Association football at the 1956 Summer Olympics – Men's qualification

The men's qualification for association football tournament at the 1956 Summer Olympics was the first time the qualifying round was done on a home-and-away basis.

1956 Summer Olympics – Men's Football African Qualifiers
Dates11 – 31 July 1956

Qualifications

The final tournament had 16 spots reserved with 28 countries initially showing interest in the tournament.

Automatic qualification was granted to  Australia (host),  Poland,  Turkey, and  Germany (originally as West Germany).

  • Europe: 4 places, contested by 8 teams (including Israel).
  • Africa: 1 place, contested by 2 teams.
  • Asia: 6 places, contested by 12 teams.
  • Americas: 1 place, contested by 2 teams.

Europe

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Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Bulgaria  5–3  Great Britain 2–0 3–3
Yugoslavia  w/o1  Romania – –
Hungary  w/o2  East Germany – –
Soviet Union  7-1  Israel 5-0 2-1

1 Romania withdrew.
2 As East and West Germany agreed to compete together at the 1956 Olympics, East Germany withdrew. However, a solely West German football team was fielded instead of a combined one.

Africa
Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Ethiopia  3-9  Egypt 1-4 2-5

Asia
Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
South Vietnam  9-5  Cambodia 5-2 4-3
Iran  n/p1  Afghanistan – –
India  bye2  Thailand – –
Japan  2-23  South Korea 2-0 0-2
China PR  w/o4  Philippines – –
Indonesia  w/o5  Republic of China – –

1 Both teams withdrew; the tie was scratched.
2 Due to the withdrawal of other teams, both teams qualified.
3 Both matches were played in Japan; Japan advanced on drawing of lots.
4 Philippines withdrew.
5 Republic of China withdrew. Prior to the withdrawal, Indonesia requested the organizing committee to prohibit Republic of China to use the Blue Sky with a White Sun flag in their match due to concerns over possible protests in response to the flag's usage. The committee ruled that Republic of China will have to play under the FIFA flag or Indonesia would be awarded the win.[1]

Americas
Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
United States  w/o1  Mexico – –

1 Mexico withdrew.

Before the official draw for the final tournament on September 1, 1956, Poland withdrew and was replaced by  Great Britain. After the draw Hungary withdrew as well. Its place was offered to South Korea, however they declined as well. The People's Republic of China and Egypt withdrew their whole Olympic teams in protest. South Vietnam and Turkey also withdrew.

Qualifying Matches
Bulgaria 2–0 Great Britain
Great Britain 3–3 Bulgaria

Both Bulgaria and Great Britain advanced.

Soviet Union 5–0 Israel
Tatushin  2'
Ivanov  26', 71'
Simonyan  45', 78'		 Report (ru)
Attendance: 54,000
Israel 1–2 Soviet Union
Stelmach  64' Report (ru)  59' Tatushin
 79' Ilyin
Attendance: 60,000
Referee: Francesco Liverani[2] (Italy)

Soviet Union advanced.

Ethiopia 1–4 Egypt
 3', 31' El-Fanagily
 54' Ad-Diba
 60' Adam
Egypt 5–2 Ethiopia
Saleh
Ateya
El-Far
Ad-Diba
South Vietnam 5–2 Cambodia
Cambodia 3–4 South Vietnam
Japan 2–0 South Korea
Uchino  54'
Iwabuchi  77'		 Report
Attendance: 10,000
Japan 0–2 South Korea
Report  58' ?
 64' ?
Attendance: 20,000

Japan advanced by the drawing of lots.

See also

Further reading
  • Guinness Record of World Soccer, by Guy Oliver (1st ed., Guinness Publishing, 1992)
  • The Times newspaper, various dates

References
  1. "'No Chinese Flag,' Rules Committee". The Singapore Free Press. 30 May 1956. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
  2. Francesco Liverani profile
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