The FIFA World Cup qualification is the process that a national association football team goes through to qualify for the FIFA World Cup Finals. The FIFA World Cup is a global event, so qualification is required to reduce the large field of participants from about 200 to 32.

Qualifying tournaments are held within the six FIFA continental zones (Africa, Asia, North and Central America and Caribbean, South America, Oceania, Europe), and are organized by their respective confederations. For each tournament, FIFA decides beforehand the number of spots awarded to each of the continental zones, based on the numbers and/or relative strength of the confederations' teams. 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification commenced in 2007 and finished in late 2009.

The hosts of the World Cup receive an automatic berth in the finals. Unlike many other sports, results of the previous World Cups or of the continental championships are not taken into account. Until 2002, the defending champions also received an automatic berth, but starting from the 2006 World Cup this is no longer the case.

History[edit]

Over many years, the World Cup's qualification has evolved, from having no qualification at all in 1930, when the tournament was invitational and only 13 teams entered, to the current two-year process. The first World Cup qualifying match was played on 11 June 1933 when Sweden defeated Estonia 6–2 in Stockholm. The first ever goal in a World Cup qualifying match was scored 7 minutes into the game: it was scored according to some sources by Swedish captain Knut Kroon, or according to other sources by Estonian goalkeeper Evald Tipner (own goal).

While the number of teams which qualified for the finals has increased steadily, from 16 between 1934 and 1978, to 24 between 1982 and 1994, and finally to 32 starting from 1998, the qualification format has been basically the same throughout the history of the World Cup. The teams have been grouped continentally, and they competed for a fixed number of berths, with one or two berths reserved for winners of the intercontinental play-offs.

Qualification spots by continent[edit]

The table below lists the numbers of spots allocated by FIFA for each continent in each tournament. No spots for a continent, such as in the case of Oceania prior to 1966 and Africa in 1950, do not indicate an exclusion of those continents by FIFA, but rather that no country of those continents made an entry to the aforementioned Cups.^[1]

A large part of the African territory lived under colonial rule during part of the 20th century, mainly the first half of the century. By 1954, only 3 African countries were affiliated to FIFA: Egypt, in 1923, Sudan, in 1948, and Ethiopia, in 1952.^[2] Sudan and Ethiopia made entries for no Cup prior to 1958. Egypt made entries for the 1934, 1938 and 1954 Cups, though not for the 1930 e 1950 Cups. Though an African country, Egypt entered in 1938 and 1954 into the European group, therefore the table below indicates no data about Africa as for the these 2 Cups.

Places in the intercontinental play-offs count as 0.5 spots. Numbers in bold represent the winners of the intercontinental play-offs. "+C" denotes an additional spot for defending champions. "+H" denotes an additional spot for hosts.

Places allocated for continents

Continental zone	1934 (16)	1938 (15)1	1950 (13)2	1954 (16)	1958 (16)	1962 (16)	1966 (16)	1970 (16)	1974 (16)	1978 (16)	1982 (24)	1986 (24)	1990 (24)	1994 (24)	1998 (32)	2002 (32)	2006 (32)6	2010 (32)	2014 (32)	2018 (32)	2022 (32)
Africa	1	0			0.53	0.54	1	1	1	1	2	2	2	3	5	5	5	5 +H	5
Asia		1	12	1		0.54		1	1	1	2	2	2	2	3.5	2.5 +2H	4.5	4.5	4.5		H
Oceania	0											0.5	0.5	0.255	0.5	0.5	0.5	0.5	0.5
Europe	12	111 +C+H	72 +C	11 +H	9.53 +C+H	94	9 +H	8 +C	8.5 +H	8.5 +C	13 +H	12.5 +C	13 +H	12 +C	14 +H	13.5 +C	13 +H	13	13	H
North and Central America and Caribbean	1	1	2	1	1	0.5	1	1 +H	1	1	2	1 +H	2	1.255 +H	3	3	3.5	3.5	3.5
South America	2	1	4 +H	1 +C	3	3.5 +C+H	3 +C	3	2.5 +C	2.5 +H	3 +C	4	2.5 +C	3.55	4 +C	4.5	4.5	4.5	4.5 +H
Total	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	24	24	24	24	32	32	32	32	32	32	32

• ¹ In 1938, Austria withdrew after qualifying due to being annexed by Germany and were not replaced, so only 15 teams, 12 of them European, played in the finals.
• ² In 1950, India, Scotland and Turkey withdrew after qualifying and were not replaced, so only 13 teams, none of them Asian and 6 of them European, played in the finals.
• ³ Initially in 1958, Africa and Asia together were given 1 spot, while Europe was given 9 spots. However, after Israel won the African and Asian zone without playing any matches due to withdrawals of other teams, a special play-off was arranged between them and a European team (Wales). So in effect, Africa and Asia together were given 0.5 spots, while Europe was given 9.5 spots.
• ⁴ In 1962, Europe was given 8 automatic spots, plus 2 additional spots in the intercontinental play-offs, in effect giving them 9 spots. The two European teams played an African team and an Asian team respectively, and both European teams won. Therefore, 10 European teams played in the finals.
• ⁵ In 1994, there were two rounds of intercontinental play-offs. First, an Oceanian team played a team from North and Central America and Caribbean, and the winner then played a South American team.
• ⁶ From the 2006 qualifiers on, the defending champion no longer has an automatic spot secured.

Qualification competition entrants over time[edit]

The number of teams entering the qualification process and the number of matches played have been steadily growing over time. Though an African country, Egypt entered in 1938 and 1954 into the European group, therefore being zero the below indicator as for Africa in these years.

Number of teams entering qualification (including automatic qualifiers)

Continental zone	1934 (16)	1938 (15)	1950 (13)	1954 (16)	1958 (16)	1962 (16)	1966 (16)	1970 (16)	1974 (16)	1978 (16)	1982 (24)	1986 (24)	1990 (24)	1994 (24)	1998 (32)	2002 (32)	2006 (32)	2010 (32)	2014 (32)
Africa	3	0	0	0	11	6	21	13	24	26	29	29	26	40	38	51	51	53	51
Asia		2	4	3		5		7	18	22	21	27	26	29	36	42	39	43	43
Oceania1	0	0	0	0	0	0						4	5	7	10	10	12	11	11
Europe	21	26	19	29	29	30	33	31	33	32	34	33	33	39	50	51	52	53	53
North and Central America and Caribbean	4	7	3	5	6	8	10	14	14	17	15	18	16	23	30	35	34	35	35
South America	4	2	8	6	9	9	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	9	10	10	10	10	10
Total entrants	32	37	34	45	55	56	74	75	99	107	109	121	116	147	174	199	198	2053	203
Teams played2	27	21	19	33	46	49	51	68	90	95	103	110	103	130	168	193	194	2003	/
Matches played	27	22	26	57	89	92	127	172	226	252	306	308	314	497	643	777	847	853	/
Goals scored	141	96	121	208	341	325	393	542	620	723	797	801	735	1446	1922	2452	2464	2344	/
Average goals per match	5.22	4.36	4.65	3.65	3.83	3.53	3.09	3.15	2.74	2.87	2.60	2.60	2.34	2.91	2.99	3.16	2.91	2.75	/

