FIFA World Cup qualification

The FIFA World Cup qualification is the process that a national association football team goes through to qualify for the FIFA World Cup finals. The FIFA World Cup is the largest international team sport competition in the world with a qualification process required to reduce the large field of countries from 52 to just 16 for the World Cup finals until the 1982 edition.

History

First appearance in qualification by team

Note: Only teams that played at least one match are considered for the purposes of first appearance. Teams that withdrew prior to the qualification, or that qualified to the World Cup by walkover due to other teams' withdrawals, are not considered. Teams that succeeded in their first qualification are in bold.

World Cup	Europe	South America	North, Central America and Caribbean	Asia and Pacific	Africa	Total	Successor and renamed teams
1914	Finland Italy Luxembourg Norway Russia Scotland Wales	Chile	none	none	none	8
1926	Austria Belgium Czechoslovakia Denmark England France Germany Ireland Hungary Netherlands Poland Portugal Romania Switzerland Sweden Turkey Yugoslavia	Argentina Brazil Paraguay Uruguay	Canada Mexico United States	Japan Philippines China	Egypt	28
1930	Bulgaria Estonia Greece Irish Free State Spain	Peru	Costa Rica Haiti Honduras Trinidad and Tobago	none	none	10
1934	none	Bolivia	Barbados El Salvador Jamaica Hawaii	Dutch East Indies	none	6
1938	none	none	Cuba	Palestine, British Mandate	none	2
1950	Cyprus	Colombia	Panama	India Korea Westrailia	none	6
1954	Brittany Iceland Saar	Ecuador	none	South Vietnam	none	5	Israel
1958	East Germany	none	Nicaragua	China PR Thailand	Kenya Nigeria South Africa	7
1962	Albania	none	Suriname	none	Algeria Morocco Tunisia	5

Overview of teams' participations

The below table shows how every team has participated in each World Cup qualification.

Key

• Template:Font color = successful qualifying campaign
• Template:Font color = did not take part in qualifying
• Template:Font color = participated in the final tournament

Team	19 06	19 10	19 14	19 22	19 26	19 30	19 34	19 38	19 50	19 54	19 58	19 62	Current confederation
	Albania									w	w				EFU
Argentina	i	i	i	—	n	Q	Q	H	n	—			CONMEBOL
Austria	i	H	i	—	Q	n	n	n	Q	Q			EFU
Barbados							n	—	n	—			CONCACAF
Belgium	i	i	i	i	Q	n	Q	n	Q	n			EFU
Bolivia						w	n	w	n	n			CONMEBOL
Brazil				—	Q	Q	Q	Q	Q	n			CONMEBOL
Brittany								—	—	n			EFU
Bulgaria					—	n	Q	Q	n	n			EFU
Canada					n	—	—	—	n	—			CONCACAF
Chile			Q	—	—	n	n	Q	Q	H			CONMEBOL
Chinese Taipei			—	—	n	—	n	w	w	w			APFC
Costa Rica						w	n	—	Q	n			CONCACAF
Colombia									n	—			CONMEBOL
Cuba								n	n	n			CONCACAF
Cyprus									n	w			EFU
Czechoslovakia				i	Q	Q	Q	n	w	n			EFU
Denmark		i	i	—	n	n	n	Q	Q	n			EFU
Ecuador									w	n			CONMEBOL
El Salvador						w	n	—	n	—			CONCACAF
England	i	i	H	—	n	—	n	—					EFU
Estonia					—	n	n	n					EFU
Egypt				—	n	Q	n	—	—	—			CAF
Finland			n	—	Q	n	n	n	n	n			EFU
France	H	i	i	i	Q	Q	Q	n	Q	Q			EFU
West Germany (1954–) Germany (1910–1938)		i	i	—	n	Q	Q	n	—	n			EFU}}
Great Britain									Q	Q			EFU
Greece						n	n	n	n	n			EFU
Guatemala									w	—			CONCACAF
Hawaii							n	—	n	—			CONCACAF
Haiti						n	n	—	n	n			CONCACAF
Honduras						n	—	—	n	n			CONCACAF
Hungary	i	i	i	—	Q	n	n	Q	w	Q			EFU
Iceland									w	n			EFU
India									n	n			APFC
Indonesia (1950–) Dutch East Indies (1934–1938)							n	Q	n	n			APFC
Ireland	i	i	i	—	n	—							EFU
Israel (1954–) Palestine, British Mandate (1938)								n	—	n			APFC}}
Italy			Q	i	Q	Q	H	C	C	n			EFU
Jamaica						w	n	—	Q	n			CONCACAF
Japan			—	—	n	—	n	w	—	n			APFC
Korea									Q	Q			APFC
Latvia					—	n	n	Q					EFU
Lithuania					—	n	n	n					EFU
Luxembourg			n	i	n	n	n	n	n	n			EFU
Mexico					n	w	Q	w	Q	Q			CONCACAF
Netherlands	i	i	i	H	Q	Q	Q	Q	Q	n			EFU
Northern Ireland							n	—					EFU
Norway		i	Q	—	n	Q	Q	n	Q	n			EFU
Panama									n	n			EFU
Paraguay				—	n	Q	n	n	n	Q			CONMEBOL
Peru						Q	n	n	w	n			CONMEBOL
Philippines			—	—	n	—	n	w	w	—			APFC
Poland					n	n	n	n	w	n			EFU
Portugal				—	n	n	n	n	n	Q			EFU
Republic of Ireland					—	n	Q	n	n	n			EFU
Romania				—	n	n	n	Q	Q	Q			EFU
Saar										n			EFU
Scotland	i	i	Q	—	Q	—	n	—	n				EFU
South Vietnam										n			APFC
Soviet Union (1930–) Russia (1914)			n			n	—	—	w	Q			EFU
Spain				i	H	n	n	—	Q	Q			EFU
Switzerland	i	i	i	i	n	Q	n	Q	n	n			EFU
Sweden		i	i	i	Q	Q	Q	n	H	C			EFU
Trinidad and Tobago						w	n	—	n	n			CONCACAF
Turkey					n	n	n	—	n	Q			EFU
United States				—	Q	Q	n	Q	Q	n			CONCACAF
Uruguay	i	—	—	—	Q	H	Q	Q	Q	Q			CONMEBOL
Wales	i	i	n	—	Q	—	Q	—					EFU
Westrailia									n	n			APFC
Yugoslavia				i	Q	Q	Q	Q	Q	Q			EFU

