1970 FIFA World Cup qualification

A total of 75 teams entered the 1970 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds, competing for a total of 16 spots in the final tournament. Hosts Mexico and defending champions England qualified automatically, leaving 14 spots open for competition.

For the first time, the winners of both the African zone and the Asian and Oceanian zone were guaranteed a direct place in the final tournament. The 16 spots available in the 1970 World Cup would be distributed among the continental zones as follows:

Europe (UEFA): 9 places, 1 of them went to automatic qualifier England, while the other 8 places were contested by 29 teams.
South America (CONMEBOL): 3 places, contested by 10 teams.
North, Central America and Caribbean (CONCACAF): 2 places, 1 of them went to automatic qualifier Mexico, while the other 1 place was contested by 13 teams.
Africa (CAF): 1 place, contested by 13 teams. (13 teams applied, but FIFA rejected the entries of Guinea and Zaire, leaving 11 teams. A 14th team from Africa, Rhodesia, entered through a non-CAF qualifying system.)
Asia and Oceania (AFC/OFC): 1 place, contested by 7 teams (including Rhodesia).

A total of 68 teams played in at least one qualifying match. A total of 172 qualifying matches were played, and 542 goals were scored (an average of 3.15 per match).

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

Key:

Teams highlighted in green qualified for the finals.
Teams highlighted in red in the same table finished level on points and advanced to a play-off on neutral ground.

Qualified teams

Confederation qualification

AFC and OFC

North Korea withdrew because they refused to play Israel. There would be three rounds of play:

First Round: Israel, New Zealand and Rhodesia received byes and advanced to the Second Round directly. The remaining 3 teams, Australia, Japan and South Korea, played against each other twice in South Korea. The group winner would advance to the Second Round.
Second Round: The 4 teams were divided into 2 groups of 2 teams each. The teams played against each other twice. The group winners would advance to the Final Round.
Final Round: The 2 teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The winner would qualify.

First round

Second round

Group 1

Play-off

Group 2

Final round

CAF

FIFA rejected the entries of Guinea and Zaire. There would be three rounds of play:

First Round: Ghana received a bye and advanced to the Second Round directly. The remaining 10 teams were paired up to play knockout matches on a home-and-away basis. The winners (determined by aggregate score) would advance to the Second Round.
Second Round: The 6 teams were paired up to play knockout matches on a home-and-away basis. The winners would advance to the Final Round.
Final Round: The 3 teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winner would qualify.

First round

Second round

Final round

CONCACAF

FIFA rejected the entry of Cuba. There would be three rounds of play:

First Round: The remaining 12 teams were divided into 4 groups of 3 teams each. The teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winners would advance to the Semifinal Round.
Semifinal Round: The 4 teams were paired up to play knockout matches on a home-and-away basis. The winners would advance to the Final Round.
Final Round: The 2 teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The winner would qualify.

First round

Group 1

Group 2

Group 3

Group 4

Second round

Group 1

Group 2

Play-off

Third round

Play-off

CONMEBOL

The 10 teams were divided into 3 groups; two groups with 3 teams and one group with 4 teams. The teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winners would qualify.

Group 1

Group 2

Group 3

UEFA

(30 teams competing for 8 berths)

FIFA rejected the entry of Albania. The remaining 29 teams were divided into 8 groups, 3 groups with 3 teams and 5 groups with 4 teams. The teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winners would qualify.

Goalscorers

10 goals

Tostão

9 goals

Gerd Müller

7 goals

6 goals

5 goals

4 goals

3 goals

2 goals

1 goal

1 own goal

David Zeman (playing against Israel)
Johann Eigenstiller (playing against West Germany)
Rudolph Smith (playing against the United States)
Ramiro Tobar (playing against Chile)
Aritatsu Ogi (playing against Australia)
Valentín Mendoza (playing against Brazil)
Héctor Chumpitaz (playing against Bolivia)
José Torres (playing against Greece)
Phillemon Tegire (playing against Australia)
Bruno Michaud (playing against Romania)
Tyrone de la Bastide (playing against Guatemala)
Selwyn Murren (playing against Guatemala)

Notes

In the African zone, aggregate score was used to determine the winners of two-legged ties. However, different tie-breakers were used in the matches when the aggregate score was tied.
Morocco was the first African team to qualify since Egypt in the 1934 World Cup.
As a result of the hostile relationship between El Salvador and Honduras, and rioting during the qualification matches between them, the short-lived Football War broke out between the two countries.
Israel qualified for their only World Cup to date as an Asian team. However, soon after this, they were expelled from the Asian Football Confederation, and now compete in the European zone as they are now a member of UEFA.

References

External links

FIFA World Cup Official Site – 1970 World Cup Qualification Archived 22 February 2007 at the Wayback Machine
RSSSF – 1970 World Cup Qualification