The

1934 FIFA World Cup The 1934 FIFA World Cup was the second edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football championship for senior men's national teams. It took place in Italy from 27 May to 10 June 1934. The 1934 World Cup was the first in w ...

was the first World Cup for which teams had to qualify, after the finalists in the inaugural 1930 World Cup had participated by invitation from

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 ...

. With 32 teams having entered the 1934 competition, FIFA organized qualification rounds to select 16 teams for the finals. Even Italy, the host of the World Cup, had to earn its spot, the only time this has been the case. The previous champion Uruguay refused to defend its title because many European nations had declined to take part in the 1930 World Cup, held in Uruguay. Of the 32 teams which entered, *

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 eas ...

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...

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 ...

all withdrew before qualifying began. * Brazil and Argentina qualified without playing any matches owing to the withdrawal of their opponents. * The other 27 teams played at least one qualifying match. * Greece, Bulgaria and Poland withdrew partway through the planned schedule of qualifying matches. The first match, between Sweden and Estonia, took place in Stockholm on 11 June 1933, with Swedish player

Knut Kroon Knut "Knutte" Kroon (19 June 1906 – 27 February 1975) was a Swedish footballer who played as a striker. Career Kroon was born in Hälsingborg, and began his career with Stattena IF. In 1925, he moved to the nearby club Helsingborgs IF where ...

scoring the first goal. The last match was played in Rome only three days before the start of the tournament, as late entrant United States beat Mexico to become the final team to qualify.

Format

The 32 teams were divided into 12 groups, based on geographical considerations, as follows: *Groups 1 to 8 –

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 ...

: ''12 places'', contested by 21 teams. *Groups 9, 10 and 11 –

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. ...

: ''3 places'', contested by 8 teams. *Group 12 –

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

and

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 3 teams (including

). The 12 groups had different rules, as follows: *Group 1 had 3 teams. The teams played against each other once. The group winner would qualify. *Groups 2, 3 and 5 had 2 teams each. The teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winners would qualify. *Group 4 had 3 teams. The teams played against each other twice. The group winner and runner-up would qualify. *Groups 6, 7 and 8 had 3 teams each. The teams played against each other once. The group winners and runners-up would qualify. *Groups 9 and 10 had 2 teams each. The group winners would qualify. *Group 11 had 4 teams. There would be three rounds of play: ** First Round: Haiti played against Cuba thrice. The winner would advance to the Second Round. ** Second Round: Mexico played against the winner of the First Round thrice at home. The winner would advance to the Final Round. ** Final Round: USA played against the winner of the Second Round in a single match on neutral ground. The winner would qualify. *Group 12 had 3 teams. After Turkey withdrew before the matches began, the remaining 2 teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. 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 next phase of their group.

Groups

Group 1

---- Estonia v Lithuania was not played since neither team could qualify with a win. Sweden qualified.

Group 2

---- 11–1 on aggregate; Spain qualified.

Group 3

Italy qualified, as Greece declined to play the second match.

Group 4

---- ---- Bulgaria withdrew, and the remaining matches were not played since Hungary and Austria were already assured of the top two spots. Hungary and Austria qualified.

Group 5

---- Czechoslovakia qualified.

Group 6

---- ---- Romania and Switzerland qualified.

Group 7

---- ---- Netherlands and Belgium qualified (Belgium finished above the Irish Free State on goal average).

Group 8

---- Germany v France was not played since both teams were already assured of the top two spots. Germany and France qualified.

Group 9

Peru withdrew, so Brazil qualified automatically.

Group 10

Chile withdrew, so Argentina qualified automatically.

Group 11

First round

---- ---- 10–2 on aggregate; Cuba advanced to the Second Round.

Second round

---- ---- 12–3 on aggregate; Mexico advanced to the Final Round.

Final round

The match to decide whether USA or Mexico would qualify was played in Italy only three days before the start of the final tournament, as the USA team submitted their entry too late. Thus, the match was played on Italian ground, so that the winner would effectively stay for the tournament. United States qualified.

Group 12

The Palestine football team consisted exclusively of Jewish and British players. FIFA states, in reference to the 1930s Palestine Mandate team, that the 'Palestine team' that participated in previous competitions in the 1930s was actually the forerunner of today's Israel team, and as such bears no relation to the modern-day Palestine national team. However, the region currently known as Palestine is considered one of the first Asian teams to compete in the FIFA World Cup qualifiers. ---- 11–2 on aggregate; Egypt qualified.

Qualified teams

Only six of the teams qualifying for the final competition – Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, France, Romania, and the USA – had already attended the World Cup in 1930. Qualification for the 1934 FIFA World Cup

Qualification for the 1934 FIFA World Cup

Goalscorers

;7 goals *

Mario López Mario Lopez (born October 10, 1973) is an American actor and television host. He has appeared on several television series, in films, and on Broadway. He is known for his portrayal of A.C. Slater on '' Saved by the Bell'', '' Saved by the Bell ...

* Dionisio Mejía *

Isidro Lángara Isidro Lángara Galarraga (25 May 1912 in Pasaia, Gipuzkoa – 21 August 1992 in Andoain) was a Spanish football striker from the Basque Country. He played 12 times for Spain, scoring 17 goals. He has the highest goal ratio in La Liga at 1.1 ...

