A total of 55 teams entered the 1958 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 a total of 16 spots in the final tournament. Sweden as the hosts and

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 defending champions, qualified automatically, leaving 14 spots open for competition.

Qualification Process

The qualification rounds for the four previous World Cups differed widely, with controversial rules and many withdrawals. From this tournament onwards, FIFA divided the teams into several continental zones, assigned a pre-determined number of places in the final tournament to each zone, and delegated the organisation of the qualifying tournaments to its confederations:

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 ...

of Europe, CONMEBOL of South America, NAFC of North America, CCCF of Central America and Caribbean, CAF of Africa and AFC of Asia (and OFC of Oceania after it was formed later). The 16 spots available in the 1958 World Cup would be distributed among the continental zones as follows: *Europe (

): ''11 places'', 2 of them went to automatic qualifiers Sweden and

, while the other 9 places were contested by 27 teams. *South America ( CONMEBOL): ''3 places'', contested by 9 teams. *North, Central America and Caribbean ( NAFC/ CCCF): ''1 place'', contested by 6 teams. *Africa ( CAF) and Asia ( AFC): ''1 place'', contested by 11 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 ...

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ge ...

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 in ...

). However, FIFA also imposed a rule that no team would qualify without playing at least one match because many teams qualified for previous World Cups without playing due to withdrawals of their opponents. Because

won the African and Asian zone under this circumstance, FIFA required them to enter a play-off against a team from Europe who initially did not qualify, with the winner of this play-off qualifying. Therefore, effectively in the end, a total of ''11.5 places'' were granted to Europe while only ''0.5 places'' were granted to Africa and Asia. A total of 46 teams played at least one qualifying match. A total of 89 qualifying matches were played, and 341 goals were scored (an average of 3.83 per match). Listed below are the dates and results of the qualification rounds.

Confederation qualification

AFC and CAF

CCCF and NAFC

The 6 teams were divided into 2 groups with 3 teams each (Group 1 with teams from North America and Group 2 with teams from Central America and Caribbean). The teams played each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winners advanced to the Final Round. The two teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis with the winner qualifying for the final tournament.

CONMEBOL

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.

UEFA

The 27 teams were divided into 9 groups, each featuring 3 teams. The teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winners would qualify. Denmark, East Germany, Iceland and the Soviet Union made their debuts in World Cup qualification.

Inter-confederation play-offs: AFC/CAF v UEFA

A special play-off was created between Israel and the runner-up of one of the UEFA/CONMEBOL/CCCF/NAFC Groups, where the teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis, with the winner qualifying. Two-time champions Uruguay withdrew, while Northern Ireland and Italy had one final match yet to play, so all three were left out. Belgium, Bulgaria, Wales, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Spain, Peru, Bolivia and Costa Rica were left to draw. After

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

refused,

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

, the runner-up of UEFA Group 4, was the team drawn from the UEFA group runners-up.

Qualified teams

Goalscorers

;8 goals *

Tommy Taylor Thomas Taylor (29 January 1932 – 6 February 1958) was an English footballer, who was known for his aerial ability. He was one of the eight Manchester United players who died in the Munich air disaster. Career Taylor was born in Smithies, ...

;7 goals *

Thadée Cisowski Thadée Cisowski (16 February 1927 – 24 February 2005), originally Tadeusz Cisowski, was a French former footballer who played as a striker. A son of Polish immigrants, he was one of the best goalscorers in Championnat de France. In the Worl ...

;5 goals * Crescencio Gutiérrez * Jackie Mudie ;4 goals *

Paul Vandenberg Paul Herman Marie Ghislain Vandenberg (born 11 October 1936) is a former international Belgian footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are as ...

* Tadeusz Kraus *

John Atyeo Peter John Walter Atyeo (7 February 1932 – 8 June 1993) was an English footballer who played as a striker. He spent the majority of his career at Bristol City. He won six England caps between 1955 and 1957, scoring five goals. Atyeo made 645 a ...

Ferenc Machos Ferenc Machos (30 June 1932 - 3 December 2006) was a Hungarian football forward who played for Hungary in the 1954 FIFA World Cup.Rusli Ramang Andi Ramang (April 24, 1924 – September 26, 1987) was an Indonesian footballer. He is widely considered by Indonesian football experts and former players as one of the greatest players in the history of Indonesian football. He is particularl ...

Edward Jankowski Edward Karol Jankowski (9 January 1930 — 19 March 1987) was a Polish footballer who played as a forward. Born in Bogucice, he played for clubs including Gwardia Warsaw, Legia Warsaw, Górnik Radlin, Górnik Zabrze, Maribymong Polonia and RO ...