• ¹ Because the Oceania Football Confederation has used the World Cup Qualifiers as a phase of (or as the entire) Oceania Nations Cup, there is the possibility for non-FIFA countries to enter in matches that double as World Cup qualifiers. In the 2006 qualifiers, New Caledonia were included in the tournament although they were not FIFA members at the date of close of entries. They are, however, included in the 12 nations listed as they joined FIFA during the course of qualification, even though they had been technically eliminated from contention a few days earlier (a similar situation occurred in the entries for 2010, with Montenegro's entry accepted prior to their admission by FIFA). By contrast, Tuvalu competed in the 2007 South Pacific Games Football tournament, which doubled as qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup. They are not included in the 11 OFC entrants, although their results counted towards the qualification of other teams.
• ² "Teams played" is the total number of teams that played at least one qualifying match.
• ³ This number include Tuvalu and South Africa. Although South Africa qualified automatically for 2010 as hosts, they competed in the CAF qualifiers, becoming the first hosts to compete in World Cup qualifying since 1934. This is because the Confederation of African Football used its 2010 World Cup qualifiers as the qualifying phase for the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations, a tournament for which South Africa had to attempt to qualify.

First appearance in qualification by team[edit]

World Cup	Europe	South America	North, Central America and Caribbean	Asia	Africa	Oceania	Total
1934	Austria  Belgium  Bulgaria  Czechoslovakia  Estonia  France  Germany  Greece  Hungary  Irish Free State  Italy1  Lithuania  Luxembourg  Netherlands  Poland  Portugal  Romania  Spain  Sweden  Switzerland  Turkey  Yugoslavia	Brazil  Peru  Argentina  Chile2	Cuba  Haiti  Mexico  United States	Mandatory Palestine	Egypt	none	27
1938	Finland  Latvia  Norway	Colombia	Costa Rica  Suriname  El Salvador	Japan  Dutch East Indies	none	none	4
1950	England  Northern Ireland  Scotland  Wales  Yugoslavia3	Bolivia  Paraguay  Ecuador  Uruguay	none	Israel4  Syria  Burma  Philippines  Indonesia  India	none	none	7
1954	Saar  Turkey  West Germany	Brazil  Chile  Paraguay	none	Japan  South Korea  Republic of China  South Vietnam	none	none	8
1958	Denmark East Germany  Iceland  Soviet Union	Argentina  Bolivia  Colombia  Peru  Uruguay  Venezuela	Canada  Costa Rica  Guatemala  Netherlands Antilles	China PR  Indonesia  Hong Kong	Sudan  Ethiopia	none	17
1962	Cyprus	Ecuador  Suriname	Honduras	none	Ethiopia  Ghana  Morocco  Nigeria  Tunisia  United Arab Republic	none	10
1966	Albania	Venezuela	Jamaica  Trinidad and Tobago	North Korea	Congo  Liberia  Guinea  Algeria  Libya  Cameroon  Mali  Senegal  Gabon  South Africa	Australia	6
1970	none	none	Bermuda  El Salvador	none	Algeria  Cameroon  Libya  Rhodesia  Senegal  Zambia	New Zealand	9
1974	Malta	none	Antigua and Barbuda  Puerto Rico	Hong Kong  Iran  Iraq  Kuwait  Malaysia  South Vietnam  Thailand	Congo  Ivory Coast  Dahomey  Guinea  Kenya  Lesotho  Mauritius  Madagascar  Sierra Leone  Tanzania  Togo  Zaire	none	21
1978	none	Guyana  Suriname5	Barbados  Dominican Republic  Panama	Bahrain  Chinese Taipei  Qatar  Saudi Arabia  Singapore  Sri Lanka  United Arab Emirates	Malawi  Mauritania  Niger  Uganda  Upper Volta  Central African Republic	none	15
1982	none	none	Grenada	Macau	Gambia  Liberia  Madagascar  Mozambique  Somalia  Zimbabwe6	Fiji	9
1986	none	none	none	Bangladesh  Brunei  India  Jordan  Nepal  North Yemen  South Yemen  United Arab Emirates  Oman  Lebanon	Angola  Benin7	none	10
1990	none	none	Belize	Oman  Pakistan  Maldives	Burkina Faso8  Gabon  Rwanda	none	4
1994	Faroe Islands  Russia  San Marino	none	Nicaragua  Saint Lucia  Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	Myanmar  Lebanon  Sri Lanka  Vietnam  Yemen9	Botswana  Burundi  São Tomé and Príncipe  Namibia  South Africa  Swaziland	Solomon Islands  Tahiti  Vanuatu  Samoa	18
1998	Armenia  Azerbaijan  Belarus  Bosnia and Herzegovina  Croatia  Czech Republic10  Georgia  Germany9  Liechtenstein  Macedonia  Moldova  Slovakia10  Slovenia  Ukraine  Yugoslavia11	none	Aruba  Belize  Cayman Islands  Dominica  Bahamas  Saint Kitts and Nevis	Cambodia  Kazakhstan  Kyrgyzstan  Maldives  Philippines  Tajikistan  Turkmenistan  Uzbekistan	Congo DR12  Guinea-Bissau  Rwanda	Cook Islands  Papua New Guinea  Samoa  Tonga	35
2002	Andorra	none	Anguilla  Bahamas  British Virgin Islands  Montserrat  Turks and Caicos Islands  U.S. Virgin Islands	Guam  Laos  Mongolia  Palestine	Cape Verde  Central African Republic  Chad  Djibouti  Equatorial Guinea  Eritrea  Mali  São Tomé and Príncipe  Seychelles	American Samoa	21
2006	Serbia and Montenegro13	none	none	Afghanistan	none	New Caledonia14	3
2010	Montenegro10  Serbia10	none	none	Bhutan  Myanmar  Timor-Leste	Comoros	Tuvalu15	7
2014	none	none	Curaçao	none	none	none	1
Total	62	12	37	50	58	13	230

