1938 Fifa World Cup Qualification

For the first time the title holders and the host country were given automatic qualification. Therefore, France, as the hosts, and Italy, as the defending champions, qualified automatically, leaving 14 spots open for competition.

1938 FIFA World Cup Qualification

Tournament details
Dates	16 June 1937 – 1 May 1938
Teams	37 (from 3 confederations)
Tournament statistics
Matches played	22
Goals scored	96 (4.36 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Fricis Kaņeps Gyula Zsengellér (5 goals each)
← 1934 1950 →

Due to the Spanish Civil War, Spain withdrew from the competition. The remaining 34 teams were divided into 12 groups, based on geographical considerations, as follows:

• Groups 1 to 9 – Europe: 11 places, contested by 23 teams (including Egypt and Palestine).
• Groups 10 and 11 – The Americas: 2 places, contested by 9 teams.
• Group 12 – Asia: 1 place, contested by 2 teams.

However, due to the withdrawal of Austria after qualifying (they had been annexed by Germany), only 15 teams actually competed in the final tournament. FIFA did not offer participation to the runner-up of the group that Austria had played in, Latvia.

A total of 21 teams played at least one qualifying match. A total of 22 qualifying matches were played, and 96 goals were scored (an average of 4.36 per match).

The 12 groups had different rules, as follows:

• Group 1 had 4 teams. The teams played against each other once. The group winner and runner-up would qualify.
• Groups 2, 3, 4, 5 and 7 had 2 teams each. The teams, except in Group 5, played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winners would qualify. In Group 5, Switzerland and Portugal were to play only one match on a neutral ground with the winner to qualify.
• Groups 6 and 8 had 3 teams each. The strongest team of each group was seeded. There would be two rounds of play:
  • First Round: The seeded team received a bye and advanced to the Final Round directly. The remaining 2 teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The winner would advance to the Final Round.
  • Final Round: The seeded team played against the winner of the First Round at home. The winner would qualify.
• Group 9 had 3 teams. The teams played against each other once. The group winner and runner-up would qualify.
• Group 10 had 2 teams. The group winner would qualify.
• Group 11 had 7 teams. The group winner would qualify.
• Group 12 had 2 teams. The group winner would qualify.

Key:

• Teams highlighted in green qualified for the finals.
• Teams highlighted in Orange qualified for the final phase of their group.

Group 1

Rank	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAv	Pts
1	Germany	3	3	0	0	11	1	11.0	6
2	Sweden	3	2	0	1	11	7	1.57	4
3	Estonia	3	1	0	2	4	11	0.36	2
4	Finland	3	0	0	3	0	7	0.00	0

16 June 1937

Sweden	4–0	Finland
Bunke   60', 82' Persson   65' Svanström   68'	Report

Solna Råsunda Stadion, Stockholm, Sweden

Attendance: 19,554

Referee: Kolbjørn Daehlen (Norway)

20 June 1937

Sweden	7–2	Estonia
Josefsson   7', 41' Bunke   40' Jonasson   49' (pen.) Wetterström   73', 77', 84'	Report	Siimenson   2' Uukkivi   3'

Solna Råsunda Stadion, Stockholm, Sweden

Attendance: 20,000

Referee: Otto Remke (Denmark)

29 June 1937

Finland	0–2	Germany
	Report	Lehner   26' Urban   38'

Pallokenttä, Helsinki, Finland

Attendance: 6,519

Referee: Otto Remke (Denmark)

19 August 1937

Finland	0–1	Estonia
	Report	Kuremaa   56'

Urheilupuisto, Turku, Finland

Attendance: 4,797

Referee: Ivan Eklind (Sweden)

29 August 1937

Germany	4–1	Estonia
Lehner   50', 65' Gauchel   53', 86'	Report	Siimenson   34'

Horst-Wessel Stadion, Königsberg, Germany

Attendance: 15,000

Referee: Bruno Pfützner (Czechoslovakia)

21 November 1937

Germany	5–0	Sweden
Siffling   2', 57' Szepan   8' Schön   48', 63'	Report

Altonaer Stadion, Hamburg, Germany

Attendance: 55,000

Referee: Bruno Pfützner (Czechoslovakia)

Germany and Sweden qualified.

