1934 FIFA World Cup qualification


The 1934 FIFA World Cup was the first World Cup for which teams had to qualify. When 32 teams entered the 1934 competition, FIFA organized qualification rounds to select 16 teams for the final tournament. Even Italy, the host of the World Cup, had to qualify, The previous champions, Uruguay, refused to defend their title because many European nations declined to take part in the 1930 FIFA World Cup held in Uruguay.
A total of 27 teams played at least one qualifying match. A total of 27 qualifying matches were played, and 141 goals were scored. The first match, between Sweden and Estonia, began in Stockholm on 11 June 1933, with Swedish player Knut Kroon scoring the first goal. The final match was played in Rome only three days before the start of the tournament on 24 May 1934, as late entrants the United States beat Mexico in a play-off to become the sixteenth and final team to qualify.
Listed below are the dates and results of the qualification rounds.

Format

, Peru and Turkey all withdrew before qualifying began, while Denmark, Finland, Latvia and Norway all withdrew before draw.
The 32 teams were divided into 12 groups, based on geographical considerations, as follows:
The 12 groups had different rules, as follows:
Key:

Group 1

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Estonia v Lithuania was not played since neither team could qualify with a win.
Sweden qualified.

Group 2

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11-1 on aggregate; Spain qualified.

Group 3

Italy qualified, as Greece declined to play the second match.

Group 4

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Bulgaria withdrew, and the remaining matches were not played since Hungary and Austria were already assured of the top two spots.
Hungary and Austria qualified.

Group 5

Poland were unable to travel to Prague for the second match as the Polish government denied the team visas for political reasons. Therefore, Czechoslovakia qualified.

Group 6

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Romania and Switzerland qualified.

Group 7

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Netherlands and Belgium qualified.

Group 8

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Germany v France was not played since both teams were already assured of the top two spots.
Germany and France qualified.

Group 9

Peru withdrew, so Brazil qualified automatically.

Group 10

Chile withdrew, so Argentina qualified automatically.

Group 11

First round

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10-2 on aggregate; Cuba advanced to the Second Round.

Second round

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12-3 on aggregate; Mexico advanced to the Final Round.

Final round

United States qualified.

Group 12

The Palestine football team consisted exclusively of Jewish and British players. FIFA states in reference to the 1930s Palestine Mandate team that the 'Palestine team' that had participated in previous competitions in the 1930s was actually the forerunner of today's Israel team and as such bears no relation to the national team of the Palestinian authority. However, the region currently known as Palestine is considered "one of the first Asian teams to compete in the FIFA World Cup qualifiers".
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11-2 on aggregate; Egypt qualified.

Qualified teams

Only six of the teams qualifying for the final competition – Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, France, Romania, and the USA – had already attended the World Cup in 1930. 5 of the 16 teams subsequently failed to qualify for the 1938 finals: Argentina, Austria, Egypt, Spain and United States.
TeamFinals AppearanceStreakLast Appearance
2nd21930
1st1–
2nd21930
2nd21930
1st1–
1st1–
2nd21930
1st1–
1st1–
1st1–
1st1–
2nd21930
1st1–
1st1–
1st1–
2nd21930

Goalscorers

;7 goals
;5 goals
;4 goals
;3 goals
;2 goals
;1 goal