1958 FIFA World Cup qualification

A total of 55 teams entered the 1958 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds, competing for a total of 16 spots in the final tournament. Sweden as the hosts and West Germany, as the defending champions, qualified automatically, leaving 14 spots open for competition.

1958 FIFA World Cup Qualification
Tournament details
Teams55 (from 6 confederations)
Tournament statistics
Matches played89
Goals scored341 (3.83 per match)
Top scorer(s) Tommy Taylor (8 goals)

The qualification rounds for the four previous World Cups were very confusing, with controversial rules and many withdrawals. From this tournament onwards, FIFA decided to divide the teams into several continental zones, assign a pre-determined number of places in the final tournament to each zone, and delegate the organization of the qualifying tournaments to its confederations: UEFA 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). This led to a more organized qualification process with clearer rules, but not yet withdrawal-proof.

The 16 spots available in the 1958 World Cup would be distributed among the continental zones as follows:

  • Europe (UEFA): 11 places, 2 of them went to automatic qualifiers Sweden and West Germany, 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 13 teams (including Israel, Cyprus and Turkey).

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 Israel 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.

Europe

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 Soviet Union made their World Cup qualification debut.

UEFA Group 1
Main article: 1958 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA – Group 1)
Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GAv
1  England 743101553.00
2  Republic of Ireland 54211670.86
3  Denmark 040044130.31
3 October 1956 Republic of Ireland  2 – 1  Denmark Dublin, Republic of Ireland
Curtis  27'
Gavin  45' (pen.)		 Report Aa. Jensen  85' Stadium: Dalymount Park
Attendance: 32,600
Referee: Bond (England)
5 December 1956 England  5 – 2  Denmark Wolverhampton, England
Taylor  2', 22', 53'
Edwards  66', 77'		 Report O. Nielsen  27', 32' Attendance: 54,083
Referee: Guigue (France)
8 May 1957 England  5 – 1  Republic of Ireland London, England
Taylor  10', 19', 40'
Atyeo  38', 90'		 Report Curtis  56' Attendance: 52,000
Referee: Phillips (Scotland)
15 May 1957 Denmark  1 – 4  England Copenhagen, Denmark
J. Jensen  27' Report Haynes  28'
Taylor  71', 86'
Atyeo  75'		 Attendance: 35,000
Referee: Dusch (West Germany)
19 May 1957 Republic of Ireland  1 – 1  England Dublin, Republic of Ireland
Ringstead  3' Report Atyeo  90' Attendance: 36,000
Referee: Philips (Scotland)
2 October 1957 Denmark  0 – 2  Republic of Ireland Copenhagen, Denmark
Report Cummins  53'
Curtis  61'		 Attendance: 28,000
Referee: Schulz (East Germany)

England qualified.

UEFA Group 2
Main article: 1958 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA – Group 2)
Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GAv
1  France 743101944.75
2  Belgium 5421116111.45
3  Iceland 040046260.23
11 November 1956 France  6 – 3  Belgium Paris, France
Cisowski  13', 15', 44', 72', 88'
Vincent  18'		 Report Houf  16'
Willems  61', 67'		 Attendance: 46,049
Referee: Clough (England)
2 June 1957 France  8 – 0  Iceland Nantes, France
C. Oliver  6', 11'
Vincent  29', 83'
Dereuddre  36'
Piantoni  45', 81'
Brahimi  49'		 Report Attendance: 15,080
Referee: Ellis (England)
5 June 1957 Belgium  8 – 3  Iceland Brussels, Belgium
Orlans  4', 57'
Piters  11'
Vandenberg  12'
Mees  22', 26'
Coppens  42', 44' (pen.)		 Report Þórðarson  33', 77'
R. Jónsson  81'		 Attendance: 6,792
Referee: Blitgen (Luxembourg)
1 September 1957 Iceland  1 – 5  France Reykjavík, Iceland
Þ. Jónsson  64' Report Cisowski  29', 32'
Ujlaki  48', 66'
Wisnieski  53'		 Attendance: 9,000
Referee: Davidson (Scotland)
4 September 1957 Iceland  2 – 5  Belgium Reykjavík, Iceland
R. Jónsson  1'
Þ. Jónsson  65'		 Report Van Herpe  9'
Willems  40'
Vandenberg  64', 81', 89'		 Attendance: 7,000
Referee: Davidson (Scotland)
27 October 1957 Belgium  0 – 0  France Brussels, Belgium
Report Attendance: 56,497
Referee: Helge (Denmark)

France qualified.

