A total of 56 teams entered the 1962 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds, competing for a total of 16 spots in the final tournament. Chile, as the hosts, and Brazil, as the defending champions, qualified automatically, leaving 14 spots open for competition.
As with previous World Cups, the rules of the qualification rounds varied by confederation. The winners of the four weakest continental zones: North America (NAFC), Central America and Caribbean (CCCF), Africa (CAF) and Asia (AFC), were not guaranteed direct spots in the final tournament. Instead, they entered a play-off against a team from either Europe (UEFA) or South America (CONMEBOL), with the winners of the three play-offs qualifying.
Format The 16 spots available in the 1962 World Cup would be distributed among the continental zones as follows: Europe (UEFA): 8 direct places + 2 spots in the Intercontinental Play-offs (against teams from CAF and AFC), contested by 30 teams (including Israel and Ethiopia). South America (CONMEBOL): 5 direct places + 1 spot in the Intercontinental Play-offs (against a team from CCCF/NAFC); 2 direct places went to automatic qualifiers Chile and Brazil, while the other 3.5 places were contested by 7 teams. North, Central America and Caribbean (CCCF/NAFC): 1 spot in the Intercontinental Play-offs (against a team from CONMEBOL), contested by 8 teams. Africa (CAF): 1 spot in the Intercontinental Play-offs (against a team from UEFA), contested by 6 teams. Asia (AFC): 1 spot in the Intercontinental Play-offs (against a team from UEFA), contested by 3 teams.
A total of 49 teams played at least one qualifying match. A total of 92 qualifying matches were played, and 323 goals were scored (an average of 3.51 per match).
Listed below are the dates and results of the qualification rounds.
Confederation qualification
AFC
There would be only one round of play. The 3 teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winner would advance to the UEFA/AFC Intercontinental Play-off.
CAF
There would be two rounds of play: First round: The 6 teams were divided into 3 groups of 2 teams each. The teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group 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 advance to the UEFA/CAF Intercontinental Play-off.
First round Group 1Group 2Group 3Sudan and the United Arab Republic both withdrew; the Group was scratched.
Second round Second round
CCCF and NAFC
There would be two rounds of play:
First Round: The remaining 7 teams (Canada withdrew before the matches began due to scheduling constraints) were divided into 3 groups of 2 or 3 teams each (Group 1 with teams from Northern America and Mexico, Group 2 with teams from Central America and Group 3 with teams from Caribbean). The teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group 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 advance to the CONMEBOL/CCCF/NAFC Intercontinental Play-off.
First round Group 1Group 2Group 3
Second round Second round
CONMEBOL
Among the 7 teams, Paraguay were drawn to play in the CCCF/NAFC–CONMEBOL Intercontinental Play-off. The remaining 6 teams were divided into 3 groups of 2 teams each. The teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winners would qualify.
Group 1Group 2Group 3
UEFA
The 30 teams were divided into 10 groups. The groups had different rules, as follows: Groups 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 8 had 3 teams each. The teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winners would qualify. If the top two teams finished on level points, then a play-off at a neutral ground determined the final qualifier. Group 7 had 5 teams. The teams played in a knockout tournament, with matches on a home-and-away basis. The group winner would qualify. Group 9 had 2 teams. The teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winner would advance to the UEFA / CAF Intercontinental Play-off. If the top two teams finished on level points, then a play-off at a neutral ground determined the final qualifier. Group 10 had 2 teams. The teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winner would advance to the UEFA / AFC Intercontinental Play-off. If the top two teams finished on level points, then a play-off at a neutral ground determined the final qualifier.
Group 1Group 2Group 3Group 4Group 5Group 6Group 8Group 9Group 10
Group 7
Inter-confederation play-offs
In each play-off, the teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The winners would qualify.
