99 teams entered the 1974 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds, competing for 16 places in the final tournament. West Germany, as the hosts, and Brazil, as the defending champions, qualified automatically, leaving 14 spots open for competition.
The 16 spots available in the 1974 World Cup would be distributed among the continental zones as follows: Europe (UEFA): 9.5 places, 1 of them went to automatic qualifier West Germany, while the other 8.5 places were contested by 32 teams. The winner of the 0.5 place would advance to the Intercontinental Play-offs (against a team from CONMEBOL). South America (CONMEBOL): 3.5 places, 1 of them went to automatic qualifier Brazil, while the other 2.5 places were contested by 9 teams. The winner of the 0.5 place would advance to the Intercontinental Play-offs (against a team from UEFA). North, Central America and Caribbean (CONCACAF): 1 place, contested by 14 teams. Africa (CAF): 1 place, contested by 24 teams. Asia (AFC) and Oceania (OFC): 1 place, contested by 18 teams.
90 teams played at least one qualifying match. 226 qualifying matches were played, and 619 goals were scored (an average of 2.74 per match).
Confederation qualification
AFC and OFC Final Round +TeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification20202202*Final Tournament20202202* *As Australia and South Korea were tied on points, a playoff was organised. Australia won 1-0. Australia qualified.
CAF
TeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification44009188Final Tournament410356 -12410329 -72 Zaire qualified.
CONCACAF
PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification1540183 +58Final Tournament25302114 +7635221105 +564513166055503246−2365023419−152 Haiti qualified.
CONMEBOL
Group 1 RankTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification1421162 +45Final Tournament2413032 +153402238−52
Group 2 RankTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification1431092 +77Final Tournament2421185 +3534004111−100
Group 3 RankTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification1=21012202*Intercontinental Playoffs1=21012202*—withdrew *Chile and Peru finished with the same record, so a playoff was organised. Chile won 2-1. Group 1 – Uruguay qualified. Group 2 – Argentina qualified. Group 3 – Chile advanced to the UEFA / CONMEBOL Intercontinental Play-off.
UEFA
Group 1 RankTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification1=6321158 +78*Final Tournament1=6321147 +78*36240127 +5846006120−190 *Sweden and Austria finished with the same record so a playoff was organised. Sweden won 2-1.
Group 2 RankTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification16420120 +1210Final Tournament2622253 +263622224−2646105214−122
Group 3 RankTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification16420242 +2210Final Tournament26420120 +121036204916−7446006229−270
Group 4 RankTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification16501183 +1510Final Tournament26411174 +13936114321−18346105313−102
Group 5 RankTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification1421163 +35Final Tournament2412134−143411235−23
Group 6 RankTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification16420133 +1010Final Tournament26231106 +473613256−1546105114−132
Group 7 RankTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification1=422074 +36*Final Tournament1=422085 +36*34004511−60 *Yugoslavia and Spain finished with the same record so a playoff was organised. Yugoslavia won 1-0.
Group 8 RankTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification1430183 +56Final Tournament2421193 +6534013213−111
Group 9 ankTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification1430152 +36Intercontinental Playoffs2411245−133411235−23 Group 1 – Sweden qualified. Group 2 – Italy qualified. Group 3 – Netherlands qualified. Group 4 – East Germany qualified. Group 5 – Poland qualified. Group 6 – Bulgaria qualified. Group 7 – Yugoslavia qualified. Group 8 – Scotland qualified. Group 9 – Soviet Union advanced to the UEFA / CONMEBOL Intercontinental Play-off.
Inter-confederation play-offs: UEFA v CONMEBOL
The teams would play against each other on a home-and-away basis, with the winner qualifying to the finals.
The second leg was scratched as the Soviet Union were disqualified after they refused to travel to Santiago for the return leg due to the 1973 Chilean coup d'état and the executions of left-wing prisoners in the Santiago stadium. The match did "go ahead" with the eleven Chilean players facing zero Soviet players before thousands of bemused spectators, and half a dozen Chilean players slowly passed the ball to each other in mock play until the captain walked the ball into the net.