Nikita Simonyan Nikita Pavlovich Simonyan ( hy, Նիկիտա Մկրտիչ Սիմոնյան, born ''Mkrtych Pogosovich Simonyan'', 12 October 1926) is a former Soviet football striker and coach of Armenian descent. He was born in Armavir. As of 2021 he was ...

Ladislao Kubala Ladislao is a given name, a Hispanic variant of Vladislav. Notable people with the name include: * Ladislao Cabrera, Bolivian hero during the War of the Pacific * Ladislao Diwa, Filipino patriot * Ladislao Martínez, Puerto Rico musician * Lászl ...

;3 goals *

Omar Oreste Corbatta Oreste Omar Corbatta Fernández (11 March 1936 – 5 December 1991) was an Argentine footballer who played as right winger. Corbatta is regarded as the greatest idol in the history of Racing Club. Dubbed '' Arlequín''Norberto Menéndez Norberto "Beto" Menéndez (14 December 1936 – 26 May 1994) was an Argentine footballer striker. He was born in 1936 in the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina. He scored one goal for the Argentina national team at the 1958 World Cup in Sweden, agai ...

Gerhard Hanappi Gerhard Hanappi (16 February 1929 – 23 August 1980) was an Austrian football midfielder who is often regarded as one of the greatest Austrian footballers. He is also the father of Hardy Hanappi. Club career A versatile midfielder, Hanappi st ...

* Maurice Willems *

Máximo Alcócer Máximo Luis Alcócer (15 April 1933 – 13 May 2014) was a Bolivian footballer whose career lasted for almost ten years. His career debut began in 1954. He retired in 1964. Club career Alcócer played for Club Union Maestranza, Club Wilste ...

* Hristo Iliev *

Jorge Hernán Monge Jorge Hernán Monge Mora (14 February 1938 – 28 November 2019) was a Costa Rican football player, considered in his country as one of the top strikers ever to have played the game. Club career Better known as ''Cuty'', he debuted with ...

* Rodolfo Herrera González * Álvaro Murillo *

Jean Vincent Jean Vincent (29 November 1930 – 13 August 2013) was a French international footballer and manager. Playing career Playing primarily at outside-left, Vincent enjoyed a highly successful career at club and international level, winning numero ...

* Dermot Curtis *

Alfredo Hernández Alfredo Hernández is an American drummer best known as a former member of desert rock bands Kyuss, Queens of the Stone Age, Brant Bjork and the Bros and Yawning Man, and as a current member of the band, Avon. Career Hernández joined Kyuss ...

* Héctor Hernández * Salvador Reyes Monteón *

Abe Lenstra Abe Minderts Lenstra (27 November 1920 – 2 September 1985) was a Dutch footballer and national football icon in the 1950s who played as a forward. He is regarded as one of the greatest players ever to hail from the Netherlands. He was als ...

* Noud van Melis *

Jimmy McIlroy James McIlroy (25 October 1931 – 20 August 2018) was a Northern Ireland international footballer, who played for Glentoran, Burnley, Stoke City and Oldham Athletic. He was regarded as one of Burnley's greatest players, having played 497 matc ...

Juan Bautista Agüero Juan Bautista Agüero Sánchez (24 June 1935 – 27 December 2018) was a Paraguayan football striker. Career He started his career at Olimpia Asunción, which was at time coached by the great Aurelio González. There, Agüero won some nationa ...

Florencio Amarilla Florencio Amarilla Lacasa (3 January 1935 – 25 August 2012) was a Paraguayan footballer, coach and later actor. He played as a striker. Amarilla was born in Bogado, Paraguay. He started his career in with Club Nacional in Paraguay before bei ...

Anatoli Ilyin Anatoli Mikhaylovich Ilyin (russian: Анатолий Михайлович Ильин; 27 June 1931 – 10 February 2016) was a Soviet Russian footballer. Honours * Olympic champion: 1956. * Soviet Top League winner: 1952, 1953, 1956, 1958, 196 ...

Eduard Streltsov Eduard Anatolyevich Streltsov ( rus, Эдуа́рд Анато́льевич Стрельцо́в, p=ɨdʊˈart ɐnɐˈtolʲjɪvʲitɕ strʲɪlʲˈtsof, a=Ru-Eduard Streltsov-yzavyalo.ogg; 21 July 1937 – 22 July 1990) was a Soviet footballer ...

