Football at the 1960 Summer Olympics – Qualification

Qualification for the 1960 Summer Olympics began on 21 February 1959 with the qualifier for the 1959 South American Championship which was held in Ecuador and lasted all the way up to the 1 May 1960 with the last round of European qualifying.

Qualifications
The final tournament had 16 spots.

Automatic qualification was granted to 🇮🇹 italy as hosts. The others were allocated as follows:


 * Europe: 7 places, contested by 22 teams (including Israel).
 * Americas: 3 places, contested by 10 teams.
 * Africa: 2 places, contested by 9 teams (including Malta).
 * Asia: 2 places, contested by 8 teams.
 * Middle East: 1 place, contested by 3 teams.

1959 South American Championship
The 1959 South American Championship saw six nations compete in the continental competition held in Ecuador between March 7 and March 28. After fifteen matches was played, Brazil and Paraguay qualified through to the 1960 Summer Olympics.