Qualified teams
The following 16 teams qualified for the 1974 FIFA World Cup:
TeamDate of qualificationFinals appearanceStreakLast appearance7 October 19736th1196613 November 19731st1— (defending champions)21 June 197010th10197014 November 19734th4197021 November 19735th1196613 November 19731st1—14 December 19731st1—20 October 19738th4197018 November 19733rd1193817 October 19732nd1193826 September 19733rd1195827 November 19736th219708 July 19737th41970 (hosts)6 July 19668th6197013 February 19746th119629 December 19731st1—
Goalscorers
12 goals
Steve David
11 goals
Emmanuel Sanon
7 goals
Hristo Bonev Joachim Streich Luigi Riva Johan Cruyff
6 goals
William Ouma Kembo Uba Kembo
5 goals
Rubén Ayala Kwasi Owusu Sabah Hatim Moshe Onana Ahmed Faras Willy Brokamp Florea Dumitrache Roland Sandberg
4 goals
Adrian Alston Raoul Lambert Jürgen Sparwasser Octavio Muciño Johan Neeskens Arnold Robert Zebeda Ralf Edström Bo Larsson Sammy Llewellyn Kakoko Etepé Jean-Kalala N'Tumba
3 goals
Josef Hickersberger Kurt Jara Attila Abonyi Ray Baartz Jimmy Mackay Georgi Denev Willington Ortiz Zdeněk Nehoda Bohumil Veselý Tariku Ingdawerk Jean-Claude Désir Rigoberto Gómez Rubén Guifarro Ferenc Bene Parviz Ghelichkhani Horacio López Salgado Moustapha Choukri Tor Egil Johansen Chung Kyu-poong Kim Jae-han Joseph Chahrestan Raymond Roberts Fernando Morena Willy Roy Dušan Bajević Freddie Mwila Moses Simwala Brighton Sinyangwe
2 goals
Miguel Ángel Brindisi Patrick Morris August Starek Branko Buljevic Ernie Campbell Ray Richards Léon Dolmans Odilon Polleunis Bozhil Kolev Noël Kouamé Bernard N'Guessan Mama Ouattara Bernd Bransch Hans-Jürgen Kreische Wolfram Löwe Washington Muñoz Abwcari Gariba Osei Kofi Ibrahim Sunday Nelson Melgar Chérif Souleymane Yuen Kuen-Chu Jorge Bran Lajos Kocsis Sándor Zámbó Iswadi Idris Sarman Panggabean Terry Conroy Ali Kadhim Zvi Rozen Itzhak Shum Gianni Rivera Kunishige Kamamoto Hamad Bo Hamad Daniel Imbert Juan Manuel Borbolla Enrique Borja Fernando Bustos Cesário Victorino Willem van Hanegem Yakubu Mambo Kenneth Olayombo Alan Vest Ma Jung-U Trevor Anderson Harry Hestad Adalberto Escobar Saturnino Arrúa Jorge Insfran Hugo Sotil Jan Domarski Robert Gadocha Rui Jordão Nené Ion Dumitru Dumitru Marcu Mircea Sandu Cha Bum-kun Volodymyr Onyshchenko José Claramunt Rubén Óscar Valdez Armand Doesburg Arnold Miller Edwin Schalf Ove Kindvall Leo Brewster Everald Cummings Leroy Spann Ezzedine Chakroun Mohieddine Habita Osman Arpacıoğlu Luis Cubilla Gene Geimer Stanislav Karasi Bernard Chanda Godfrey Chitalu Joseph Mapulanga
1 goal
Sabah Bizi Mihal Gjika Ramazan Rragami Rabah Gamouh Mokhtar Kalem Veron Edwards Oscar Fornari Carlos Guerini Doug Utjesenovic Peter Wilson Franz Hasil Roland Hattenberger Norbert Hof Helmut Köglberger Thomas Parits Peter Pumm Jean Dockx Paul Van Himst Frans Janssens Raúl Morales Atanas Mihaylov Jimmy Douglas Glen Johnson Ike MacKay Buzz Parsons Brian Robinson Bruce Twamley Paul-Gaston Ndongo Sergio Ahumada Julio Crisosto Rogelio Farias Francisco Valdés Jean-Michel M'Bono Noël Minga Selvin Cárcamo Wálter Elizondo Asdrúbal Paniagua Roy Sáenz Kouman Kobinam Laurent Pokou Kokos Antoniou Přemysl Bičovský Vladimír Hagara Ladislav Petráš Damien Kamilou Ole Bjørnmose Finn Laudrup Peter Ducke Ítalo Estupiñán Colin Bell Allan