The 1934 FIFA World Cup was the first World Cup for which teams had to qualify, after the finalists in the inaugural 1930 World Cup had participated by invitation from FIFA. With 32 teams having entered the 1934 competition, FIFA organized qualification rounds to select 16 teams for the finals. Even Italy, the host of the World Cup, had to earn its spot, the only time this has been the case. The previous champion Uruguay refused to defend its title because many European nations had declined to take part in the 1930 World Cup, held in Uruguay.
Of the 32 teams which entered,
Chile, Peru and Turkey all withdrew before qualifying began. Brazil and Argentina qualified without playing any matches owing to the withdrawal of their opponents. The other 27 teams played at least one qualifying match. Greece, Bulgaria and Poland withdrew partway through the planned schedule of qualifying matches.
The first match, between Sweden and Estonia, took place in Stockholm on 11 June 1933, with Swedish player Knut Kroon scoring the first goal. The last match was played in Rome only three days before the start of the tournament, as late entrant United States beat Mexico to become the final team to qualify.
Format
The 32 teams were divided into 12 groups, based on geographical considerations, as follows: Groups 1 to 8 – Europe: 12 places, contested by 21 teams. Groups were organised regionally so as to minimise travel distance, with most groups consisting of neighbouring countries. Groups 9, 10 and 11 – Americas: 3 places, contested by 8 teams. Group 12 – Africa and Asia: 1 place, contested by 3 teams (including Turkey).
The 12 groups had different rules, as follows: Group 1 had 3 teams. The teams played against each other once, with each team playing one home and one away game. The group winner would qualify. Groups 2, 3 and 5 had 2 teams each. The teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winners would qualify. Group 4 had 3 teams. The teams played against each other twice. The group winner and runner-up would qualify. Groups 6, 7 and 8 had 3 teams each. The teams played against each other once, with each team playing one home and one away game. The group winners and runners-up would qualify. Groups 9 and 10 had 2 teams each. The group winners would qualify. Group 11 had 4 teams. There would be three rounds of play: First Round: Haiti played against Cuba three times, all games taking place in Haiti. The winner would advance to the Second Round. Second Round: Mexico played against the winner of the First Round thrice at home. The winner would advance to the Final Round. Final Round: USA played against the winner of the Second Round in a single match on neutral ground. The winner would qualify. Group 12 had 3 teams. After Turkey withdrew before the matches began, the remaining 2 teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winner would qualify.
Key: Teams highlighted in green qualified for the finals. Teams highlighted in orange qualified for the next phase of their group.
Groups Group 1
Estonia v Lithuania was not played since neither team could qualify with a win.
Sweden qualified.
Group 2
Spain qualified.
Group 3 RankTeamQualification11100404.002Final Tournament 21001040.000
Italy qualified, as Greece declined to play the second match.
Group 4 RankTeamQualification12200824.004Final Tournament21100616.002Final Tournament330033140.210
Bulgaria withdrew, and the remaining matches were not played since Hungary and Austria were already assured of the top two spots.
Hungary and Austria qualified.
Group 5 RankTeamQualification12200414.004Final Tournament22002140.250
Czechoslovakia qualified.
Group 6 RankTeamQualification12110422.003Final Tournament22101230.672Final Tournament32011340.751
Switzerland and Romania qualified.
Group 7
Netherlands and Belgium qualified (Belgium finished above the Irish Free State on goal average).
Group 8 RankTeamQualification11100919.002Final Tournament21100616.002Final Tournament320022150.130
Germany v France was not played since both teams were already assured of the top two spots.
Germany and France qualified.
Group 9 RankTeamQualification1Final Tournament2 Withdrew
Peru withdrew, so Brazil qualified automatically.
Group 10 RankTeamQualification1Final Tournament2Withdrew
Chile withdrew, so Argentina qualified automatically.
Group 11
First round
Cuba advanced to the Second Round.
Second round
Mexico advanced to the Final Round.
Final round
The match to decide whether the United States or Mexico would qualify was played only three days before the start of the final tournament, as the United States submitted their entry too late. Thus, the match was played in Italy, so that the winner would effectively stay in the country for the tournament.
United States qualified.
Group 12 The Palestine football team consisted exclusively of Jewish and British players.
FIFA states, in reference to the 1930s Palestine Mandate team, that the 'Palestine team' that participated in previous competitions in the 1930s was actually the forerunner of today's Israel team, and as such bears no relation to the modern-day Palestine national team. However, the region currently known as Palestine is considered one of the first Asian teams to compete in the FIFA World Cup qualifiers.
11–2 on aggregate; Egypt qualified.
Qualified teams Only six of the teams qualifying for the final competition – Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, France, Romania, and the USA – had already attended the World Cup in 1930.
TeamFinals AppearanceStreakLast Appearance2nd219301st1—2nd219302nd219301st1—1st1—2nd219301st1—1st1—1st1—1st1—2nd219301st1—1st1—1st1—2nd21930
Goalscorers
7 goals Mario López Dionisio Mejía Isidro Lángara
5 goals
Mahmoud Mokhtar El Tetsh Paddy Moore
4 goals Jean Nicolas Josef Rasselnberg Beb Bakhuys Aldo Donelli
3 goals
Johann Horvath Mohamed Latif Karl Hohmann Gábor P. Szabó Manuel Alonso Kick Smit
2 goals
François Vanden Eynde Héctor Socorro Mostafa Taha Robert St. Fort József Solti Giuseppe Meazza Leen Vente Ștefan Dobay Luis Regueiro Bertil Ericsson Knut Hansson Vladimir Kragić
1 goal
Matthias Sindelar Rudolf Viertl Karl Zischek Jean Capelle Stan Vanden Eynde Laurent Grimmonprez Bernard Voorhoof Dimitar Baikushev Mihail Lozanov Vladimir Todorov Enrique Ferrer Ángel Martínez Francisco Socorro Salvador Soto František Pelcner Josef Silný Abdulrahman Fawzi Leonhard Kass Richard Kuremaa Alfred Aston Ernest Libérati Ernst Albrecht Willi Wigold Imre Markos György Sárosi Géza Toldi Johnny Squires Giovanni Ferrari Anfilogino Guarisi Ernest Mengel Théophile Speicher Avraham Nudelmann Yohanan Sukenik Fernando Marcos Felipe Rosas José Ruvalcaba Jorge Sota Henryk Martyna Vítor Silva Sándor Schwartz Grațian Sepi Eduardo González Martí Ventolrà Sven Andersson Lennart Bunke Torsten Bunke Knut Kroon Alessandro Frigerio Erwin Hochsträsser Ernst Hufschmid Willy Jäggi Blagoje Marjanović
Footnotes
References
External links 1934 FIFA World Cup qualification at FIFA.com 1934 FIFA World Cup qualification at RSSSF.com