A total of 37 teams entered the 1954 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds, competing for a total of 16 spots in the final tournament. Switzerland, as the hosts, and Uruguay, as the defending champions, qualified automatically, leaving 14 spots open for competition.
37 teams were divided into 13 groups, based on geographical considerations, as follows:
A total of 33 teams played at least one qualifying match. A total of 57 qualifying matches were played, and 208 goals were scored (an average of 3.65 per match).
Listed below are the dates and results of the qualification rounds.
The 13 groups had different rules, as follows:
West Germany qualified.
Belgium qualified. This was the first time Sweden failed to qualify.
This group was also the 1953–54 British Home Championship.
England and Scotland qualified.
France qualified.
Austria qualified.
Spain and Turkey finished level on points, and a play-off on neutral ground was played to decide who would qualify.
Luigi Franco Gemma, a 14-year-old Italian boy whose father worked at the stadium, picked Turkey's name from the lots with his eyes blindfolded.[1][2] Since the 1970 FIFA World Cup finals, goal difference has been used as a tiebreaker for future qualifying rounds. Had those rules been in place, Spain would have qualified, and Turkey would have been eliminated. This is the first time Spain failed to qualify. Therefore, Turkey qualified. This was the only time winner of aggregate score failed to qualify.
Poland withdrew and Iceland had their entry rejected so Hungary qualified automatically.
Czechoslovakia qualified. This was the first time Romania failed to qualify.
Italy qualified.
Yugoslavia qualified.
Brazil qualified. Despite having participated in every World Cup, this was the first time they played qualifying matches.
Mexico qualified.
South Korea qualified.
(h) – qualified automatically as hosts
(c) – qualified automatically as defending champions
(w) – qualified automatically because Poland withdrew
František Vlk
Nat Lofthouse
Kalevi Lehtovirta
Just Fontaine.svg/1280px-Flag_of_Mexico_(1934-1968).svg.png){kind=small}
Pedro Arnauda.svg/1280px-Flag_of_Paraguay_(1842-1954).svg.png){kind=small}
Manuel Lugo.svg/1280px-Flag_of_South_Korea_(1949%E2%80%931984).svg.png){kind=small}
Choi Chung-Min Chung Nam-Sik.svg/1280px-Flag_of_Wales_(1953%E2%80%931959).svg.png){kind=small}
John Charles.svg/1280px-Flag_of_Belgium_(civil).svg.png){kind=small}
Léopold Anoul Mathieu Bollen.svg/1280px-Flag_of_Brazil_(1889%E2%80%931960).svg.png){kind=small}
Júlio Botelho Harold Hassall Dennis Wilshaw Olavi Lahtinen Jean Desgranges Pierre Flamion Léon Glovacki Roger Piantoni Joseph Ujlaki Jean Vincent.svg/1280px-Flag_of_Haiti_(civil).svg.png){kind=small}
Gerard Ellie
Arthur Fitzsimons Reg Ryan
Giampiero Boniperti Amleto Frignani.svg/1280px-Flag_of_Japan_(1870%E2%80%931999).svg.png){kind=small}
Toshio Iwatani Alfredo Torres.svg/1280px-Flag_of_Northern_Ireland_(1953%E2%80%931972).svg.png){kind=small}
Peter McParland José Parodi.svg/1280px-Flag_of_Romania_(1952%E2%80%931965).svg.png){kind=small}
József Pecsovszky
Allan Brown Charlie Fleming
Burhan Sargın Ivor Allchurch
Fritz Walter
Robert Dienst Ernst Happel Ernst Ocwirk Theodor Wagner Victor Lemberechts Victor Mees Jean-Louis Straetmans Maurinho.svg/1280px-Flag_of_Bulgaria_(1948%E2%80%931967).svg.png){kind=small}
Stefan Bozhkov Ivan Kolev Dobromir Tashkov
Ted Robledo Emil Pažický František Šafránek.svg/1280px-Flag_of_Egypt_(1922%E2%80%931952).svg.png){kind=small}
Ad-Diba Alaa El-Hamouly Ronnie Allen Ivor Broadis Jimmy Mullen Johnny Nicholls Nils Rikberg Jorma Vaihela Raymond Cicci Jacques Foix Édouard Kargu Raymond Kopa Armand Penverne.svg/1280px-Flag_of_Greece_(1822-1978).svg.png){kind=small}
Thanasis Bembis Georgios Kamaras Dimitris Kokkinakis George Cummins Tommy Eglington Frank O'Farrell Davy Walsh Ermes Muccinelli Egisto Pandolfini Eduardo Ricagni Ken Naganuma
Antoine Kohn Rafael Ávalos Gregorio Gómez José Naranjo Nicolás Tellez Norman Lockhart Eddie McMorran
Knut Dahlen Harald Hennum Hans Nordahl Gunnar Thoresen Ireneo Hermosilla Eulogio Martínez Silvio Parodi
José Águas Valeriu Călinoiu Alexandru Ene Gavril Serfözö.svg/1280px-Flag_of_Saar_(1947%E2%80%931956).svg.png){kind=small}
Herbert Binkert Herbert Martin Werner Otto Gerhard Siedl Jackie Henderson Bobby Johnstone Willie Ormond Lawrence Reilly Choi Kwang-Suk.svg/1280px-Flag_of_Spain_(1945%E2%80%931977).svg.png){kind=small}
Rafael Alsua José Artetxe Adrián Escudero Agustín Gaínza Miguel González Venancio García
Bengt Berndtsson Hans Persson Gösta Sandberg Herbert Sandin Arne Selmosson Recep Adanır Suat Mamat.svg/1280px-Flag_of_the_United_States_(1912-1959).svg.png){kind=small}
Cornelius Casey Efrain Chacurian Ruben Mendoza Helmut Rahn Horst Schade Hans Schäfer Ottmar Walter.svg/1280px-Flag_of_Yugoslavia_(1946-1992).svg.png){kind=small}
Frane Matošić Miloš Milutinović Todor Veselinović Branko Zebec William Scheppel (playing against Mexico)