UEFA Group 3
Main article: 1958 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA – Group 3)
Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GAv
1  Hungary 643011243.00
2  Bulgaria 442021171.57
3  Norway 241033150.20
22 May 1957 Norway  1 – 2  Bulgaria Oslo, Norway
Hennum  47' Report G. Dimitrov  38', 75' Stadium: Ullevaal
Attendance: 27,542
Referee: Lindberg (Sweden)
12 June 1957 Norway  2 – 1  Hungary Oslo, Norway
Hennum  10'
K. Kristiansen  78'		 Report Tichy  43' Attendance: 25,724
Referee: Helge (Denmark)
23 June 1957 Hungary  4 – 1  Bulgaria Budapest, Hungary
Machos  5', 14', 30'
Bozsik  52'		 Report Kolev  69' Stadium: Nepstadion
Attendance: 60,000
Referee: Guigue (France)
15 September 1957 Bulgaria  1 – 2  Hungary Sofia, Bulgaria
Diev  43' Report Hidegkuti  2', 34' Stadium: Vasil Levski
Attendance: 50,000
Referee: Bernardi (Italy)
3 November 1957 Bulgaria  7 – 0  Norway Sofia, Bulgaria
Iliev  6', 60', 74'
Panayotov  29', 32'
Yanev  59'
Debarski  77'		 Report Stadium: Vasil Levski
Attendance: 22,120
Referee: Macko (Czechoslovakia)
10 November 1957 Hungary  5 – 0  Norway Budapest, Hungary
Sándor  12'
Csordás  20', 71'
Machos  69'
Falch  74' (o.g.)		 Report Attendance: 91,000
Referee: Dusch (West Germany)

Hungary qualified.

UEFA Group 4
Main article: 1958 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA – Group 4)
Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GAv
1  Czechoslovakia 64301933.00
2  Wales 44202651.20
3  East Germany 241035120.42
1 May 1957 Wales  1 – 0  Czechoslovakia Cardiff, Wales
Vernon  75' Report Referee: Bronkhorst (Netherlands)
19 May 1957 East Germany  2 – 1  Wales Leipzig, East Germany
Wirth  21'
Tröger  61'		 Report M. Charles  6' Referee: Latyshev (Soviet Union)
26 May 1957 Czechoslovakia  2 – 0  Wales Prague, Czechoslovakia
Daniel  21' (o.g.)
Kraus  65'		 Report Referee: Wyssling ()
16 June 1957 Czechoslovakia  3 – 1  East Germany Brno, Czechoslovakia
Kraus  60'
Bubník  81'
Molnár  89'		 Report Wirth  18' Referee: Jörgensen (Denmark)
25 September 1957 Wales  4 – 1  East Germany Cardiff, Wales
Palmer  38', 44', 73'
Jones  42'		 Report Kaiser  57' Referee: Leafe (England)
27 October 1957 East Germany  1 – 4  Czechoslovakia Leipzig, East Germany
H. Müller  35' Report Kraus  4', 88'
Moravčík  23'
Novák  43'		 Referee: Schwinte (France)

Czechoslovakia qualified. Wales received another chance to qualify after being drawn to play against Israel in a special play-off; see CAF / AFC Final Round and Play-off.

