1938 FIFA World Cup qualification

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 →

A total of 37 teams entered the 1938 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds, competing for a total of 16 spots in the final tournament. 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.

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.

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

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Germany and Sweden qualified.

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

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Norway qualified.

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

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

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.^[1]

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

Switzerland qualified.

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

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Greece qualified for the 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

Hungary qualified.

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

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Czechoslovakia qualified.

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

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Latvia qualified for the 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

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.

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

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Netherlands and Belgium qualified.

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

Argentina withdrew, so Brazil qualified automatically.

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.

All other teams than Cuba had withdrawn from competition, so thus qualified automatically for the finals.

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.

• FIFA World Cup Official Site - 1938 World Cup Qualification
• RSSSF - 1938 World Cup Qualification