• ¹ Despite being the hosts, Italy had to qualify to the tournament.
• ² Only teams that played at least one match are considered for the purposes of first appearance. Teams that withdrew prior to the qualification, or that qualified to the World Cup automatically due to another team's withdrawal are not considered and written Italics.
• ³ First appearance as Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia; previous appearance as Kingdom of Yugoslavia.
• ⁴ First appearance as Israel; previous appearances as Eretz Yisrael.
• ⁵ First appearance as Suriname; previous appearances as Dutch Guiana.
• ⁶ First appearance as Zimbabwe; previous appearances as Rhodesia.
• ⁷ First appearance as Benin; previous appearances as Dahomey.
• ⁸ First appearance as Burkina Faso; previous appearances as Upper Volta.
• ⁹ First appearance after the reunification.
• ¹⁰ First appearance after the split.
• ¹¹ First appearance as Federal Republic of Yugoslavia; previous appearances as Kingdom of Yugoslavia and Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
• ¹² First appearance as Democratic Republic of the Congo; previous appearances as Zaire.
• ¹³ First appearance as Serbia and Montenegro; previous appearances as Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
• ¹⁴ Not a member of FIFA at the time of the qualification.
• ¹⁵ Matches in the Football tournament of the South Pacific Games counted towards the qualification tournament for the OFC, and Tuvalu's results counted in determining advancement from this stage. However, Tuvalu was not a member of FIFA at the time of qualification and had not entered the FIFA World Cup.

National teams results in World Cup preliminary competition 1934–2010[edit]

• Note that on the table below, all victories are given 3 points, and 1 point for draws. But before the 1998 World Cup qualification, victories were given only 2 points on the competitions.