UEFA Group 5
Main article: 1958 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA – Group 5)
Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GAv
1  Austria 743101434.67
2  Netherlands 542111271.71
3  Luxembourg 040043190.16
30 September 1956 Austria  7 – 0  Luxembourg Vienna, Austria
Hanappi  18', 25'
Walzhofer  51'
Wagner  62', 77'
Kozlicek  71'
Haummer  79'		 Report Referee: Liverani (Italy)
20 March 1957 Netherlands  4 – 1  Luxembourg Rotterdam, Netherlands
Van der Gijp  27', 30'
Dillen  72'
Brusselers  80'		 Report Halsdorf  34' Referee: Treichel (West Germany)
26 May 1957 Austria  3 – 2  Netherlands Vienna, Austria
Koller  47'
Buzek  80'
Stotz  89' (pen.)		 Report Van Melis  30', 32' Referee: Schmetzer (West Germany)
11 September 1957 Netherlands  5 – 2  Luxembourg Rotterdam, Netherlands
Lenstra  15', 28'
Wilkes  26'
Van Melis  35'
Rijvers  54'		 Report Fiedler  5'
Letsch  58'		 Referee: Murdoch (England)
25 September 1957 Netherlands  1 – 1  Austria Amsterdam, Netherlands
Lenstra  63' Report Hanappi  29' Referee: Ellis (England)
29 September 1957 Luxembourg  0 – 3  Austria Luxembourg, Luxembourg
Report Dienst  19'
Buzek  47'
Senekowitsch  66'		 Referee: Versyp (Belgium)

Austria qualified.

UEFA Group 6
Main article: 1958 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA – Group 6)
Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GAv
1=  Soviet Union 643011635.33
1=  Poland 64301951.80
3  Finland 040042190.11
23 June 1957 Soviet Union  3 – 0  Poland Moscow, Soviet Union
Tatushin  9'
Simonyan  55'
Ilyin  77'		 Report Stadium: Lenin Central Stadium
Attendance: 102,000
Referee: Clough (England)
5 July 1957 Finland  1 – 3  Poland Helsinki, Finland
Vanhanen  72' Report Jankowski  19', 56', 65' Referee: Nilsen (Norway)
27 July 1957 Soviet Union  2 – 1  Finland Moscow, Soviet Union
Voinov  23'
Netto  62'		 Report Lahtinen  42' Stadium: Dynamo Stadium
Attendance: 50,000
Referee: Mayer (Austria)
15 August 1957 Finland  0 – 10  Soviet Union Helsinki, Finland
Report Netto  6'
Simonyan  9', 13', 31'
Isayev  12', 20'
Streltsov  29', 49'
Ilyin  60', 87'		 Referee: A. Asmussen (Denmark)
20 October 1957 Poland  2 – 1  Soviet Union Chorzów, Poland
Cieślik  43', 50' Report Ivanov  80' Referee: Clough (England)
3 November 1957 Poland  4 – 0  Finland Warsaw, Poland
Gawlik  2'
Brychczy  4', 48'
Jankowski  60'		 Report Referee: Dusch (West Germany)

Poland and USSR finished level on points, a play-off on neutral ground was played to decide who would qualify.

24 November 1957 Soviet Union  2 – 0  Poland Leipzig, East Germany
Streltsov  31'
Fedosov  75'		 Report Referee: Clough (England)

USSR qualified.

UEFA Group 7
Main article: 1958 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA – Group 7)
Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GAv
1  Yugoslavia 64220723.50
2  Romania 54211641.50
3  Greece 14013290.22
5 May 1957 Greece  0 – 0  Yugoslavia Athens, Greece
Report Referee: Devillers (France)
16 June 1957 Greece  1 – 2  Romania Athens, Greece
Panakis  29' Report A. Ene  15'
Ozon  78'		 Referee: Harzic (France)
29 September 1957 Romania  1 – 1  Yugoslavia Bucharest, Romania
A. Ene  78' Report Mujić  79' Referee: Grill (Austria)
3 November 1957 Romania  3 – 0  Greece Bucharest, Romania
Petschovsky  51' (pen.)
Tătaru  64'
Cacoveanu  67'		 Report Referee: Schwinte (France)
10 November 1957 Yugoslavia  4 – 1  Greece Belgrade, Yugoslavia
Mujić  6', 61'
Krstić  9'
Petaković  67'		 Report Nestoridis  28' Referee: Jonni (Italy)
17 November 1957 Yugoslavia  2 – 0  Romania Belgrade, Yugoslavia
Milutinović  52', 58' Report Referee: Seipelt (Austria)

Yugoslavia qualified.