Des Palmer Desmond "Des" Frederick Palmer (born 23 September 1931) is a retired Welsh male international footballer forward. He was part of the Wales national football team, playing 3 matches and scoring 3 goals. He played his first match on 26 May 1957 ag ...

Muhamed Mujić Muhamed Mujić (25 April 1933 – 20 February 2016) was a Yugoslav footballer of Bosnian ethnicity. Mujić played for Velež Mostar for most of his career and made his international debut in an April 1956 Central European International Cup ...

;2 goals *

Roberto Zárate Roberto Zárate (15 December 1932 – 6 November 2013) was an Argentine 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 football ...

* Hans Buzek * Theodor Wagner *

Henri Coppens Henri 'Rik' François Louis Coppens (29 April 1930 – 5 February 2015) was a Belgian footballer who played as a striker. He played 389 games and scored 261 goals for Beerschot AC. Coppens won the first Belgian Golden Shoe in 1954. After his c ...

Victor Mees Victor Mees (26 January 1927 – 11 November 2012), nicknamed Vic or Vicky, was a Belgian footballer who played all of his career at Royal Antwerp. Club career Mees was born in Antwerp. He made his first team debut at the age of 17, just ...

* Richard Orlans * Georgi Dimitrov * Panayot Panayotov * Art Hughes *

Brian Philley Brian Philley (15 August 1926 – 30 August 2002) was a former Canadian soccer player. He was a two-time national champion with Vancouver City FC (known as Hale-Co FC in 1956) and Westminster Royals FC (1960). He was Canada Canada is a ...

Gogie Stewart Gogie Stewart (2 January 1929 – 12 May 2003) was a multi-sport athlete from British Columbia, notably a former Canadian soccer player and lacrosse player. He was a three-time national soccer champion with Canadian clubs Vancouver City FC (195 ...

* Jaime Ramírez * Mario Cordero * Rubén Jiménez Rodríguez * Danilo Montero Campos * Wilfred de Lanoy * Ove Bech Nielsen *

Günther Wirth Günther Wirth (9 January 1933 – 13 November 2020) was a German 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 football, American ...

* Duncan Edwards *

Célestin Oliver Célestin Oliver (12 July 1930 – 5 June 2011) was a French footballer who played as a striker. He was part of the France national team during the 1952 Summer Olympics and the 1958 FIFA World Cup tournaments. In 1979, he created an educat ...

Roger Piantoni Roger Piantoni (26 December 1931 – 26 May 2018) was a French footballer who played as an inside-forward and was a star on the French national team in the late 1950s. During the 1949–1950 season, he was the champion of Lorraine with his te ...

Joseph Ujlaki Joseph Ujlaki ( hu, Újlaki József) (10 August 1929 – 13 February 2006) was a French footballer of Hungarian descent, one of the best strikers in Division 1 (190 goals) in the 1950s and 1960s. He acquired French nationality by naturalizati ...

Francisco López Contreras Francisco "Pinula" López Contreras (born 17 September 1934) is a Guatemalan former football player and coach. He played the majority of his playing career at C.S.D. Comunicaciones of Guatemala City and was also a member of the Guatemala nati ...

Lajos Csordás Lajos Csordás (26 October 1932 – 5 April 1968) was a Hungarian footballer. He won the gold medal at the 1952 Summer Olympics and was runner-up of the 1954 FIFA World Cup The 1954 FIFA World Cup was the fifth edition of the FIFA World Cup, ...

Nándor Hidegkuti Nándor Hidegkuti (3 March 1922 – 14 February 2002) was a Hungarian football player and manager. He played as a forward or attacking midfielder and spent the majority of his playing career at MTK Hungária FC. During the 1950s he was also ...

Ríkharður Jónsson Ríkharður Jónsson (12 November 1929 – 14 February 2017) was an Icelandic football player and manager. He made his debut for the Icelandic national team in 1947, and got 33 caps and 17 goals until 1965. This made him top goalscorer of th ...

* Þórður Jónsson * Þórður Þórðarson * Guido Gratton * Carlos González * Héctor Hernández * Ligorio López * Enrique Sesma * Cor van der Gijp *

Harald Hennum Harald Ove Hennum (29 May 1928 – 14 October 1993) was a Norwegian footballer who played as a forward for Frigg and Skeid. He was one of Norway's greatest football profiles in the 1950s. Club career Hennum started his career playing for Frig ...