CAF v UEFA
UEFA v AFC
CCCF/NAFC v CONMEBOL
Qualified teams
TeamDate of qualificationFinals appearanceStreakLast appearance17 December 19604th21958 (defending champions)29 June 19587th7195816 December 19611st1— (hosts)11 June 19563rd119507 May 19611st1—29 November 19615th3195825 October 19614th4195810 September 19615th319584 November 19615th119545 November 19615th4195823 November 19613rd1195012 November 19615th1195430 July 19614th1195412 November 19612nd2195822 October 19615th3195826 November 19615th41958
Goalscorers
7 goals
Andrej Kvašňák
6 goals
Juan Ulloa Salvador Reyes Monteón
5 goals
Adolf Scherer Bobby Charlton Yngve Brodd Charles Antenen
4 goals
Rubén Jiménez Marvin Rodríguez Tomáš Pospíchal Francisco López Contreras Nahum Stelmach Omar Sivori Francisco Flores Yaúca Chung Soon-cheon Milan Galić
3 goals
Oreste Omar Corbatta Jimmy Greaves Maryan Wisnieski Edward Acquah Andreas Papaemmanouil Lajos Tichy Yehoshua Glazer Shlomo Levi Mario Corso Ady Schmit Sigfrido Mercado Abdallah Azhar Billy McAdams Ralph Brand Ian St. John Rune Börjesson Metin Oktay Albert Brülls Gert Dörfel Uwe Seeler
2 goals
Martín Pando José Francisco Sanfilippo Rubén Héctor Sosa Hristo Iliev Dimitar Yakimov Manrique Quesada Michalis Shialis Dieter Erler Carlos Alberto Raffo Ray Pointer Bobby Smith Kai Pahlman Jacques Faivre Augusto Espinoza Carlos Humberto Suazo János Göröcs Károly Sándor Eduardo González Palmer Mohamed Khalfi Henk Groot Tonny van der Linden Eduvigis Rudolfo Dirksz Edwin Miliano Loran Dejo Fayemi Jimmy McIlroy Jim McLaughlin José Águas David Herd Denis Law Alex Young Yoo Pan-soon Valentin Bubukin Mikheil Meskhi Slava Metreveli Viktor Ponedelnik Alfredo Di Stéfano Agne Simonsson Robert Ballaman Heinz Schneiter Dragoslav Šekularac
1 goal
Ricardo José Maria Ramaciotti Roger Claessen Paul Van Himst Marcel Paeschen Máximo Alcócer Wilfredo Camacho Todor Diev Ivan Petkov Kolev Petar Velichkov Eusebio Escobar Héctor Garzon González Carlos Vivo Goban Álvaro Grant MacDonald Jorge Hernán Monge Walter Pearson Francisco Rojas Rigoberto Rojas Jiří Hledík Josef Jelínek Josef Kadraba Josef Masopust Peter Ducke Alberto Spencer John Connelly Ron Flowers Johnny Haynes Dennis Viollet Mohammed Awad Luciano Vassalo Sauli Pietiläinen Lucien Cossou Jean-Jacques Marcel Roger Piantoni Ernest Schultz Joseph Ujlaki Edward Boateng Aggrey Fynn Mohamadu Salisu Fred Masella Ronald Leaky Flórián Albert Máté Fenyvesi Tivadar Monostori Ernő Solymosi Amby Fogarty Johnny Giles Joe Haverty Boaz Kofman Shlomo Nahari Reuven Young José Altafini Antonio Angelillo Francisco Lojacono Koji Sasaki Camille Dimmer Nicolas Hoffmann Raúl Cárdenas Isidoro Díaz Crescencio Gutiérrez Lahcen Chicha Sellam Riahi Godwin Emenako Bjørn Borgen Eldar Hansen Roald Jensen Faustino Delgado Lucjan Brychczy Jan Szmidt Mário Coluna Eusébio Gennadi Gusarov Aleksei Mamykin Valery Voronin Enrique Collar Marcelino Joaquín Peiró Alfonso Rodríguez Salas Luis del Sol August Foe a Man Torbjörn Jonsson Norbert Eschmann Rolf Wüthrich Abdelmajid Chetali Brahim Kerrit Rached Meddeb Abdelmajid Tlemçani Aydın Yelken Helmut Bicek Carl Fister Al Zerhusen Ángel Cabrera Luis Cubilla Guillermo Escalada Ivor Allchurch Phil Woosnam Helmut Haller Richard Kreß Zvezdan Čebinac Dražan Jerković Tomislav Kaloperović Bora Kostić Petar Radaković
1 own goal
Romulo Gómez (playing against Argentina) Fernand Brosius (playing against Portugal)
Notes For the second World Cup in a row, no teams from Africa or Asia qualified.
References
External links
FIFA World Cup Official Site – 1962 World Cup Qualification RSSSF – 1962 World Cup Qualification