UEFA Group 8
Main article: 1958 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA – Group 8)
Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GAv
1  Northern Ireland 54211632.00
2  Italy 44202551.00
3  Portugal 34112470.57
16 January 1957 Portugal  1 – 1  Northern Ireland Lisbon, Portugal
Vasques  24' Report Bingham  6' Referee: Lequesne (France)
25 April 1957 Italy  1 – 0  Northern Ireland Rome, Italy
Cervato  3' Report Referee: Guigue (France)
1 May 1957 Northern Ireland  3 – 0  Portugal Belfast, Northern Ireland
Casey  22'
Simpson  60'
McIlroy  70' (pen.)		 Report Referee: Phillips (Scotland)
26 May 1957 Portugal  3 – 0  Italy Lisbon, Portugal
Vasques  41'
Teixeira  81'
Matateu  87'		 Report Referee: Treichel (West Germany)
22 December 1957 Italy  3 – 0  Portugal Milan, Italy
Gratton  36', 72'
Pivatelli  84'		 Report Referee: Damiani (Yugoslavia)
15 January 1958 Northern Ireland  2 – 1  Italy Belfast, Northern Ireland
McIlroy  13'
Cush  28'		 Report Da Costa  56' Referee: Zsolt (Hungary)

The 15 January 1958 fixture of Italy at Northern Ireland was originally scheduled for 4 December 1957, but heavy fog in London prevented the referee (István Zsolt, manager of the Budapest Opera House) from arriving for the match in time. The fixture was postponed, but the match continued as a friendly, and ended in a 2–2 draw and a riot as the crowd (infuriated by the postponement and quite rough play from some Italian players) invaded the pitch. The 'friendly' match was dubbed the 'Battle of Belfast'.[1] Danny Blanchflower, Northern Ireland captain at the time, helped save the situation by ordering his players to escort their Italian counterparts off the field while the police dealt with the crowd.[2]

Northern Ireland qualified.

This was the only time that Italy failed to qualify for the World Cup until their failure to qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

UEFA Group 9
Main article: 1958 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA – Group 9)
Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GAv
1  Scotland 643011091.11
2  Spain 542111281.50
3   Switzerland 140136110.55
10 March 1957 Spain  2 – 2   Switzerland Madrid, Spain
Suárez  30'
González  48'		 Report Hügi  6', 67' Referee: Erich (West Germany)
8 May 1957 Scotland  4 – 2  Spain Glasgow, Scotland
Mudie  22', 70', 79'
Hewie  41' (pen.)		 Report Suárez  19'
Kubala  28'		 Referee: Dusch (West Germany)
19 May 1957 Switzerland   1 – 2  Scotland Basel, Switzerland
R. Vonlanthen  13' Report Mudie  33'
Ring  71'		 Referee: Seipelt (Austria)
26 May 1957 Spain  4 – 1  Scotland Madrid, Spain
Mateos  11'
Kubala  33'
Basora  60', 87'		 Report Smith  79' Referee: Leafe (England)
6 November 1957 Scotland  3 – 2   Switzerland Glasgow, Scotland
Robertson  29'
Mudie  52'
Scott  70'		 Report Riva  35'
R. Vonlanthen  79'		 Referee: Leafe (England)
24 November 1957 Switzerland   1 – 4  Spain Lausanne, Switzerland
Ballaman  61' Report Kubala  19', 72'
Di Stéfano  24', 55'		 Referee: Alsteen (Belgium)

Scotland qualified.

South America

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.

CONMEBOL Group 1
Main article: 1958 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONMEBOL - Group 1)
Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA
1  Brazil 3211021
2  Peru 1201112
—  Venezuela withdrew
13 April 1957 Peru  1 – 1  Brazil Lima, Peru
Terry  38' Índio  47' Referee: Rodriguez (Uruguay)
21 April 1957 Brazil  1 – 0  Peru Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Didi  11' Referee: Marino (Uruguay)

Brazil qualified.