Ángel Jara Saguier Ángel Críspulo Jara Saguier (Asunción, 1 October 1936 — 15 September 2008) was a Paraguayan footballer. Ángel is one of the seven Jara Saguier brothers that played professional football in Paraguay.Enrique Jara Saguier Enrique Augusto Jara Saguier (born 12 July 1934 in Asunción, Paraguay) is a former football player. Enrique is one of the seven Jara Saguier brothers that played professional football in Paraguay. Career Enrique Jara Saguier spent most of his ...

Lucjan Brychczy Lucjan Antoni Brychczy (otherwise known as Kici; born 13 June 1934) is a former Polish football player who is most notable for winning four top-tier titles with Legia Warsaw, but was also a keen archer. In football, he represented ŁTS Łab� ...

Gerard Cieślik Gerard Cieślik (27 April 1927 – 3 November 2013), also known as Gienek, was a football player of Ruch Chorzów (1949-1955 Unia Chorzów, 1956 Unia-Ruch Chorzów). Playing for the Poland national football team, he is most noted for hav ...

Manuel Vasques Manuel Soeiro Vasques (29 July 1926 – 10 July 2003) was a Portuguese footballer who played as a forward. Club career Born in Barreiro, Setúbal District, Vasques joined Sporting CP in 1946, from local club G.D. CUF. During his spell in Lis ...

Alexandru Ene Alexandru Ene (also known as Alexandru Ene I; 19 September 1928 – 22 May 2011) was a Romanian football striker. Club career Alexandru Ene was born on 19 September 1928 in Brăila, Romania and he started playing football at junior level at O ...

Anatoli Isayev Anatoli Konstantinovich Isayev (russian: Анатолий Константинович Исаев; 14 July 1932 – 10 July 2016) was a Soviet football player and Soviet and Russian coach. Honours * Olympic champion: 1956. * Soviet Top Lea ...

Igor Netto Igor Aleksandrovich Netto (russian: Игорь Александрович Нетто; 9 January 1930 – 30 March 1999) was a Soviet footballer, considered one of the greatest Soviet players ever. He started out playing on the left of defense b ...

Estanislao Basora Estanislau Basora Brunet (also Estanislao; 18 November 1926 – 16 March 2012) was a Spanish footballer who played as a winger or striker. Most of his 15-year career was spent at FC Barcelona for which he appeared in more than 300 official ga ...

Alfredo di Stéfano Alfredo (, ) is a cognate of the Anglo-Saxon name Alfred and a common Italian, Galician, Portuguese and Spanish language personal name. People with the given name include: *Alfredo (born 1946), Brazilian footballer born as Alfredo Mostarda Fil ...

Luis Suárez Miramontes Luis is a given name. It is the Spanish form of the originally Germanic name or . Other Iberian Romance languages have comparable forms: (with an accent mark on the i) in Portuguese and Galician, in Aragonese and Catalan, while is archaic ...

Josef Hügi Josef Hügi (23 January 1930 – 16 April 1995) was a Swiss international footballer who played as a striker during the late 1940s, 1950s and early 1960s. Career Hügi was born in the town of Riehen on 23 January 1930 and played football fr ...

* Roger Vonlanthen * Ed Murphy *

Ivor Allchurch Ivor John Allchurch MBE (16 October 1929 – 10 July 1997) was a Welsh professional footballer who played for Swansea Town, Newcastle United and Cardiff City, as well as the Wales national football team. Known as the "Golden Boy of Welsh foot ...

* Cliff Jones *

Miloš Milutinović Miloš Milutinović ( sr-Cyrl, Милош Милутиновић; 5 February 1933 – 28 January 2003) was a Serbian professional footballer and manager from Yugoslavia. Milutinović is regarded as one of the most talented players in his count ...

;1 goal *

Norberto Conde Norberto Conde (14 March 1931 – 8 September 2014) was an Argentine 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 football, Am ...

* Eliseo Prado * Robert Dienst * Walter Haummer * Karl Koller * Ernst Kozlicek *

Helmut Senekowitsch Helmut Senekowitsch (; 22 October 1933 – 9 September 2007) was an Austrian football player and later a football manager. Playing career Club career He played for several clubs, including SK Sturm Graz, Real Betis and FC Wacker Innsbruck. I ...

* Karl Stotz * Otto Walzhofer * André Van Herpe *

Denis Houf Denis Houf (16 February 1932 – 7 December 2012) was a Belgian international footballer who played as a midfielder. Career Born in Fléron, Houf played club football for Standard Liège. He earned a total of 26 caps for Belgium between 1954 ...