Overall team records

Key
Team has won the World Cup
Team has qualified for the main tournament through a qualifying process
Team has qualified for the main tournament only by walkover or by invite
Team has not qualified for the main tournament
Defunct team that never qualified for the main tournament (Saar, Russian Empire)

Teams in bold are currently participating or are yet to start in the 1962 qualification. The table is updated to the matches played in December 1961.

No.	Team	Qualifying attempts		Appearances in the finals	Overall qualification record							Points		Confederation
		Total	Successful		Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Total	Avg
1	France	6	5	9	20	14	4	2	42	21	+23	32		EFU
2	Norway	7	3	4	21	12	5	4	43	20	+23	29		EFU
3	Netherlands	6	5	9	19	12	3	4	44	18	+26	27		EFU
4	United States	6	4	4	16	12	1	3	56	10	+46	25		CONCACAF
5	Yugoslavia	6	6	7	15	11	3	1	37	11	+26	25		EFU
6	Sweden	4	3	8	15	11	2	2	42	7	+35	24		EFU
7	Mexico	5	3	3	14	11	1	2	47	10	+37	23		CONCACAF
8	Brazil	6	5	5	15	10	3	2	43	15	+28	23		CONMEBOL
9	Uruguay	5	5	7	16	10	3	3	28	14	+14	23		CONMEBOL
10	Czechoslovakia	6	3	4	15	9	3	3	42	15	+27	21		EFU
11	Switzerland	6	2	6	21	10	1	10	37	20	+17	21		EFU
12	Austria	6	3	6	17	10	1	6	32	15	+17	21		EFU
13	Hungary	5	3	6	15	10	1	4	29	16	+13	21		EFU
14	Romania	6	3	3	18	8	5	5	30	30	0	21		EFU
15	Bulgaria	5	2	2	17	7	4	6	25	28	−3	18		EFU
16	Wales	3	2	4	13	7	3	3	23	11	+12	17		EFU
17	Paraguay	5	2	2	16	7	3	6	27	24	+3	17		CONMEBOL
18	Portugal	6	2	2	21	6	5	10	24	32	−8	17		EFU
19	Italy	4	3	7	13	7	3	3	30	8	+22	16		EFU
20	Germany West Germany	5	2	4	14	7	2	5	18	19	−1	16		EFU
21	Korea	2	2	2	8	7	1	0	25	4	+21	15		APFC
22	Belgium	6	3	7	21	6	3	12	23	28	−5	15		EFU
23	Argentina	4	2	6	11	7	0	4	26	9	+17	14		CONMEBOL
24	Republic of Ireland	5	1	1	17	5	4	8	23	26	−3	14		EFU
25	Finland	7	2	2	16	5	4	7	19	24	−5	14		EFU
26	Chile	5	3	4	11	6	1	4	14	14	0	13		CONMEBOL