CONMEBOL Group 2
Main article: 1958 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONMEBOL - Group 2)
Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA
1  Argentina 64301102
2  Bolivia 4420266
3  Chile 24103210
22 September 1957 Chile  2 – 1  Bolivia Santiago, Chile
Díaz  62'
Ramírez  68'		 Alcón  36' Referee: Wyssling (Switzerland)
29 September 1957 Bolivia  3 – 0  Chile La Paz, Bolivia
García  30'
Alcócer  70', 86'		 Referee: Wyssling (Switzerland)
6 October 1957 Bolivia  2 – 0  Argentina La Paz, Bolivia
Alcócer  13'
Ramírez  75'		 Referee: Wyssling (Switzerland)
13 October 1957 Chile  0 – 2  Argentina Santiago, Chile
Menéndez  40'
Conde  61'		 Referee: Wyssling (Switzerland)
20 October 1957 Argentina  4 – 0  Chile Buenos Aires, Argentina
Corbatta  1', 41'
Menéndez  13'
Zárate  45'		 Referee: Wyssling (Switzerland)
27 October 1957 Argentina  4 – 0  Bolivia Buenos Aires, Argentina
Zárate  8'
Corbatta  62'
Prado  63'
Menéndez  64'		 Referee: Wyssling (Switzerland)

Argentina qualified.

CONMEBOL Group 3
Main article: 1958 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONMEBOL - Group 3)
Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA
1  Paraguay 64301114
2  Uruguay 5421146
3  Colombia 1401338
16 June 1957 Colombia  1 – 1  Uruguay Bogotá, Colombia
Arango  15' Ambrois  46' Referee: Husband (England)
20 June 1957 Colombia  2 – 3  Paraguay Bogotá, Colombia
Gutiérrez  10'
Díaz  89'		 A. Jara  34'
Agüero  68'
Aguilera  88'		 Referee: Husband (England)
30 June 1957 Uruguay  1 – 0  Colombia Montevideo, Uruguay
Míguez  89' (pen.) Referee: Husband (England)
7 July 1957 Paraguay  3 – 0  Colombia Asunción, Paraguay
E. Jara  11', 77'
Agüero  27'		 Referee: Husband (England)
14 July 1957 Paraguay  5 – 0  Uruguay Asunción, Paraguay
Amarilla  5', 48', 57'
A. Jara  88'
Agüero  90'		 Referee: Husband (England)
28 July 1957 Uruguay  2 – 0  Paraguay Montevideo, Uruguay
Benítez  8'
Martínez  88'		 Referee: Husband (England)

Paraguay qualified.

North, Central America and Caribbean

There were two rounds of play:

  • First Round: 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 against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winners advanced to the Final Round.
  • Final Round: The 2 teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The winner qualified.

Group 1
Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA
1  Mexico 84400182
2  Canada 4420288
3  United States 04004521
7 April 1957 Mexico  6 – 0  United States Mexico City, Mexico
C. Gutiérrez  14', 26'
Reyes  33', 69', 76'
H. Hernández  63'		 Attendance: 60,000
Referee: Van Rosberg (Netherlands Antilles)
28 April 1957 United States  2 – 7  Mexico Long Beach, United States
E. Murphy  5', 45' A. Hernández  22', 36', 82'
C. Gutiérrez  38'
H. Hernández  65', 87'
Sesma  79'		 Attendance: 12,500
Referee: Morgan (Canada)
22 June 1957 Canada  5 – 1  United States Varsity Stadium Toronto, Canada
McLeod  32'
Philley  35'
Hughes  55', 80'
Stewart  57'		 Keough  35' (pen.) Attendance: 5,167
Referee: Sadler (Canada)
30 June 1957 Mexico  3 – 0  Canada Mexico City, Mexico
C. González  5', 72'
C. Gutiérrez  46'		 Referee: Van Rosberg (Netherlands Antilles)
3 July 1957 Mexico  2 – 0  Canada Mexico City, Mexico
C. Gutiérrez  8'
Sesma  28'		 Referee: Van Rosberg (Netherlands Antilles)
6 July 1957 United States [4] 2 – 3  Canada St. Louis, United States
Mendoza  42'
J. Murphy  80'		 Philley  9'
Steckiw  14'
Stewart  25'		 Attendance: 1,500
Referee: Lutostanski (United States)

Mexico advanced to the Final Round.