André Piters André Piters (18 January 1931 – 23 October 2014) was a Belgian footballer who played as a striker. Career Piters played club football for Herve, Standard Liège, Olympic de Charleroi and Fortuna 54. He earned a total of 23 caps for Belgi ...

Ricardo Alcón Ricardo is the Spanish and Portuguese cognate of the name Richard. It derived from Proto-Germanic ''*rīks'' 'king, ruler' + ''*harduz'' 'hard, brave'. It may be a given name, or a surname. People Given name * Ricardo de Araújo Pereira, Portug ...

Ausberto García Ausberto García (born 9 February 1934) is a Bolivian footballer. He played in nine matches for the Bolivia national football team from 1963 and 1967. He was also part of Bolivia's squad that won the 1963 South American Championship The 1963 ...

* Didi (footballer, born 1928), Didi * Índio (footballer, born 1931), Índio * Spiro Debarski * Todor Diev * Ivan Petkov Kolev * Krum Yanev * Norm McLeod (soccer), Norm McLeod * Ostap Steckiw * Guillermo Díaz (footballer, born 1930), Guillermo Díaz * Nian Weisi * Sun Fucheng * Wang Lu (footballer), Wang Lu * Zhang Honggen * Carlos Arango * Ricardo Díaz (footballer), Ricardo Díaz * Jaime Gutiérrez * Juan Soto Quiros * Edgard Meulens * Hubert Sambo * Vlastimil Bubník * Pavol Molnár * Anton Moravčík * Ladislav Novák * Aage Rou Jensen * John Jensen (footballer, born 1937), John Jensen * Manfred Kaiser * Helmut Müller * Willy Tröger * Johnny Haynes * Olavi Lahtinen * Mauri Vanhanen * Said Brahimi * René Dereuddre * Maryan Wisnieski * Kostas Nestoridis * Vaggelis Panakis * Augusto Espinoza * Jorge Vickers * József Bozsik * Károly Sándor * Lajos Tichy * Eddang Witarsa * George Cummins (footballer), George Cummins * Johnny Gavin (footballer), Johnny Gavin * Alf Ringstead * Sergio Cervato * Dino da Costa * Gino Pivatelli * Jean-Pierre Fiedler * Johnny Halsdorf * Léon Letsch * Jaime Belmonte * Toon Brusselers * Coen Dillen * Kees Rijvers * Servaas Wilkes * Billy Bingham * Tommy Casey * Wilbur Cush * Billy Simpson (footballer, born 1929), Billy Simpson * Kjell Kristiansen * Óscar Aguilera * Alberto Terry * Ginter Gawlik * Matateu * António Dias Teixeira * Cornel Cacoveanu * Titus Ozon * Iosif Petschovsky * Nicolae Tǎtaru * John Hewie * Tommy Ring * Archie Robertson (footballer), Archie Robertson * Alex Scott (footballer, born 1937), Alex Scott * Gordon Smith (footballer, born 1924), Gordon Smith * Genrich Fedosov * Valentin Kozmich Ivanov * Boris Tatushin * Yuri Voinov * Miguel González (Spanish footballer), Miguel González * Enrique Mateos * Suleiman Faris * Siddiq Manzul * Robert Ballaman * Ferdinando Riva * Jabra Al-Zarqa * Harry Keough * Ruben Mendoza * James Murphy (soccer, born 1936), James Murphy * Javier Ambrois * Eladio Benítez * William Martínez (footballer), William Martínez * Óscar Míguez * Dave Bowen * Mel Charles * Roy Vernon * Dobrosav Krstić * Aleksandar Petaković ;1 own goal * Edgar Falch (playing against Hungary national football team, Hungary) * Ray Daniel (Welsh footballer), Ray Daniel (playing against Czechoslovakia national football team, Czechoslovakia)

Notes

*Wales is the only team to ever qualify after having been eliminated and then reinstated. Their qualification meant that all four Home Nations qualified (the only time in history), and that no team from the separate African and Asian zone qualified. This remained Wales' only appearance in the finals until 2022, when they qualified through the European zone for the first time. *Two-time former champions Uruguay, who in their three previous appearances had always benefited from direct qualifications or withdrawals, now failed in what was the first time they actually had to play qualifying games. *Italy were eliminated in qualifying for the first time.

Footnotes

External links

FIFA World Cup Official Site - 1958 World Cup Qualification
{{DEFAULTSORT:1958 Fifa World Cup Qualification 1958 FIFA World Cup qualification, 1958 FIFA World Cup, Qualification FIFA World Cup qualification 1956 in association football, World Cup 1957 in association football, World