;5 goals * Mahmoud Mokhtar El Tetsh * Paddy Moore ;4 goals *

Jean Nicolas Jean Édouard Marie Nicolas (9 June 1913 – 8 September 1978) was a French international footballer who played as a striker. Born in Nanterre, Nicolas played club football for FC Rouen, and appeared in the 1934 and 1938 World Cup squads ...

* Josef Rasselnberg * Beb Bakhuys * Aldo Donelli ;3 goals *

Johann Horvath Johann "Hans" Horvath (20 May 1903 – 30 July 1968) was an Austrian footballer. Normally a forward, Horvath was one of the most noted Austrian footballers of his generation, and was well–known for his passing ability and technique. Club care ...

* Mohamed Latif *

Karl Hohmann Karl Hohmann (18 June 1908, in Düsseldorf – 31 March 1974, in Benrath) was a German football (soccer) player. Between 1930 and 1937, he played 26 times and scored 20 goals for the Germany national football team. He played in the 1934 FIFA Wo ...

* Gábor P. Szabó * Manuel Alonso * Kick Smit ;2 goals * François Vanden Eynde *

Héctor Socorro Héctor Socorro Varela (26 June 1912 – 1980) was a Cuban footballer. International career He represented Cuba at the 1938 World Cup in France, scoring three goals in the two matches against Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a ...

* Mostafa Taha * Robert St. Fort * József Solti * Giuseppe Meazza *

Leen Vente Leendert Roelof Jan "Leen" Vente (14 May 19119 November 1989) was a Dutch footballer who played as a striker. He earned 21 caps and scored 19 goals for the Netherlands national football team, and played in the 1934 and 1938 World Cups. Playing c ...

Ștefan Dobay Ștefan Dobay ( hu, Dobay István, 26 September 1909 – 7 April 1994), was a Romanian footballer who played as a striker and manager. He played for Ripensia Timișoara and the Romania national football team for whom he got 41 caps, scored ...

Luis Regueiro Luis Regueiro Pagola ( 1 July 1908 – 6 December 1995), sometimes nicknamed ''Corso'', was a footballer, and an Olympian from the Basque Country in the north of Spain. Football career He began his career in 1924 playing for Real Unión in t ...

* Bertil Ericsson * Knut Hansson * Vladimir Kragić ;1 goal * Matthias Sindelar * Rudolf Viertl *

Karl Zischek Karl Zischek (28 August 1910 – 6 October 1985) was an Austrian footballer who played as a forward for Austria in the 1934 FIFA World Cup The 1934 FIFA World Cup was the second edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international fo ...

* Jean Capelle * Stan Vanden Eynde * Laurent Grimmonprez *

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 ...

* Dimitar Baikushev * Mihail Lozanov * Vladimir Todorov * Enrique Ferrer * Ángel Martínez * Francisco Socorro * Salvador Soto * František Pelcner * Josef Silný * Abdulrahman Fawzi * Leonhard Kass * Richard Kuremaa *

Alfred Aston Alfred Aston (16 May 1912 – 10 February 2003) was a French football winger and manager. He was part of France national team at the FIFA World Cup 1934 and 1938. He was capped 31 times for his country. He played football until the age of 44, ...

Ernest Libérati Ernest Liberati (22 March 1906 – 2 June 1983) was a French footballer (of Italian ancestry). He played as a forward. He was part of the France national football team The France national football team (french: Équipe de France de footba ...

* Ernst Albrecht * Willi Wigold * Imre Markos * György Sárosi * Géza Toldi * Johnny Squires *

Giovanni Ferrari Giovanni Ferrari (; 6 December 1907 – 2 December 1982) was an Italian footballer who played as an attacking midfielder/inside forward on the left. He is regarded as one of the best players of his generation, one of Italy's best ever players, ...

Anfilogino Guarisi Amphilóquio Guarisi Marques (26 December 1905 – 8 June 1974) was an Italian Brazilian footballer who played as a forward. In Brazil he was known as Filó () and in Italy as Anfilogino Guarisi (). Throughout his career he played football in b ...

* Ernest Mengel * Théophile Speicher *

Avraham Nudelman Avraham Nudelman ( he, אברהם נודלמן) was an Israeli footballer who played for Hapoel Tel Aviv and Mandatory Palestine national football team during the British Mandate era. Playing career Nudelman was born in Menashiya neighborhood of ...

n * Yohanan Sukenik * Fernando Marcos *

Felipe Rosas Felipe Rosas Sánchez (5 February 1910 – 17 June 1986) was a Mexican professional footballer, who was part of the Mexican soccer team in the 1930 FIFA World Cup played in Uruguay. He, with his brothers, Manuel Rosas and Juan Rosas, were footba ...

* José Ruvalcaba * Jorge Sota * Henryk Martyna * Vítor Silva * Sándor Schwartz * Grațian Sepi * Eduardo González * Martí Ventolrà * Sven Andersson * Lennart Bunke * Torsten Bunke *

* Alessandro Frigerio * Erwin Hochsträsser * Ernst Hufschmid * Willy Jäggi * Blagoje Marjanović

Footnotes

References

External links

1934 FIFA World Cup qualification
at FIFA.com

at RSSSF.com {{DEFAULTSORT:1934 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 ...

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