Group 2
Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA
1  Costa Rica 84400154
2 Territory of Curaçao 2310247
3  Guatemala 03003412
10 February 1957 Guatemala  2 – 6  Costa Rica Guatemala City, Guatemala
Vickers  19'
Espinoza  87'		 Hernán  11', 28', 38'
Jiménez  17'
Montero  48'
Murillo  78'		 Referee: Sundheim (Colombia)
17 February 1957 Costa Rica  3 – 1
(66')[5]		  Guatemala San José, Costa Rica
Jiménez  12'
Cordero  28'
Herrera  65'		 López  61' Referee: Orrego (Colombia)
3 March 1957 Costa Rica  4 – 0 Territory of Curaçao San José, Costa Rica
Herrera  16', 63'
Murillo  35', 67'		 Referee: McKenna (England)
14 March 1957 Guatemala  1 – 3 Territory of Curaçao Guatemala City, Guatemala
López  51' De Lanoy  23', 31'
Meulens  65'		 Referee: Sundheim (Colombia)
4 August 1957 Territory of Curaçao 1 – 2  Costa Rica Willemstad, Territory of Curaçao
Sambo  21' Cordero  53'
Montero  60'		 Referee: Orlandini (Italy)

Costa Rica advanced to the Final Round. Territory of Curaçao v Guatemala was not played because the Guatemalan players were not permitted to travel to the Netherlands Antilles (the Netherlands Antilles were still using the nation's former "Curaçao" name).[6] However, neither team would have been able to advance with a win regardless.

CCCF / NAFC Final Round
Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA
1  Mexico 3211031
2  Costa Rica 1201113
20 October 1957 Mexico  2 – 0  Costa Rica Mexico City, Mexico
Belmonte  77'
López  86'		 Referee: Husband (England)
27 October 1957 Costa Rica  1 – 1  Mexico San José, Costa Rica
Soto  32' López  27' Referee: Husband (England)

Mexico qualified.

Africa and Asia
AFC Asian Qualifiers
FIFA World Cup
AFC Asian Cup

FIFA rejected the entries of Ethiopia, Hong Kong and South Korea.[2] The remaining 10 teams played in a knockout tournament, with matches on a home-and-away basis. The tournament winner would qualify.

CAF / AFC Preliminary Round
Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA
1  Indonesia advanced
—  Australia withdrew
—  Republic of China withdrew

Australia and Republic of China withdrew, so Indonesia advanced to the First Round automatically.

Group 1
Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA Ave
1=  Indonesia 22101541.25
1=  China PR 22101450.8
Indonesia 2 – 0 China PR
Ramang  47', 80'
Referee: Jonni (Italy)
China PR 4 – 3 Indonesia
Zhang Honggen  1'
Nian Weisi  9'
Sun Fucheng  47'
Wang Lu  75'		 Ramang  25', 55'
Witarsa  70'
Referee: Chakravarti (India)

China PR and Indonesia finished level on points, and a play-off on neutral ground was played to decide who would advance to the Second Round.

Indonesia 0 – 0
(a.e.t.)		 China PR
Referee: U Ba Thaung (Burma)

Indonesia advanced to the Second Round by having a better goal average. (Penalty shootouts had not been invented.)

Group 2
Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA
1  Israel advanced
—  Turkey withdrew

Turkey refused to compete in the Asian group, so Israel advanced to the Second Round automatically.

Group 3
Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA
1  Egypt advanced
—  Cyprus withdrew

Cyprus withdrew, so Egypt advanced to the Second Round automatically.