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pts	Confederation	Top scorers
Mexico	141	92	28	21	376	104	304	CONCACAF	J. Borgetti 23 C. Hermosillo 15 H. Sánchez 13 C. Blanco 12 J. Lozano 11 S. Reyes 11 J. Fonseca 10
Costa Rica	140	68	34	38	243	153	238	CONCACAF	P. Wanchope 21 R. Fonseca 11
Netherlands	105	67	22	16	241	76	223	UEFA	R. van Nistelrooy 13 D. Bergkamp 12 Cruyff 10
Yugoslavia (1934–1990)  Yugoslavia (1998–2002)  Serbia and Montenegro (2006)  Serbia (2010—)	108	65	26	17	231	93	221	UEFA	S. Milošević 17 P. Mijatović 16 D. Savićević 10 M. Kežman 10
Spain	99	66	22	11	226	70	220	UEFA	F. Hierro 10 D. Villa 8 J. Salinas 8 Raúl 8
Soviet Union (1958–1990)  Russia (1994—)	105	66	22	17	207	70	220	UEFA	V. Beschastnykh 9 A. Arshavin 8 O. Protasov 8
Sweden	107	67	17	23	219	94	218	UEFA	H. Larsson 15 Z. Ibrahimović 11 M. Dahlin 10
South Korea	103	62	30	11	199	65	216	AFC	Ha Seok-Ju 10
Portugal	117	59	30	28	206	124	207	UEFA	Pauleta 19 Eusébio 12 L. Figo 9
United States	122	59	30	33	203	151	207	CONCACAF	L. Donovan 12 B. McBride 10
Australia	105	60	26	19	286	83	206	AFC	A. Thompson 18 D. Zdrilic 15 J. Aloisi 15 J. Kosmina 14 B. Emerton 11 T. Cahill 11 A. Vidmar 10
England	92	62	19	11	226	60	205	UEFA	M. Owen 10 F. Lampard 9 W. Rooney 9
Italy	87	61	19	7	181	51	202	UEFA	G. Riva 14 R. Bettega 11 F. Inzaghi 7 S. Mazzola 7
Belgium	113	60	22	31	216	131	202	UEFA	M. Wilmots 14 E. Mpenza 8 W. Sonck 8
Argentina	102	59	24	19	181	96	201	CONMEBOL	H. Crespo 19 G. Batistuta 11
Honduras	116	57	28	31	210	130	199	CONCACAF	C. Pavón 25 J. Figueroa 13 D. Suazo 11 A. Guevara 10 M. Núñez 10
Romania	106	58	20	28	190	108	194	UEFA	G. Hagi 15 G. Popescu 10 F. Răducioiu 9
Brazil	92	56	25	11	199	59	193	CONMEBOL	Romário 11 Zico 11 Kaká 10 L. Fabiano 10 Ronaldo 10 Tostão 10
Iran	94	56	24	14	201	69	192	AFC	A. Daei 35 K. Bagheri 28
Paraguay	120	56	24	40	165	133	192	CONMEBOL	J. Cardozo 14 R. Santa Cruz 10 C. Paredes 8 S. Cabañas 7 J. Chilavert 7
Uruguay	118	52	33	33	156	119	189	CONMEBOL	D. Forlán 13 D. Silva 8 S. Abreu 8
Scotland	105	54	23	28	167	112	185	UEFA	K. Gallacher 9
Germany (1934–1938)  West Germany (1950–1990)  Germany (1994—)	74	55	17	2	213	56	182	UEFA	K. Rummenigge 13 M. Ballack 10 G. Müller 9 M. Klose 9
El Salvador	118	53	23	42	193	136	182	CONCACAF	R. Diaz Arce 18 J. González 12 L. Ramírez 11
Saudi Arabia	92	53	22	17	173	72	181	AFC	S. Al Jaber 16 T. Al-Meshal 14 O. Al-Dosari 13 K. Al-Muwallid 11
Bulgaria	109	53	22	34	181	149	181	UEFA	D. Berbatov 17 H. Bonev 12 E. Kostadinov 10
Irish Free State (1934–1938)  Republic of Ireland (1950—)	119	47	36	36	170	141	177	UEFA	Rob. Keane 12 T. Cascarino 9
France	91	52	19	20	180	74	175	UEFA	M. Platini 12 E. Cantona 7 T. Cisowski 7
Austria	103	50	23	30	178	114	173	UEFA	T. Polster 15 A. Herzog 14 H. Krankl 10
China PR	82	53	11	18	172	54	170	AFC	Hao Haidong 13
Morocco	98	46	32	20	131	71	170	CAF	A. Faras 6 Y. Hadji 6
Hungary	102	49	23	30	181	129	170	UEFA	F. Bene 10
Switzerland	110	47	29	34	164	133	170	UEFA	A. Frei 17 K. Türkyilmaz 17 S. Chapuisat 10
Nigeria	88	48	24	16	151	70	168	CAF	O. Martins 10 R. Yekini 10
Tunisia	88	47	23	18	151	68	164	CAF	Z. Beiya 9
Denmark	100	47	23	30	170	120	164	UEFA	J. Tomasson 10 P. Elkjær 10 S. Larsen 10
Poland	97	49	16	32	182	117	163	UEFA	W. Lubański 14
Trinidad and Tobago	115	46	25	44	169	151	163	CONCACAF	S. John 20 S. David 17 A. Eve 12
Japan	88	47	20	21	173	70	161	AFC	K. Miura 27 T. Takagi 14
Colombia	118	41	37	40	132	127	160	CONMEBOL	F. Asprilla 9
Chile	111	43	26	42	152	137	155	CONMEBOL	M. Salas 18 I. Zamorano 17 H. Suazo 10
Cameroon	71	44	15	12	122	53	147	CAF	S. Eto'o 16 P. Mboma 10 R. Milla 9
Greece	104	40	22	42	125	155	142	UEFA	T. Gekas 10 A. Charisteas 9 M. Papaioannou 9
Egypt (1)	78	41	18	19	136	71	141	CAF	A. Zaki 10 H. Hassan 10
Czechoslovakia (1934–1990)(2)  Representation of Czechs and Slovaks (1994)	72	41	16	15	146	63	139	UEFA	A. Kvašňák 10
Northern Ireland	112	36	30	46	123	137	138	UEFA	D. Healy 8
Canada	95	36	29	30	122	116	137	CONCACAF	A. Bunbury 12
Norway	106	37	26	43	143	149	137	UEFA	J. Carew 8 K. Rekdal 8
Zambia	84	40	16	28	128	78	136	CAF	Kalusha Bwalya 9
Kuwait	77	41	11	25	135	72	134	AFC	J. Al Huwaidi 13 A. Al Anbari 12 F. Al Dakhil 12 B. Abdulaziz 10
Turkey	108	38	20	50	146	165	134	UEFA	H. Şükür 16
Guatemala	100	35	28	37	145	127	133	CONCACAF	C. Ruiz 24 J. Plata 10
Ecuador	109	34	27	48	123	157	129	CONMEBOL	A. Delgado 16 É. Méndez 10
Mandatory Palestine (1934–1938)  Israel (1950—)	102	33	29	40	137	149	128	UEFA	E. Ohana 8
Qatar	78	36	16	26	125	82	124	AFC	M. Al Enazi 15 M. Souf 12
New Zealand	70	36	13	21	169	75	121	OFC	V. Coveny 19 S. Sumner 14 G. Turner 11
Iraq	69	35	16	18	157	73	121	AFC	A. Radhi 15 E. Mohammed 10 L. Hussain Shaaib 10
Peru	113	31	28	54	118	159	121	CONMEBOL	R. Palacios 9
Bolivia	116	33	21	62	144	216	120	CONMEBOL	J. Botero 16
Ivory Coast	63	33	20	10	115	55	119	CAF	D. Drogba 15 I. Bakayoko 11
Algeria	73	32	21	20	95	72	117	CAF	R. Madjer 9
Jamaica	80	32	20	28	95	100	116	CONCACAF	M. King 8 D. Burton 8
Ghana	67	32	17	18	98	55	113	CAF	M. Amoah 8
North Korea	69	32	17	20	99	65	113	AFC	Hong Yong Jo 8
Haiti	76	32	15	29	123	109	111	CONCACAF	E. Sanon 19 G. Pierre 15
Wales	100	30	20	50	129	144	110	UEFA	I. Rush 11 D. Saunders 10
United Arab Emirates	71	31	16	24	112	78	109	AFC	A. Al Talyani 15 YS. Ali 10
Guinea	64	31	10	23	100	78	103	CAF	P. Feindouno 12
Finland	111	28	17	66	120	265	101	UEFA	M. Forssell 10
Bahrain	74	26	22	26	82	77	100	AFC	A. Hubail 8
Zaire (1974–1994)  Congo DR (1998—)	61	28	13	20	101	72	97	CAF	S. Nonda 10
Syria (1)	62	27	15	20	137	69	96	AFC	B. Al Said 17
Uzbekistan	58	27	13	18	123	72	94	AFC	M. Shatskikh 14 M. Kasimov 13 J. Irismetov 11
Angola	53	23	18	12	71	48	87	CAF	Akwa 14
Ukraine	48	23	17	8	65	36	86	UEFA	A. Shevchenko 26
Czech Republic (1998—) (2)	46	26	7	13	90	34	85	UEFA	M. Baroš 13 J. Koller 11 T. Rosický 9
Croatia	38	23	12	3	75	33	81	UEFA	B. Balaban 7
Slovakia (1998—) (2)	44	23	10	11	82	47	79	UEFA	S. Németh 8 (P. Dubovský scored 6 goals for RCS and 3 goals for Slovakia, thus 9 goals in total)
Cuba	60	20	17	23	83	91	77	CONCACAF	L. More 11
Rhodesia (1970)  Zimbabwe (1974—)	57	21	14	22	59	71	77	CAF	P. Ndlovu 11
East Germany	47	22	8	17	87	65	74	Defunct	J. Streich 14
South Africa	36	22	5	9	43	29	71	CAF	S. Bartlett 7
Oman	46	19	12	15	89	47	69	AFC	H. Al Dhabit 11
Senegal	47	18	15	14	64	43	69	CAF	EH. Diouf 14
Togo	53	19	12	22	62	70	69	CAF	E. Adebayor 16
Dutch East Indies (1938)  Indonesia (1950—)	63	18	15	30	79	113	69	AFC	I. Jaya 5
Hong Kong	63	19	12	32	78	115	69	AFC	Lau Wing Yip 10
Venezuela	106	18	14	74	87	259	68	CONMEBOL	R. Moran 10 J. Arango 9 G. Maldonado 9
Kenya	56	18	12	26	60	82	66	CAF	D. Oliech 12
Thailand	65	18	12	35	89	116	66	AFC	K. Senamuang 15 PO. Piyapong 10
Fiji	43	19	7	17	103	82	64	OFC	O. Vakatalesau 12 E. Masinisau 11
Suriname (1938–1974)  Suriname (1978—)	57	17	13	27	85	96	64	CONCACAF	R. George 6
Iceland	84	16	15	53	83	191	63	UEFA	E. Guðjohnsen 11
Upper Volta (1978)  Burkina Faso (1990—)	45	18	7	20	66	66	61	CAF	M. Dagano 18