27	Denmark	6	2	4	18	5	3	10	20	28	−8	13		EFU
28	Japan	3	0	0	9	6	1	2	19	12	+7	12		APFC
29	Scotland	4	2	4	10	5	2	3	15	10	+5	12		EFU
30	Spain	4	2	4	12	5	2	5	20	18	+2	12		EFU
31	Costa Rica	3	1	1	10	5	1	4	15	15	0	11		CONCACAF
32	Panama	2	0	0	9	4	3	2	11	11	0	11		CONCACAF
33	Egypt	3	1	1	9	4	2	3	10	15	−5	10		CAF
34	El Salvador	2	0	0	11	3	4	3	12	22	−10	10		CONCACAF
35	Peru	4	1	1	14	4	1	9	13	29	−16	9		CONMEBOL
36	Soviet Union Russia	3	1	1	9	2	4	3	13	14	−1	8		EFU
37	Turkey	5	1	1	11	2	4	5	12	20	−8	8		EFU
38	Luxembourg	6	0	1	15	3	2	10	9	50	−41	8		EFU
39	Philippines	2	0	0	5	3	1	1	10	5	+5	7		APFC
40	Cuba	3	0	0	8	3	1	4	10	11	−1	7		CONCACAF
41	India	2	0	0	5	2	2	1	10	6	+4	6		APFC
42	Indonesia Dutch East Indies	4	1	1	10	2	2	6	9	26	−17	6		APFC
43	Latvia	3	1	1	7	2	1	4	5	13	−8	5		EFU
44	Jamaica	2	1	1	5	2	1	2	5	15	−10	5		CONCACAF
45	Honduras	3	0	0	6	1	2	3	7	8	−1	4		CONCACAF
46	Westrailia	2	0	0	7	2	0	5	6	18	−12	4		APFC
47	Lithuania	3	0	0	7	2	0	5	7	20	−13	4		EFU
48	Trinidad and Tobago	3	0	0	7	1	2	4	6	19	−13	4		CONCACAF
49	Bolivia	3	0	0	12	1	2	9	9	34	−25	4		CONMEBOL
50	Greece	5	0	0	13	2	0	11	6	34	−28	4		EFU
51	England	2	0	3	6	1	1	4	6	8	−2	3		EFU
52	Haiti	4	0	0	10	0	3	7	5	22	−17	3		CONCACAF
53	Poland	5	0	0	13	0	3	10	7	35	−28	3		EFU
54	South Vietnam	1	0	0	3	1	0	2	4	7	−3	2		APFC
55	Canada	2	0	0	5	0	2	3	3	10	−7	2		CONCACAF
56	Barbados	2	0	0	5	1	0	4	5	13	−8	2		CONCACAF
57	China	2	0	0	5	0	2	3	4	12	−8	2		APFC
58	Estonia	3	0	0	7	1	0	6	7	22	−15	2		APFC
59	Cyprus	1	0	0	3	0	1	2	3	8	−5	1		CONCACAF
60	Saar	1	0	0	4	0	1	3	2	10	−8	1		EFU
61	Hawaii	2	0	0	4	0	1	3	3	14	−11	1		CONCACAF
62	Ecuador	1	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	3	−3	0		CONMEBOL
63	Israel Palestine, British Mandate	2	0	0	3	0	0	3	2	6	−4	0		APFC
64	Brittany	1	0	0	2	0	0	2	1	6	−5	0		EFU
65	Colombia	1	0	0	2	0	0	2	0	5	−5	0		CONMEBOL
66	Northern Ireland	1	0	0	4	0	0	4	1	9	−8	0		EFU
67	Ireland	1	0	3	3	0	0	3	0	8	−8	0		EFU
68	Iceland	1	0	0	4	0	0	4	0	17	−17	0		EFU