1938 Fifa World Cup (qualification) Article Index for
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1938 Fifa World Cup (qualification)




It was originally intended that the World Cup would be held alternately between the continents of South America and Europe . Nevertheless, Jules Rimet , the creator of the World Cup, convinced FIFA to hold the competition in France , his home country. Because of this controversy, many American countries, including Argentina (the most likely hosts if the event was held in South America), Colombia , Costa Rica , El Salvador , Mexico , Dutch Guiana , Uruguay , and the United States all withdrew or refused to enter.

Due to the Spanish Civil War , Spain had to withdraw from the competition. The remaining 34 teams were divided into 12 groups, based on geographical considerations, as follows:
  • Groups 1 to 9 - Europe : ''11 places'', contested by 23 teams (including Egypt and Palestine).

  • Group 10 - South America : ''1 place'', contested by 2 teams.

  • Group 11 - North , Central America and Caribbean : ''1 place'', contested by 7 teams (including Colombia).

  • Group 12 - Asia : ''1 place'', contested by 2 teams.

  • However, due to the withdrawal of Austria after qualifying, only 15 teams actually competed in the final tournament.


Listed below are the dates and results of the qualification rounds.


GROUPS

The 12 groups had different rules, as follows:
  • Group 1 had 4 teams. The teams would play against each other once. The group winner and runner-up would qualify.

  • Groups 2, 3, 4 and 7 had 2 teams each. The teams would play against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winners would qualify.

  • Group 5: had 2 teams. The teams would play against each other once on neutral ground. The group winner would qualify.

  • Groups 6 and 8 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 the Final Round directly. The remaining 2 teams would play against each other on a home-and-away basis. The winner would advance to the Final Round.

  • --- Final Round: The seeded team would play against the winner of the First Round at home. The winner would qualify.

  • Group 9 had 3 teams. The teams would play against each other once. The group winner and runner-up would qualify.

  • Group 10 had 2 teams. The group winner would qualify.

  • Group 11 had 7 teams. The group winner would qualify.

  • Group 12 had 2 teams. The group winner would qualify.



Group 1

June 16 , 1937 , Stockholm , Sweden - 4 - 0

June 20 , 1937 , Stockholm , Sweden - 7 - 2

June 29 , 1937 , Helsinki , Finland - 0 - 2

August 19 , 1937 , Turku , Finland - 0 - 1

August 29 , 1937 , Königsberg , Germany - 4 - 1

November 21 , 1937 , Hamburg , Germany - 5 - 0

Germany and '''Sweden''' qualified.


Group 2

October 10 , 1937 , Oslo , Norway - 3 - 2

November 7 , 1937 , Dublin , Irish Free State - 3 - 3

Norway qualified.


Group 3

October 10 , 1937 , Warsaw , Poland - 4 - 0

April 3 , 1938 , Belgrade , Yugoslavia - 1 - 0

Poland qualified.


Group 4

Egypt withdrew, so Romania qualified automatically.


Group 5

May 1 , 1938 , Milan , Italy - 2 - 1

Switzerland qualified.


Group 6


First round

January 22 , 1938 , Tel Aviv , Palestine - 1 - 3

February 20 , 1938 , Athens , Greece - 1 - 0

''Greece'' advanced to the Final Round.


Final round

March 25 , 1938 , Budapest , Hungary - 11 - 1

Hungary qualified.


Group 7

November 7 , 1937 , Sofia , Bulgaria - 1 - 1

April 24 , 1938 , Prague , Czechoslovakia - 6 - 0

Czechoslovakia qualified.


Group 8


First round

July 29 , 1937 , Riga , Latvia - 4 - 2

September 3 , 1937 , Kaunas , Lithuania - 1 - 5

''Latvia'' advanced to the Final Round.


Final round

October 5 , 1937 , Vienna , Austria - 2 - 1

Austria qualified, but was later incorporated by Germany during the Anschluss . FIFA offered the place to England , who did not enter the competition, but they declined. FIFA decided not to qualify anyone else, making the World Cup with one team fewer.


Group 9

November 28 , 1937 , Rotterdam , Netherlands - 4 - 0

March 13 , 1938 , Luxembourg , Luxembourg - 2 - 3

April 3 , 1938 , Antwerpen , Belgium - 1 - 1

Netherlands and '''Belgium''' qualified.


Group 10

Argentina withdrew, so Brazil qualified automatically.


Group 11

United States , Colombia , Costa Rica , Mexico , El Salvador and Dutch Guiana all withdrew, so Cuba qualified automatically.


Group 12

Japan withdrew, so Dutch East Indies qualified automatically.


QUALIFIED TEAMS


(h) - qualified automatically as hosts

(c) - qualified automatically as defending champions


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