A total of71 (not counted Albania, Cuba, Guinea and Zaire) teams entered the1970 FIFA World Cupqualification rounds, competing for a total of 16 spots in the final tournament. HostsMexico and defending championsEngland qualified automatically, leaving 14 spots open for competition.
For the first time, the winners of both the African zone and the Asian and Oceanian zone were guaranteed a direct place in the final tournament. The 16 spots available in the 1970 World Cup would be distributed among the continental zones as follows:
Europe (UEFA):9 places, 1 of them went to automatic qualifierEngland, while the other 8 places were contested by 29 (not counted Albania) teams.
South America (CONMEBOL):3 places, contested by 10 teams.
North, Central America and Caribbean (CONCACAF):2 places, 1 of them went to automatic qualifierMexico, while the other 1 place was contested by 12 (not counted Cuba) teams.
Africa (CAF):1 place, contested by 11 teams (13 teams applied, but FIFA rejected the entries of Guinea and Zaire, leaving 11 teams. A 14th team from Africa, Rhodesia, entered through a non-CAF qualifying system).
Asia and Oceania (AFC/OFC):1 place, contested by 7 teams (includingRhodesia).
From69 teams entered, a total of68 teams played in at least one qualifying match (North Korea withdrew). A total of 172 qualifying matches were played, and 542 goals were scored (an average of 3.15 per match).
Listed below are the dates and results of the qualification rounds.
Key:
Teams highlighted in green qualified for thefinals.
Teams highlighted in red in the same table finished level on points and advanced to a play-off on neutral ground.
First Round: Australia, Japan, South Korea and Rhodesia were included in group A, but the other three countries involved refused to play against Rhodesia due to political concerns regarding apartheid.[1] Australia, Japan and South Korea played against each other twice in South Korea and after the matches in Seoul were completed, FIFA determined that the winner would still have to meet Rhodesia in what resulted to be the second round of Group A. North Korea was included in Group B but withdrew for political reasons and the group was contested by only two teams. The group winners would advance to the Final Round.
Final Round: The 2 teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The winner would qualify.
FIFA rejected the entries ofGuinea andZaire. There would be three rounds of play:
First Round: Ghana received a bye and advanced to the Second Round directly. The remaining 10 teams were paired up to play knockout matches on a home-and-away basis. The winners (determined byaggregate score) would advance to the Second Round.
Second Round: The 6 teams were paired up to play knockout matches on a home-and-away basis. The 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.
FIFA rejected the entry ofCuba. There would be three rounds of play:
First Round: The remaining 12 teams were divided into 4 groups of 3 teams each. The teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winners would advance to the Semifinal Round.
Semifinal Round: The 4 teams were paired up to play knockout matches on a home-and-away basis. The winners would advance to the Final Round.
Final Round: The 2 teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The winner would qualify.
The 10 teams were divided into 3 groups; two groups with 3 teams and one group with 4 teams. The teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winners would qualify.
FIFA rejected the entry ofAlbania. The remaining 29 teams were divided into 8 groups, 3 groups with 3 teams and 5 groups with 4 teams. The teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winners would qualify.
In the African zone,aggregate score was used to determine the winners of two-legged ties. However, different tie-breakers were used in the matches when the aggregate score was tied.
Morocco was the first African team to qualify since Egypt in the1934 World Cup.
As a result of the hostile relationship betweenEl Salvador andHonduras, and rioting during the qualification matches between them, the short-livedFootball War broke out between the two countries.
Israel qualified for their only World Cup to date as an Asian team. However, soon after this, they were expelled from theAsian Football Confederation, and now compete in the European zone as they are now a member ofUEFA.
Tostão (10 goals)
Mexico
England
Belgium
Uruguay
Peru
El Salvador
Sweden
West Germany
Morocco
Soviet Union
Romania
Italy
Czechoslovakia
Bulgaria
Israel
Australia
South Korea
Japan
Rhodesia
New Zealand
North Korea
Sudan
Senegal
Tunisia
Cameroon
Ethiopia
United States
Canada
Bermuda
Haiti
Guatemala
Trinidad and Tobago
Honduras
Costa Rica
Jamaica
Suriname
Netherlands Antilles
Bolivia
Argentina
Paraguay
Colombia
Venezuela
Chile
Ecuador
Ole Sørensen
Arto Tolsa
Hervé Revelli
Vasilis Botinos
Antal Dunai
Ola Dybwad-Olsen
Eusébio
Alan Gilzean
José Eulogio Gárate
Vahidin Musemić
Emment Kapengwe
Raúl Alvarez
Wolfram Löwe
Don Givens
Teruki Miyamoto
Johny Léonard
Theo Pahlplatz
Terry Harkin
Jeong Kang-ji
Fritz Künzli
Ezzedine Chakroun
Wilhelm Kreuz
David Ayo
Panicos Efthimiadis
Bronisław Bula
Ender Konca
Luis Mendoza Benedetto
Mike England