Slovenia	42	16	12	14	55	50	60	UEFA	M. Ačimovič 6 Z. Zahovič 6
Sudan	56	15	15	26	53	84	60	CAF	H. Kamal 7
Gabon	43	17	7	19	49	51	58	CAF	G. Nzamba 5 T. Zue 5
Libya	43	16	9	18	50	49	57	CAF	A. Masli 5 A. Osman 5
Latvia	55	15	12	28	65	92	57	UEFA	M. Verpakovskis 8
Malaysia	47	14	12	21	58	71	54	AFC	D. Salleh 7
Jordan	42	15	8	19	54	54	53	AFC	B. Al Shagran 5 E. Abu Touk 5
Congo (3)	46	15	8	23	46	63	53	CAF	A. Mamouna-Ossila 4
Singapore	52	15	8	29	57	88	53	AFC	N. Shah 4 D. Tokijan 4 S. Moorthy 4 A. Duric 4 F. Ahmad 4
Bosnia and Herzegovina	38	15	7	16	58	50	52	UEFA	E. Džeko 9 E. Bolić 9
Solomon Islands	33	15	6	12	91	68	51	OFC	C. Menapi 16
Lithuania	53	13	11	29	43	80	50	UEFA	E. Jankauskas 6
Malawi	51	12	13	26	52	77	49	CAF	C. Msowoya 6
Liberia	49	13	10	26	34	73	49	CAF	G. Weah 6
Panama	58	13	10	35	57	124	49	CONCACAF	J. Dely Valdés 11
Curaçao (1958)  Netherlands Antilles (1962–2010)  Curaçao (2014—)	48	10	14	24	33	95	44	CONCACAF	R. Rovina 3 E. Loran 3
Albania	84	11	11	62	53	164	44	UEFA	E. Bogdani 7
Cyprus	94	11	10	73	74	266	43	UEFA	M. Konstantinou 14
Lebanon	32	11	9	12	58	43	42	AFC	R. Antar 9
Turkmenistan	30	13	3	14	50	43	42	AFC	B. Kuliev 6
Belarus	40	11	9	20	48	60	42	UEFA	R. Vasilyuk 5 T. Kalachev 5
Estonia	56	11	8	37	46	127	41	UEFA	A. Oper 11
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	42	12	4	26	58	116	40	CONCACAF	R. Jack 10
North Yemen (1986–1990)  Yemen (1994—)	38	10	9	19	47	60	39	AFC	A. Al Nono 7
Kazakhstan	40	11	6	23	59	81	39	UEFA	R. Baltiyev 6
Mali	26	11	5	10	39	34	38	CAF	F. Kanouté 10
Bermuda	26	10	7	9	60	38	37	CONCACAF	J. Nusum 11 S. Goater 10
Madagascar	31	10	7	14	36	41	37	CAF	H. Randrianaivo 5
Macedonia	40	9	9	22	49	71	36	UEFA	G. Pandev 6
Dahomey (1974)  Benin (1986—)	36	10	5	21	36	77	35	CAF	R. Omotoyossi 8
Tajikistan	20	10	4	6	47	17	34	AFC	S. Hamidov 5 N. Hakimov 5
Vanuatu	31	10	3	18	65	72	33	OFC	S. Soromon 9 E. Mermer 9
Georgia	38	8	9	21	40	65	33	UEFA	A. Iashvili 7
India	31	8	9	14	34	64	33	AFC	J. Ancheri 4
New Caledonia	16	9	4	3	38	15	31	OFC	M. Hmae 11
Uganda	28	9	4	15	29	49	31	CAF	D. Obua 5
Sierra Leone	37	8	7	22	27	57	31	CAF	C. Mansaray 2 K. Conteh 2 S. Mansaray 2 A. Kanu 2 M. Kallon 2 K. Dumbuya 2 W. Sounmonu 2 I. Dyfan 2
Tahiti	25	8	6	11	30	57	30	OFC	F. Tagawa 4 N. Bennett 4
Barbados	27	8	4	15	27	55	28	CONCACAF	J. Alexander 6 L. Riley 6
Saint Kitts and Nevis	20	8	3	9	43	36	27	CONCACAF	K. Gumbs 7 I. Lake 7
Kyrgyzstan	21	8	2	11	28	34	26	AFC	S. Kutsov 3 S. Chikishev 3
Ethiopia	31	6	8	17	34	54	26	CAF	T. Ingdawerk 3
Cape Verde	20	7	3	10	19	26	24	CAF	A. Gomes 5 C. Morais 5
Rwanda	27	6	6	15	23	38	24	CAF	A. Said 6
Armenia	42	4	12	26	30	83	24	UEFA	A. Petrosyan 4
Bangladesh	36	7	3	26	26	86	24	AFC	M. Hossain Joarder 3 M. Alfaz 3
Tanzania	25	4	10	11	24	31	22	CAF	J. Tegete 3 T. Ali 3 P. Tino 3
Antigua and Barbuda	26	6	4	16	28	69	22	CONCACAF	D. Edwards 8
Dominican Republic	19	6	3	10	23	37	21	CONCACAF	O. Zapata 4 D. Rodríguez 4
Niger	20	6	3	11	15	33	21	CAF	I. Alhassane 2 M. Yahaya 2 M. Kamfideni 2
Namibia	31	5	6	20	24	75	21	CAF	R. Tjikuzu 4
Mozambique	24	5	5	14	22	38	20	CAF	Dario 5
Gambia	16	5	4	7	14	22	19	CAF	N. Demba 2 M. Jarjue 2
Botswana	24	5	4	15	18	38	19	CAF	D. Selolwane 8
Tonga	16	6	0	10	18	70	18	OFC	L. Taufahema 4
Faroe Islands	50	5	3	42	26	139	18	UEFA	U. Arge 4
Grenada	15	5	2	8	39	33	17	CONCACAF	R. Charles 8
Burundi	14	5	2	7	10	17	17	CAF	C. Nahimana 2 H. Mbazumutima 2
Vietnam(4)	28	5	2	21	20	63	17	AFC	H. S. Nguyen 6
Maldives	22	5	2	15	28	95	17	AFC	A. Ashfaq 7
Azerbaijan	38	3	7	28	12	74	16	UEFA	V. Vasilyev 2 V. Javadov 2 E. Mammadov 2
Chinese Taipei	48	4	4	40	24	176	16	AFC	Jui Te Chen 3 Duh Deng Chyan 3 Wei Yi Huang 3
Saint Lucia	14	5	0	9	18	28	15	CONCACAF	E. Jean 5
Western Samoa (1994–1998)  Samoa (2002—)	14	5	0	9	25	39	15	OFC	J. Michael 5
Papua New Guinea	10	4	2	4	22	19	14	OFC	R. Davani 6
Palestine	14	4	2	8	19	27	14	AFC	E. Abou El Kair 4
Sri Lanka (5)	27	3	5	19	19	67	14	AFC	K. Jayasuriya 4
Moldova	38	2	8	28	19	75	14	UEFA	S. Rogaciov 3 S. Clescenco 3
Luxembourg	114	3	4	107	54	381	13	UEFA	A. Schmit 4 R. Langers 4
Malta	82	1	9	72	25	247	12	UEFA	C. Busuttil 5
Guyana	20	3	2	15	16	45	11	CONCACAF	C. Watson 4
Chad	10	3	1	6	10	15	10	CAF	F. Oumar 3
Liechtenstein	40	2	4	34	18	121	10	UEFA	M. Frick 5
Macau	31	3	1	27	13	148	10	AFC	Kin Seng Chan 2 A. Carvalhal 2 D. Pinto 2
Montenegro	10	1	6	3	9	14	9	UEFA	M. Vučinić 3
Dominica	12	2	3	7	12	35	9	CONCACAF	V. Casimir 3
Swaziland	13	2	3	8	5	28	9	CAF	S. Dlamini 3
Bahamas	10	2	3	5	10	35	9	CONCACAF	K. Davies 2 A. Haven 2
Puerto Rico	17	2	3	12	13	49	9	CONCACAF	R. Ortiz 2 P. Villegas 2 M. Lugris 2
Nepal	24	2	2	20	15	87	8	AFC	N. Ramayajhi 7
Equatorial Guinea	10	2	0	8	7	17	6	CAF	R. Eyoma 1 C. Mba 1 SJ. Barila 1 R. Bodipo 1 JE. Dyowe 1 J. Edjogo 1 F. Carolino 1
Guinea-Bissau	8	1	2	5	5	13	5	CAF	P. Tavares 2
Mauritania	14	1	2	11	7	33	5	CAF	A. Teguedi 2
Belize	12	1	2	9	8	35	5	CONCACAF	D. McCauley 2
Mauritius	16	1	2	13	12	44	5	CAF	D. Imbert 2 W. Marquette 2
Laos	14	1	2	11	6	76	5	AFC	S. Thongphachan 1 V. Dalaphone 1 V. Phaphouvanin 1 P. Phounsamay 1 N. Khouphachansy 1 P. Chanthalome 1
Andorra	32	1	2	29	12	109	5	UEFA	I. Lima 3
Saar	4	1	1	2	4	8	4	Defunct	H. Binkert 1 G. Siedl 1 H. Martin 1 W. Otto 1
Aruba	10	1	1	8	12	31	4	CONCACAF	W. Gross 3
Djibouti	9	1	1	7	5	40	4	CAF	M. Hirir 1 H. Robleh 1 M. Khaireh 1 AH. Daher 1 H. Yussin 1
South Vietnam (4)	3	1	0	2	1	5	3	Defunct	own goal by S. Meelarkpit (THA)
São Tomé and Príncipe	4	1	0	3	2	13	3	CAF	C. Pontes 1 A. Ramos 1
Turks and Caicos Islands	6	1	0	5	2	24	3	CONCACAF	G. Glinton 1 D. Lowery 1
Lesotho	14	0	3	11	6	33	3	CAF	T. Masia 1 T. Ramoseli 1 M. Ramafole 1 S. Leboela 1 S. Muso 1 L. Seema 1
Cook Islands	14	1	0	13	8	55	3	OFC	T. Mateariki 2
Eritrea	4	0	2	2	0	7	2	CAF	zero goalscorer
Somalia	10	5	2	3	1	15	2	CAF	Y.Ali 8
Cayman Islands	8	0	2	6	3	19	2	CONCACAF	M. Forbes 1 A. Grant 1 T. Elliot 1
Seychelles	10	0	2	8	6	26	2	CAF	P. Zialor 3
British Virgin Islands	6	0	2	4	4	27	2	CONCACAF	A. Williams 2
Cambodia	14	0	2	12	5	54	2	AFC	C. Makara 2 H. Sochetra 2
Pakistan	26	0	2	24	11	112	2	AFC	G. Zaman 3
San Marino	46	0	2	44	8	205	2	UEFA	A. Selva 5
South Yemen	2	0	1	1	4	7	1	Defunct	Abubakar Al-Mass 1
Tuvalu	4	0	1	3	2	22	1	OFC	V. Sekifu 1
Anguilla	6	0	1	5	2	27	1	CONCACAF	K. Hughes 7 R. O Connor 1
Nicaragua	12	0	1	11	5	32	1	CONCACAF	E. Palacios 2
Philippines	9	0	1	8	2	39	1	AFC	J. Dona 1 Y. Barsales 1
Mongolia	10	0	1	9	4	44	1	AFC	L. Donorov 1 O. Selenge 1 B. Davaa 1 B. Buman-Uchral 1
Central African Republic	2	0	0	2	1	4	0	CAF	L. Djim 1
Comoros	2	0	0	2	2	10	0	CAF	I. Bakar 1 D. Midtadi 1
Timor-Leste	2	0	0	2	3	11	0	AFC	E. Da Silva 3
Myanmar (6)	2	0	0	2	0	11	0	AFC	zero goalscorer
Afghanistan	4	0	0	4	1	18	0	AFC	O. Karimi 1
Montserrat	5	0	0	5	2	33	0	CONCACAF	V. Farrell 1 W. Dyer 1
U.S. Virgin Islands	5	0	0	5	1	35	0	CONCACAF	J. Santos 1
Guam	2	0	0	2	0	35	0	AFC	zero goalscorer
Brunei	12	0	0	12	2	57	0	AFC	K. Zainudin 1 A. Rahim 1
American Samoa	12	0	0	12	2	129	0	OFC	N. Natia 1 R. Ott 1
Bhutan	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	AFC	zero goalscorer

