A total of 74 teams entered the 1966 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds, competing for a total of 16 spots in the final tournament. England, as the hosts, and Brazil, as the defending champions, qualified automatically, leaving 14 spots open for competition. The 16 spots available in the 1966 World Cup would be distributed among the continental zones as follows: A total of 51 teams played at least one qualifying match. A total of 127 qualifying matches were played, and 393 goals were scored (an average of 3.09 per match). Listed below are the dates and results of the qualification rounds. [edit] Europe The 32 teams were divided into 9 groups of 3 or 4 teams each (four groups with 3 teams and five groups with 4 teams). The teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winners would qualify. [edit] UEFA Group 1 | Rank | Team | Pts | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | | 1= |  Belgium | 6 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 3 | +8 | | 1= |  Bulgaria | 6 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 6 | +3 | | 3 |  Israel | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 12 | −11 |
Belgium and Bulgaria finished level on points, and a play-off on neutral ground was played to decide who would qualify.
Bulgaria qualified. [edit] UEFA Group 2 | Rank | Team | Pts | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | | 1 |  West Germany | 7 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 14 | 2 | +12 | | 2 |  Sweden | 5 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 3 | +7 | | 3 |  Cyprus | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 19 | −19 |
West Germany qualified. [edit] UEFA Group 3
France qualified. [edit] UEFA Group 4
Portugal qualified. [edit] UEFA Group 5
Switzerland qualified. [edit] UEFA Group 6
Hungary qualified. [edit] UEFA Group 7 | Rank | Team | Pts | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | | 1 |  Soviet Union | 10 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 19 | 6 | +13 | | 2 |  Wales | 6 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 11 | 9 | +2 | | 3 |  Greece | 5 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 14 | −4 | | 4 |  Denmark | 3 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 18 | −11 |
USSR qualified. [edit] UEFA Group 8 | Rank | Team | Pts | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | | 1 |  Italy | 9 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 17 | 3 | +14 | | 2 |  Scotland | 7 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 8 | 0 | | 3 |  Poland | 6 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 11 | 10 | +1 | | 4 |  Finland | 2 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 20 | −15 |
Italy qualified. [edit] UEFA Group 9
Syria withdrew to support the African teams who withdrew in protest at the of allocation of spots. Republic of Ireland and Spain finished level on points, and a play-off on neutral ground was played to decide who would qualify. This match was initially to be played in London, which would have been ideal for the Irish given the large Irish immigrant population there, but the Spanish and Irish football associations later came to an agreement and moved the match to Paris.[citation needed] The agreement was seen[who?] as a buyout as it turned a possible Irish victory into a much more unlikely proposition as the Stade Colombes was instead mainly made up of Spanish supporters.[citation needed] Spain qualified. [edit] South America The 9 teams were divided into 3 groups of 3 teams each. The teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winners would qualify. [edit] CONMEBOL Group 1 | Rank | Team | Pts | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | | 1 |  Uruguay | 8 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 2 | +9 | | 2 |  Peru | 4 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 6 | +2 | | 3 |  Venezuela | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 15 | −11 |
Uruguay qualified. [edit] CONMEBOL Group 2 | Rank | Team | Pts | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | | 1= |  Chile | 5 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 7 | +5 | | 1= |  Ecuador | 5 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 5 | +1 | | 3 |  Colombia | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 10 | −6 |
Chile and Ecuador finished level on points, and a play-off on neutral ground was played to decide who would qualify.
Chile qualified. [edit] CONMEBOL Group 3
Argentina qualified. [edit] North, Central America and Caribbean FIFA rejected the entry of Guatemala. There would be two rounds of play: - First Round: The remaining 9 teams were divided into 3 groups of 3 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 qualify.
[edit] CONCACAF First Round [edit] Group 1
Mexico advanced to the Final Round. [edit] Group 2
Jamaica advanced to the Final Round. [edit] Group 3
Costa Rica advanced to the Final Round. [edit] CONCACAF Final Round | Rank | Team | Pts | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | | 1 |  Mexico | 7 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 2 | +10 | | 2 |  Costa Rica | 4 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 2 | +6 | | 3 |  Jamaica | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 19 | −16 |
Mexico qualified. [edit] Africa and Asia South Africa was suspended by FIFA due to apartheid. FIFA also rejected the entries of Congo and the Philippines. The African teams would compete for three spots in the Final Round through two rounds of play, while the Asian teams would compete for one spot in the Final Round by playing in a tournament in neutral ground. The winner of the Final Round would qualify. [edit] CAF First Round [edit] Group 1 | Rank | Team | Pts | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | | — |  Ghana | withdrew | | — |  Guinea | withdrew | Ghana and Guinea both withdrew to protest the allocation of spots. [edit] Group 2 | Rank | Team | Pts | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | | — |  Cameroon | withdrew | | — |  Sudan | withdrew | Cameroon and Sudan both withdrew to protest the allocation of spots. [edit] Group 3 Algeria, Liberia and Tunisia all withdrew to protest the allocation of spots. [edit] Group 4 Mali, Morocco and Senegal all withdrew to protest the allocation of spots. [edit] Group 5 | Rank | Team | Pts | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | | — |  Ethiopia | withdrew | | — |  Gabon | withdrew | Ethiopia and Gabon both withdrew to protest the allocation of spots. [edit] Group 6 Libya, Nigeria and the United Arab Republic all withdrew to protest the allocation of spots. [edit] CAF Second Round The matchups would have been winners of Group 1 vs winners of Group 5, winners of Group 2 vs winners of Group 4, and winners of Group 3 vs winners of Group 6. However, no matches were played due to the withdrawals of all African teams. [edit] AFC First Round
Korea Republic withdrew to protest the tournament being moved from Japan to Cambodia. Korea DPR advanced to the Final Round. [edit] CAF / AFC Final Round Because of the withdrawal of the African teams, Korea DPR qualified automatically. [edit] Qualified teams
(h) - qualified automatically as hosts (c) - qualified automatically as defending champions - After having no teams from Africa or Asia qualifying for the previous two World Cups, FIFA decided to allocate a single spot to the winner of a play-off between the winners of the African and Asian zones. However, the African teams believed that winning their zone should have been enough to go straight through to the final tournament, and all of them withdrew as a protest.
- Innovations in the run-up to the 1966 World Cup included the introduction of doping controls, and a prohibition on the naturalisation of footballers, two issues that had had negative repercussions during the last tournament of 1962.[citation needed]
- Several weak nations withdrew from the competition, but the stronger nations were still very much in the game. The squad of the Spanish national team was given a boost by a rejuvenated Real Madrid, and the Germans reaped the rewards of the Bundesliga national league, as well as the introduction of full-time professional football.[citation needed]
[edit] References - ^ This match was played in Honduras instead of in the United States.
- ^ a b Netherlands Antilles' games were all played away.
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