the

Axis powers The Axis powers, ; it, Potenze dell'Asse ; ja, 枢軸国 ''Sūjikukoku'', group=nb originally called the Rome–Berlin Axis, was a military coalition that initiated World War II and fought against the Allies. Its principal members were ...

, was allowed to participate because its government was overthrown in 1943 and the new government sided with the Allies.

References

External links

FIFA World Cup Official Site – 1950 World Cup Qualification

All World Cup – 1950 World Cup Qualification
{{DEFAULTSORT:1950 Fifa World Cup Qualification FIFA World Cup qualification