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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.
| 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 → | |
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).
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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.
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Group 1
Germany and Sweden qualified.
Group 2
| 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 |
| Irish Free State | 3–3 | Norway |
|---|---|---|
Dunne  10'O'Flanagan 62'Duggan 88' |
Report | Kvammen 16', 33' Martinsen 49' |
Norway qualified.
Group 3
| 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 |
| Poland | 4–0 | Yugoslavia |
|---|---|---|
| Piątek 3', 20' Wostal 59'Wilimowski 78' |
Report |
| Yugoslavia | 1–0 | Poland |
|---|---|---|
| Marjanović 61' |
Report |
Poland finished above Yugoslavia on goal average, and thus qualified.
Group 4
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]
Group 5
| 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.
Group 6
First round
| 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 |
Attendance: 5,000
Referee: Mohammed Youssef (Egypt)
| Greece | 1–0 | Mandatory Palestine |
|---|---|---|
| Vikelidis 88' (pen.) |
Report |
Greece qualified for the final round.
Final round
Hungary qualified.
Group 7
| 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 |
| Bulgaria | 1–1 | Czechoslovakia |
|---|---|---|
| Pachedzhiev 89' (pen.) |
Report | Ríha 44' |
Czechoslovakia qualified.
Group 8
First round
| Latvia | 4–2 |  Lithuania |
|---|---|---|
| Kaņeps 19', 52', 83' Vestermans 50' |
Report | Gudelis 79' Paulionis 90' |
Latvia qualified for the final round.
Final round
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.
Group 9
| 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 |
| Netherlands | 4–0 | Luxembourg |
|---|---|---|
| Smit 29' de Boer 68', 78', 82' |
Report |
| Belgium | 1–1 | Netherlands |
|---|---|---|
| Isemborghs 53' |
Report | van Spaandonck 37' |
Netherlands and Belgium qualified.
Group 10
Argentina withdrew, so Brazil qualified automatically.
Group 11
First round
| 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.
Second round
All other teams than Cuba had withdrawn from competition, so thus qualified automatically for the finals.
Group 12
| 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.
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| 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 |
- 5 goals
- 4 goals
- 3 goals
- 2 goals
- 1 goal
Franz Binder- Camillo Jerusalem
Raymond Braine- Hendrik Isemborghs
- Bernard Voorhoof
- François Devries
Georgi Pachedzhiev
Josef Ludl- Jan Říha
Richard Kuremaa- Heinrich Uukkivi
Fritz Szepan- Adolf Urban
Lefteris Makris- Antonis Migiakis
Jenő Vincze
Harry Duggan- Matty Geoghegan
- Kevin O'Flanagan
Juozas Gudelis
Gusty Kemp- Camille Libar
Peri Neufeld
Kick Smit- Henk van Spaandonck
Ernst Wilimowski- Jerzy Wostal
Fernando Peyroteo
Sven Jonasson- Erik Persson
- Kurt Svanström
Georges Aeby- Lauro Amadò
Blagoje Marjanović
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- 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.
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