1974 FIFA World Cup qualification

Last updated
1974 FIFA World Cup Qualification
Tournament details
Dates14 November 1971 – 13 February 1974
Teams99 (from 6 confederations)
Tournament statistics
Matches played226
Goals scored620 (2.74 per match)
Top scorer(s) Flag of Trinidad and Tobago.svg Steve David (12 goals)
1970
1978

99 teams entered the 1974 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds, competing for 16 places in the final tournament. West Germany, as the hosts, and Brazil, as the defending champions, qualified automatically, leaving 14 spots open for competition.

Contents

The 16 spots available in the 1974 World Cup would be distributed among the continental zones as follows:

90 teams played at least one qualifying match. 226 qualifying matches were played, and 620 goals were scored (an average of 2.74 per match).

Confederation qualification

AFC and OFC

Australia qualified.

CAF

Zaire qualified.

CONCACAF

Haiti qualified.

CONMEBOL

Group 1 – Uruguay qualified.
Group 2 – Argentina qualified.
Group 3 – Chile advanced to the UEFA / CONMEBOL Intercontinental Play-off.

UEFA

Group 1 – Sweden qualified.
Group 2 – Italy qualified.
Group 3 – Netherlands qualified.
Group 4 – East Germany qualified.
Group 5 – Poland qualified.
Group 6 – Bulgaria qualified.
Group 7 – Yugoslavia qualified.
Group 8 – Scotland qualified.
Group 9 – Soviet Union advanced to the UEFA / CONMEBOL Intercontinental Play-off.

Inter-confederation play-offs: UEFA v CONMEBOL

The teams would play against each other on a home-and-away basis, with the winner qualifying to the finals.

The second leg was scratched as the Soviet Union were disqualified after they refused to travel to Santiago for the return leg due to the 1973 Chilean coup d'état and the executions of left-wing prisoners in the Santiago stadium. The match did "go ahead" with the eleven Chilean players facing zero Soviet players before thousands of bemused spectators, [1] and half a dozen Chilean players slowly passed the ball to each other in mock play until the captain walked the ball into the net.

Team 1 Agg. Tooltip Aggregate scoreTeam 21st leg2nd leg
Soviet Union  Flag of the Soviet Union.svg w.o. [note 1] Flag of Chile.svg  Chile 0–0 0–2 [note 1]

Qualified teams

Final qualification status
.mw-parser-output .legend{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}.mw-parser-output .legend-color{display:inline-block;min-width:1.25em;height:1.25em;line-height:1.25;margin:1px 0;text-align:center;border:1px solid black;background-color:transparent;color:black}.mw-parser-output .legend-text{}
Country qualified for World Cup
Country failed to qualify
Country did not enter World Cup
Country not a FIFA member 1974 world cup qualification.png
Final qualification status
  Country qualified for World Cup
  Country failed to qualify
  Country did not enter World Cup
  Country not a FIFA member

The following 16 teams qualified for the 1974 FIFA World Cup:

TeamDate of qualificationFinals appearanceStreakLast appearance
Flag of Argentina (civil).svg  Argentina 7 October 19736th1 1966
Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia 13 November 19731st1
Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg  Brazil (defending champions)21 June 197010th10 1970
Flag of Bulgaria (1971-1990).svg  Bulgaria 14 November 19734th4 1970
Flag of Chile.svg  Chile 21 November 19735th1 1966
Flag of East Germany.svg  East Germany 13 November 19731st1
Flag of Haiti (1964-1986).svg  Haiti 14 December 19731st1
Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 20 October 19738th4 1970
Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 18 November 19733rd1 1938
Flag of Poland.svg  Poland 17 October 19732nd1 1938
Flag of Scotland.svg  Scotland 26 September 19733rd1 1958
Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden 27 November 19736th2 1970
Flag of Uruguay.svg  Uruguay 8 July 19737th4 1970
Flag of Germany.svg  West Germany (hosts)6 July 19668th6 1970
Flag of Yugoslavia (1946-1992).svg  Yugoslavia 13 February 19746th1 1962
Flag of Zaire (1971-1997).svg  Zaire 9 December 19731st1

Goalscorers

12 goals
11 goals
7 goals
6 goals
5 goals
4 goals
3 goals
2 goals
1 goal
1 own goal

Notes

  1. 1 2 The Soviet Union refused to play in Chile for the second leg, so Chile were awarded a 2–0 walkover victory.

References

  1. "Planet World Cup - Peter Goldstein (Columnist) Jan 03 2002".