Last updated: 16 July 2010.

Top scorers in preliminary competition 1934–2010[edit]

Rank	Nation	Player	Goals	Games	Goal ratio	Qualification tournaments
1		Archie Thompson	35	51	0.69	1994 (28 goals), 1998 (9), 2002 (10), 2006 (9)
2		Karim Bagheri	28	29	0.97	1998 (19 goals), 2002 (8), 2010 (1)
3		Kazu Miura	27	25	1.08	1994 (13 goals), 1998 (14)
4		Carlos Ruiz	27	31	0.87	2002 (8 goals), 2006 (10), 2010 (6), 2011 (3)
5		Andriy Shevchenko	26	40	0.65	1998 (4 goals), 2002 (10), 2006 (6), 2010 (6)
6		Carlos Pavón	25	37	0.68	1998 (2 goals), 2002 (15), 2006 (1), 2010 (7)
7		Jared Borgetti	23	24	0.96	2002 (6 goals), 2006 (14), 2010 (3)
8		Paulo Wanchope	21	37	0.57	1998 (6 goals), 2002 (7), 2006 (8)
9		Stern John	20	45	0.44	1998 (3 goals), 2002 (3), 2006 (12), 2010 (2)
10		Vaughan Coveny	19	19	1.00	1998 (4 goals), 2002 (9), 2006 (6)
11		Pauleta	19	24	0.79	2002 (8 goals), 2006 (11)
12		Hernán Crespo	19	33	0.58	1998 (3 goals), 2002 (9), 2006 (7)

Current format[edit]

Currently, 32 places are available in the final tournament. One of them is reserved for the host nation, but if two or more nations host the competition jointly, each is awarded a place. The 2006 Finals were the first in which an automatic entry was not guaranteed to the previous champion; 2002 winner Brazil qualified for 2006 at the top of their qualifiers group. The decision to remove the reigning champions' automatic spot, announced in November 2001, was said by FIFA to address the issue of the returning champions being at a disadvantage to their fellow competitors due to having not played a competitive match in the previous two years.^[3] The problem was amply demonstrated at the 2002 FIFA World Cup as returning champions France tumbled out in the first round, finishing bottom of their group having failed to score a single goal. However, Italy, defending champions from 2006, finished bottom of their group in 2010, despite playing in the qualifying matches.