Clarke Norman Hunter Sayed Abdelrazak Ali Khalil Tekeste Gebremedhin Kassahun Teka Seyoum Tesfaye Jarmo Manninen Olavi Rissanen Miikka Toivola Georges Bereta Serge Chiesa Jean-Michel Larqué Akuetteh Armah Joseph Ghartey Clifford Odame Joseph Sam Antonis Antoniadis Mimis Domazos Kostas Eleftherakis Giorgos Koudas Maxime Camara Smith Samuel Petit Sory Soriba Soumah Juan Banegas Benjamín Monterroso René Morales Jorge Roldán Claude Barthélemy Pierre Bayonne Guy François Guy Saint-Vil Roger Saint-Vil Philippe Vorbe Óscar Rolando Hernández Rigoberto Sosa Jorge Urquía Kwok Ka-Ming Lo Hung-Hoi László Bálint Antal Dunai István Juhász Mihály Kozma Csaba Vidáts Elmar Geirsson Örn Óskarsson Andjas Asmara Ali Jabbari Akbar Kargarjam Mehdi Monajati Ali Parvin Mohammad Sadeghi Gholam Vafakhah Douglas Aziz Riyadh Nouri Bashar Rashid Salah Obeid Mick Martin Ray Treacy George Borba Zvi Farkash Mordechai Spiegler Pietro Anastasi Fabio Capello Giorgio Chinaglia Shusaku Hirasawa Takaji Mori Daniel Anyanzwa Peter Ouma John Shore Ibrahim Al Duraihem Fathi Kameel Ramoseli Thietsi Nico Braun Gilbert Dussier Shaharuddin Abdullah Harun Jusoh Anton Camilleri Anwar Jackaria Manuel Lapuente Héctor Pulido Sergio Ceballos Aldape Hassan Amcharrat Chérif Fetoui Maouhoub Ghazouani Mohamed Maghfour Arie Haan Barry Hullshoff Theo de Jong Piet Keizer René van de Kerkhof Dick Schneider Rignald Alfonso Clemencia Adelbert Toppenberg Siegfried Schoop Erroll Maximino St. Jago Dennis Tindall Brian Turner Sunday Oyarekhua An Se-Uk Kim Jong-Min Pak Sung-Jin Sammy Morgan Liam O'Kane Martin O'Neill Jan Fuglset Tom Lund Per Pettersen Harald Sunde Pedro Alcides Bareiro Juvencio Osorio Héctor Bailetti Grzegorz Lato Włodzimierz Lubański Humberto Coelho Eusébio Chico Faria Artur Jorge Alfredo Quaresma António Simões Emerich Dembrovschi Nicolae Dobrin Dudu Georgescu Radu Nunweiller Nicolae Pantea Teodor Tarălungă Jimmy Bone Kenny Dalglish Joe Harper Jim Holton Joe Jordan Peter Lorimer Lou Macari Willie Morgan Louis Gomis Diop Ko Jae-wook Park Lee-chun Oleh Blokhin Vladimir Fedotov Viktor Kolotov Amancio Amaro Juan Manuel Asensi Roberto Juan Martínez Juan Cruz Sol Izzeldin Osman Eugene Sordam Ove Grahn Dag Szepanski Rolf Blättler Karl Odermatt Nabil Nano Samir Said Abdulghani Tatiche Nassoro Mashoto Warren Archibald Abdesselam Adhouma Köksal Mesçi Mehmet Türkkan Melih Atacan Denís Milar Rudy Getzinger Trevor Hockey Leighton James John Toshack Jovan Aćimović Josip Katalinski Ivica Šurjak Mbungu Ekofa Mavuba Mafuila Mayanga Maku Kamunda Tshinabu Obby Kapita Simon Kaushi Burton Mugala Boniface Simutowe
1 own goal
Bobby Hogg (playing against New Zealand) Siegfried Brunken (playing against Trinidad and Tobago) Einar Gunnarsson (playing against Belgium) Charles Spiteri (playing against Austria) Maurice Tillotson (playing against Indonesia) Nguyễn Vinh Quang (playing against Japan) Supakit Meelarpkit (playing against South Vietnam) Josip Katalinski (playing against Greece)
Notes
For the first time in the qualifiers, goal difference was used as a tie-breaker for teams who finished level on points. Aggregate score was also used to determine the winners of two-legged ties.
References
External links FIFA World Cup Official Site - 1974 World Cup Qualification RSSSF - 1974 World Cup Qualification