Group 2

Rank	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAv	Pts
1	Norway	2	1	1	0	6	5	1.20	3
2	Irish Free State	2	0	1	1	5	6	0.83	1

10 October 1937

Norway	3–2	Irish Free State
Kvammen   30', 64' Martinsen   78'	Report	Geoghegan   37' Dunne   49'

Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo, Norway

Attendance: 20,000

Referee: Peco Bauwens (Germany)

7 November 1937

Irish Free State	3–3	Norway
Dunne   10' O'Flanagan   62' Duggan   88'	Report	Kvammen   16', 33' Martinsen   49'

Dalymount Park, Dublin, Irish Free State

Attendance: 27,000

Referee: Thomas Gibbs (England)

Norway qualified.

Group 3

Rank	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAv	Pts
1	Poland	2	1	0	1	4	1	4.00	2
2	Yugoslavia	2	1	0	1	1	4	0.25	2

10 October 1937

Poland	4–0	Yugoslavia
Piątek   3', 20' Wostal   59' Wilimowski   78'	Report

Stadion Wojska Polskiego, Warsaw, Poland

Attendance: 30,000

Referee: Lucien Leclercq (France)

3 April 1938

Yugoslavia	1–0	Poland
Marjanović   61'	Report

Stadion BSK, Belgrade, Yugoslavia

Attendance: 25,000

Referee: Rinaldo Barlassina (Italy)

Poland finished above Yugoslavia on goal average, and thus qualified.

Group 4

Rank	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
—	Romania	qualified
—	Egypt	withdrew

Egypt were to play Romania on 17 December 1937. However, Egypt withdrew from the competition after Egyptian officials objected to playing on this date since it was in the holy month of Ramadan. Therefore, Romania qualified after Egypt invited Austrian club side First Vienna to play the friendly match against the national team.

Group 5

Rank	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAv	Pts
1	Switzerland	1	1	0	0	2	1	2.00	2
2	Portugal	1	0	0	1	1	2	0.50	0

1 May 1938

Switzerland	2–1	Portugal
Aeby   24' Amado   29'	Report	Peyroteo   72' (pen.)

Stadio Civico Arena, Milan, Italy

Attendance: 20,000

Referee: Francesco Mattea (Italy)

Switzerland qualified.

Group 6

First round

Rank	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAv	Pts
1	Greece	2	2	0	0	4	1	4.00	4
2	Mandatory Palestine	2	0	0	2	1	4	0.25	0

22 January 1938

Mandatory Palestine	1–3	Greece
Neufeld   36'	Report	Vikelidis   15', 30' Migiakis   73'

Maccabiah Stadium, Tel Aviv, Mandatory Palestine/Land of Israel

Attendance: 5,000

Referee: Mohammed Youssef (Egypt)

20 February 1938

Greece	1–0	Mandatory Palestine
Vikelidis   88' (pen.)	Report

Stadio Leoforos Alexandras, Athens, Greece

Attendance: 12,000

Referee: Mika Popovic (Yugoslavia)

Greece qualified for the final round.

Final round

Rank	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAv	Pts
1	Hungary	1	1	0	0	11	1	11.0	2
2	Greece	1	0	0	1	1	11	0.09	0

25 March 1938

Hungary	11–1	Greece
Zsengellér   15', 23' (pen.), 25', 65', 81' Titkos   18', 75' Vincze   26' Nemes   34', 40', 52'	Report	Makris   89'

Hungária, Budapest, Hungary

Attendance: 14,000

Referee: Denis Xifando (Romania)

Hungary qualified.

Group 7

Rank	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAv	Pts
1	Czechoslovakia	2	1	1	0	7	1	7.00	3
2	Bulgaria	2	0	1	1	1	7	0.14	1

7 November 1937

Bulgaria	1–1	Czechoslovakia
Pachedzhiev   89' (pen.)	Report	Ríha   44'

Junak Stadion, Sofia, Bulgaria

Attendance: 12,000

Referee: Rinaldo Barlassina (Italy)

24 April 1938

Czechoslovakia	6–0	Bulgaria
Šimůnek   21', 79', 89' Nejedlý   57', 77' Ludl   73'	Report

AC Sparta Stadion, Prague, Czechoslovakia

Attendance: 31,458

Referee: Pál von Hertzka (Hungary)

Czechoslovakia qualified.