FIFA decides beforehand the number of spots awarded to each of the continental zones. For the 2014 World Cup, the following numbers will be used:^[4]

• UEFA (Europe) – 13 berths
• CAF (Africa) – 5 berths
• AFC (Asia) – 4 berths
• CONMEBOL (South America) – 4 berths, plus the host Brazil
• CONCACAF (North and Central America and Caribbean) – 3 berths
• 2 berths for the winners of play-offs between the best team from the OFC (Oceania), as well as additional teams from the AFC, CONMEBOL and CONCACAF. The pairings for these play-offs will be determined by an open draw.

These numbers vary slightly between tournaments (see above).

Qualification in all zones ends at approximately the same time, in September–November of the year preceding the finals.

The formats of the qualification tournaments differ between confederations and over time. The systems to be used in 2014 are outlined below.

Africa[edit]

The CAF qualification process will begin with a preliminary round (to narrow the field of 52 entrants to 40 teams) in November 2011. Mauritania was the only team not to enter the qualifying draw.

The group stage will consist of 10 groups of 4, with the group winners advancing. The final stage will pair the 10 remaining teams in 5 knock-out ties, with the winners advancing to the World Cup finals.

Asia[edit]

Bhutan and Guam did not enter the AFC qualification process, while Brunei were suspended and therefore ineligible.

Qualifying has only been altered slightly from the 2010 method, with changes to the structure of the preliminary rounds – which will be held before the main draw. As with the 2010 qualifying, two knock-out preliminary rounds will reduce the 43 entrants to 20, followed by first group stage with the top two sides from 5 groups of 4 advancing to a final group stage. The winners and runners-up of the two final groups of 5 will advance to the World Cup finals with the two third-placed sides playing off for the right to play in an inter-confederation play-off for a final World Cup spot.

Europe[edit]

The European qualification is unchanged from the 2010 system. The 53 national teams will be divided into nine groups, with the group winners qualifying directly to the finals, and the best eight runners-up playing home-and-away ties for the remaining four places.^[5]

North and Central America and Caribbean[edit]

The CONCACAF qualification process has changed significantly from the 2010 qualification cycle. A single preliminary round involved the 10 lowest ranked teams, reducing the 35 entrants to 30. The six highest ranked sides received byes in the first group stage, while the remaining 24 teams played in six groups of four, with the winners advancing to a second group stage. As in 2006 and 2010, the remaining 12 teams are playing in 3 semifinal groups of 4 teams with the top two in each group advancing to a final 6-team group.

The final round – often referred to as "the hexagonal" because of the number of teams involved – will see the top three teams advance to the World Cup finals, while the fourth placed side will enter an inter-confederation play-off for a final World Cup spot.

Oceania[edit]

Qualification in Oceania will be held as part of two further competitions. The first stage will take place at the 2011 Pacific Games, with the top 3 eligible teams advancing to a final round group stage with New Zealand. The winner of the final group stage (which will also act as the 2012 OFC Nations Cup) will enter an inter-confederation play-off for a World Cup spot.

South America[edit]

As in recent qualification series CONMEBOL qualification will consist of a single group of all entrants not automatically qualified for the finals. Brazil, as hosts of the 2014 finals, qualifies automatically and does not compete in qualifying.

The top 4 teams from the 9 teams group will advance to the World Cup finals, while the fifth placed team will enter an inter-confederation play-off for a World Cup spot.

Intercontinental play-offs[edit]

Unlike previous tournaments, the pairings for the two play-offs will be determined by an open draw on 30 July 2011, a day prior to the main draw. Intercontinental play-offs are played as home-and-away ties.

Qualification tournament rules[edit]

Qualification tournaments generally consist of a number of stages, made up of groups or knock-out ties.

Groups[edit]

In all group tournaments, three points are awarded for a win, one for a draw, and none for a loss. FIFA has set the order of the tie-breakers for teams that finish level on points:

1. goal difference in all group matches
2. greater number of goals scored in all group matches

Where teams are still not able to be separated, the following tie-breakers are used:

1. greater number of points obtained in matches between the tied teams
2. goal difference in matches between the tied teams
3. greater number of goals scored in matches between the tied teams

Where teams are still equal, then a play-off on neutral ground, with extra time and penalties if necessary will be played if FIFA deems such a play-off able to be fitted within the coordinated international match calendar. If this is not deemed feasible, then the result will be determined by the drawing of lot.

Note that this order of tie-breaker application has not always been applied. While it was used in the 2010 qualifiers, the qualification for the 2006 World Cup used the head-to-head comparison prior to goal difference (although this system was – where applicable – used in the 2006 finals themselves). If these rules had applied in 2006, then Nigeria would have qualified rather than Angola.

Home-and-away ties[edit]

Most knock-out qualifiers (such as the inter-confederation play-offs, the second round of UEFA qualifying and many preliminary ties) are played over two legs. The team that scores a greater aggregate number of goals qualifies. Away goals rule applies. If these rules fail to determine the winner, extra time and penalty shootouts are used.

Occasionally – usually when one entrant lacks adequate facilities to host international matches – ties are played over a single leg, in which case matches level after 90 minutes will go to extra time and then to a penalty shootout if required.

Alternatively, "home" matches can be played in neutral countries, or occasionally one team will host both matches. In the latter case the visiting team will still be considered as the "home" team for one of the legs – which may determine which side advances under the away goals rule, as occurred in CONCACAF qualification in 2010.