Group 4
Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA
1  Sudan 3211021
2  Syria 1201112
8 March 1957 Sudan  1 – 0  Syria Khartoum, Sudan
Manzul  78' (pen.) Stadium: Khartoum Stadium
Referee: Riccardo Pieri (Italy)
24 May 1957 Syria  1 – 1  Sudan Damascus, Syria
Al-Zarqa  70' Suleiman Faris  38' Stadium: Abbasiyyin Stadium
Referee: Konstantinos Ioannidis (Greece)

Sudan advanced.

CAF / AFC Second Round
Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA
1=  Israel advanced
1=  Sudan advanced
—  Egypt withdrew
—  Indonesia withdrew

Indonesia withdrew after FIFA rejected their request to play against Israel on neutral ground. Israel advanced to the Final Round automatically. Egypt withdrew, so Sudan advanced to the Final Round automatically.

CAF / AFC Final Round
Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA
1  Israel advanced
—  Sudan withdrew

Sudan refused to play against Israel because of the Arab League boycott of Israel, so Israel would technically qualify automatically, but before the qualification rounds began, FIFA had ruled that no team would qualify without playing at least one match (except for the defending champions and the hosts), and Israel had yet to play any.

Inter-confederation play-offs: CAF/AFC v UEFA
Main article: 1958 FIFA World Cup qualification (CAF/AFC–UEFA play-off)

A special play-off was created between Israel and the runner-up of one of the UEFA Groups, where the teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis, with the winner qualifying. After Belgium refused, Wales, the runner-up of UEFA Group 4, was the team drawn from the UEFA group runners-up.[7]

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Wales 2 2 0 0 4 0 +4 4 Qualification to 1958 FIFA World Cup — 2–0
2  Israel 2 0 0 2 0 4 −4 0 0–2 —
Source: FIFA

Wales qualified.

Qualified teams
FIFA World Cup qualification 1958
Qualifying countries
Team Finals Appearance Streak Last Appearance
 Argentina 3rd11934
 Austria 3rd21954
 Brazil 6th61954
 Czechoslovakia 4th21954
 England 3rd31954
 France 5th21954
 Hungary 4th21954
 Mexico 4th31954
 Northern Ireland 1st1–
 Paraguay 3rd11950
 Scotland 2nd21954
 Sweden[8] 4th11950
 Soviet Union 1st1–
 Wales 1st1–
 West Germany[9] 4th21954
 Yugoslavia 4th31954

7 of the 16 teams subsequently failed to qualify for the 1962 finals: Austria, France, Northern Ireland, Paraguay, Scotland, Sweden and Wales.

Goalscorers
8 goals
7 goals
5 goals
4 goals
3 goals
2 goals
1 goal
1 own goal

See also

Notes
  • For the first time (and, as of 2018, the only one), all four UK teams (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) qualified.
  • Wales was the only team to qualify after having been eliminated but then reinstated. This was Wales' only qualification for a World Cup; they have never qualified through the European rounds of World Cup Qualifying.
  • This was the first time that Italy failed to qualify for a FIFA World Cup. Italy would also fail to qualify for Russia 2018.
  • Two times former champion Uruguay failed to qualify for the first time after participating to a qualification process and playing games (before that the Celeste has benefited of withdrawals of direct qualification).

Footnotes
  1. "Down Memory Lane: Battle of Belfast was far from a golden moment – International, Football". Belfasttelegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 2012-06-11.
  2. "FIFA Fact Sheet: History of the FIFA World Cup (TM) Preliminary Competition" (PDF). FIFA. 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 June 2010. Retrieved 2010-06-09.
  3. Entire US squad pulled from St. Louis Kutis Archived 2014-08-29 at the Wayback Machine
  4. Entire US squad pulled from St. Louis Kutis Archived 2014-08-29 at the Wayback Machine
  5. Match interrupted in the 66th minute by Guatemala abandoning the pitch; the result was later affirmed.
  6. "History of the FIFA World Cup Preliminary Competition (by year)" (pdf). FIFA.com. Retrieved 8 April 2012.
  7. Doyle, Paul. "The Joy of Six: international football play-offs". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
  8. Qualified automatically as hosts
  9. Qualified automatically as defending champions
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