Group 8

First round

Rank	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAv	Pts
1	Latvia	2	2	0	0	9	3	3.00	4
2	Lithuania	2	0	0	2	3	9	0.33	0

29 July 1937

Latvia	4–2	Lithuania
Kaņeps   19', 52', 83' Vestermans   50'	Report	Gudelis   79' Paulionis   90'

ASK stadions, Riga, Latvia

Attendance: 10,000

Referee: Gustav Krist (Czechoslovakia)

3 September 1937

Lithuania	1–5	Latvia
Paulionis   72'	Report	Kaņeps   4', 45' (pen.) Borduško   11', 30' Vestermans   67'

Valstybinis stadionas, Kaunas, Lithuania

Attendance: 8,000

Referee: Hans Frankenstein (Austria)

Latvia qualified for the final round.

Final round

Rank	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAv	Pts
1	Austria	1	1	0	0	2	1	2.00	2
2	Latvia	1	0	0	1	1	2	0.50	0

5 October 1937

Austria	2–1	Latvia
Jerusalem   15' Binder   33'	Report	Vestermans   6'

Stadion Prater, Vienna, Austria

Attendance: 16,000

Referee: Pál von Hercka (Hungary)

Austria qualified, but was later incorporated by Germany during the Anschluss. FIFA offered the place to England (winner of the 1937–38 British Home Championship), who had opted not to enter the competition, but they declined the offer; FIFA decided not to allow anyone else to qualify, leaving the World Cup one team short.

Group 9

Pos.	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAv	Pts
1	Netherlands	2	1	1	0	5	1	5.00	3
2	Belgium	2	1	1	0	4	3	1.33	3
3	Luxembourg	2	0	0	2	2	7	0.29	0

28 November 1937

Netherlands	4–0	Luxembourg
Smit   29' de Boer   68', 78', 82'	Report

Stadion Feyenoord, Rotterdam, Netherlands

Attendance: 40,000

Referee: Karl Weingarter (Austria)

13 March 1938

Luxembourg	2–3	Belgium
Libar   4' Kemp   33'	Report	Voorhoof   19' Braine   55' de Vries   59'

Stade Municipal, Luxembourg, Luxembourg

Attendance: 12,500

Referee: Georges Capdeville (France)

3 April 1938

Belgium	1–1	Netherlands
Isemborghs   53'	Report	van Spaandonck   37'

Bosuil Stadion, Antwerp, Belgium

Attendance: 47,660

Referee: Arthur Jewell (England)

Netherlands and Belgium qualified.

Group 10

Rank	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAv	Pts
1	Brazil	Bye
2	Argentina	Withdrew

Argentina withdrew, so Brazil qualified automatically.

Group 11

First round

Rank	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAv	Pts
1	Cuba	Bye
2	Costa Rica	Withdrew
	Dutch Guiana
	El Salvador
	Colombia
	Mexico
	United States

Costa Rica, Dutch Guiana, El Salvador, Mexico, Colombia and the United States all withdrew, so Cuba qualified automatically for the second round.

Second round

All other teams than Cuba had withdrawn from competition, so thus qualified automatically for the finals.

Group 12

Rank	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAv	Pts
1	Dutch East Indies	Qualified
2	Japan	Withdrew

Japan withdrew, so the Dutch East Indies qualified automatically.

 

 

Team	Finals Appearance	Streak	Last Appearance
Austria	2nd	2	1934
Belgium	3rd	3	1934
Brazil	3rd	3	1934
Cuba	1st	1	–
Czechoslovakia	2nd	2	1934
Dutch East Indies	1st	1	–
France (h)	3rd	3	1934
Germany	2nd	2	1934
Hungary	2nd	2	1934
Italy (c)	2nd	2	1934
Netherlands	2nd	2	1934
Norway	1st	1	–
Poland	1st	1	–
Romania	3rd	3	1934
Sweden	2nd	2	1934
Switzerland	2nd	2	1934

•   Austria withdrew after qualifying due to the Anschluss.
• (h) – qualified automatically as hosts
• (c) – qualified automatically as defending champions

5 goals

4 goals

3 goals

2 goals

1 goal

• It was originally intended that the World Cup would be held alternately between the continents of South America and Europe. However Jules Rimet, the creator of the World Cup, convinced FIFA to hold the competition in France,^{[citation needed]} his home country. Because of this controversial move, many American countries, including Argentina (the most likely hosts if the event was held in South America), Chile, Paraguay, Peru, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Mexico, Dutch Guiana, Uruguay, and the United States, all withdrew or refused to enter.^{[citation needed]}. Brazil and Cuba were the only countries from the Americas to enter qualification and thus qualified for the World Cup by default.