Notes[edit]

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (June 2011)

• Mexico holds several records in World Cup qualifying matches: most games played (141, followed by Costa Rica, 140), most games won (92, followed by Costa Rica, 68), most goals scored (376, followed by Australia, 286), best goal difference (+272, followed by Australia, +203) and best tally of points under the classic 3–1–0 point system (304pts, followed by Costa Rica 238pts).
• Germany (incl. results of West Germany from 1950 to 1990) have the best point-per-game average with 2.46 PPG (followed by Italy, 2.32 PPG) and the highest amount of goals scored per game with 2.9 GPG (followed by Solomon Islands, 2.8 GPG).
• Germany (incl. results of West Germany from 1950 to 1990) and Brazil are the only teams to have never been eliminated in a World Cup Qualification. Brazil played in all final tournaments, however Germany didn't enter the 1930 (no qualification tournament) and the 1950 competition.
• No federation has been able to remain undefeated in preliminary competition. South Yemen was only defeated once but played only 2 World Cup qualifying matches. As South Yemen football team does not exist anymore, they cannot lose any other game in the future, and no other existing federation that took part in the World Cup qualifying process has lost less than 2 games, which means this record is likely to stand for a long time. Germany (incl. West Germany) lost only 2 games in 74 matches. Saarland and Eritrea lost 2 out of 4 games, whereas Central African Republic, Comoros, and Guam lost 2 out of 2 games. Germany lost their first game in 1985 (vs Portugal in Stuttgart) and their second game in 2001 (vs England in Munich), which means these two games were lost at home. Brazil lost their first World Cup qualifying match ever in 1993 (vs Bolivia in La Paz).
• Korea Republic, Italy and Brazil have the lowest ratio of goals allowed per game, with 0.6 GAPG.
• Zambia hold the record for the most qualification wins (40) without ever qualifying for the finals (followed by Qatar, 36).
• Luxembourg hold the records for most games lost (107, followed by Venezuela, 74), most goals allowed (381, followed by Cyprus) and worst goal difference (−327, followed by Malta, −222).
• Guam hold the record for most goals allowed per game (17.5 GAPG, followed by American Samoa, 10.8 GAPG).
• Eritrea (4 games played), and Guam (2 games played) are the only federations that never scored a goal in a World Cup preliminary competition. Eritrea completed 2 draw games, though.
• San Marino hold the record for the most games played (46) without ever winning (followed by Pakistan, 26).
• The following nations have lost all of their World Cup qualifying matches: Brunei, American Samoa (12 games played), Montserrat (7 games played), Timor-Leste (4 games played), Central African Republic, Comoros, and Guam (2 games played).
• Colombia holds the record for most drawn games (37) in World Cup preliminary competition (followed by Republic of Ireland, 36).
• Several teams managed to go through their preliminary competition series winning all their matches. The most impressive series are those of Spain for 2010 (10 games played), West Germany for 1982 and Netherlands for 2010 (8 games played) and Brazil for 1970 (6 games played). West Germany reached the final in 1982, Brazil became champions in 1970 and Spain became champions in 2010. Burundi won 2 games out of 2 for 1998 but withdrew due to civil war on the following round.
• Brazil was the champion of the 1970 World Cup winning all their matches on the qualification (6 games) and on the final tournament (6 games). It is the only time a team did it so far.
• Honduras and Trinidad and Tobago played the longest World Cup preliminary competition campaigns on the way to the World Cup 2002, having played 22 games. Though, both of them did not qualify, ending respectively 4th and 6th of the CONCACAF Final Round, whereas only the 3 top teams of this round were qualified for the World Cup.
• Bhutan entered the 2010 World Cup qualifying process but withdrew before playing a single game, being the only federation to have entered preliminary competition and not to have played a single game.
• Italy hold the record for most qualification berths earned through playing World Cup qualifying matches (13 times), followed by Germany and Spain (12). Brazil and Germany are the only teams that have never been eliminated in preliminary competitions: Brazil have taken part in every staging of the World Cup final competition so far, whereas Germany did not enter in 1930 and was not admitted to the competition in 1950. Only once was Brazil deprived of finishing as leaders of their qualifying group, when they ended 3rd behind Argentina and Ecuador in the South American qualification group for 2002.
• Luxembourg holds the record for most unsuccessful attempts (18) to qualify for the World Cup final competition, having been eliminated from each preliminary competition campaign. Finland were eliminated 17 times: they have also never qualified, but did not enter the preliminary competition in 1934.
• India qualified by default for the 1950 FIFA World Cup finals as a result of the withdrawal of all of their scheduled opponents. But the governing body AIFF decided against going to the World Cup, being unable to understand the importance of the event at that time. The reasoning given by the AIFF was that there was the cost of travel, although FIFA agreed to bear a major part of the travel expenses,^[6] lack of practice time, team selection issues and valuing Olympics over the World Cup.^[7]
• Iranian player Ali Daei is considered to be the World Cup preliminary competition top scorer with a tally of 30 goals scored.
• The largest margin of victory in World Cup preliminary competition was set when Australia defeated American Samoa 31–0 in Sydney on 11 April 2001. With 13 goals scored on this occasion, Archie Thompson set the highest amount of goals scored by a single player in a single World Cup preliminary competition game. This score helped Australia to achieve a new record, the highest amount of goals scored by a single squad during a single qualifying campaign (73 goals scored, in 8 games). However, Australia failed to qualify as they were eliminated in the intercontinental playoffs against Uruguay.
• Maldives hold the record for most goals allowed (59 goals allowed in 6 games) by a single squad in a single preliminary campaign, during preliminary competition of World Cup 1998. They suffered 0–17 and 9–0 losses against Iran, as well as 12–0 and 0–12 losses against Syria and 3–0 and 0–6 losses against Kyrgyzstan. Moreover, they failed to score a single goal against their opponents.
• Davide Gualtieri from San Marino scored the fastest ever World Cup preliminary competition goal (9 seconds into the game) against England on 17 November 1993, in Bologna (Italy).
• As of 2010, a total of 5,635 World Cup qualifying matches have been played (of which 1,190 were drawn) and a total of 16,471 goals have been scored (2.92 goals per game).
• Due to territorial and political changes over the years, it is difficult to estimate the number of federations that played at least one game in a World Cup preliminary competition. Arguably 213 federations have competed in the World Cup preliminary competition, if Czechoslovakia (and RCS), Czech Republic and Slovakia are considered 3 distinct federations (FIFA consider both Czech Republic and Slovakia as successors of Czechoslovakia (and RCS), which is not practical to deal with in statistical work).

See also[edit]

• National team appearances in the FIFA World Cup

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• FIFA World Cup Preliminary Competition Statistics (from FIFA.com)
• FIFA World Cup Preliminary History (from FIFA.com)
• FIFA World Cup 2010 Regulations
• 33 facts you need to know about the 2010 FIFA World Cup preliminary competition
• [1]

v t e FIFA World Cup Tournaments Uruguay 1930 Italy 1934 France 1938 Brazil 1950 Switzerland 1954 Sweden 1958 Chile 1962 England 1966 Mexico 1970 West Germany 1974 Argentina 1978 Spain 1982 Mexico 1986 Italy 1990 United States 1994 France 1998 Korea/Japan 2002 Germany 2006 South Africa 2010 Brazil 2014 Russia 2018 Qatar 2022 2026 Finals 1930 1934 1938 19501 1954 1958 1962 1966 1970 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 Squads 1930 1934 1938 1950 1954 1958 1962 1966 1970 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 Qualification 19302 1934 1938 1950 1954 1958 1962 1966 1970 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 Bids 2014 2018 and 2022 2026 2030 Statistics All-time table Droughts Goalscorers Hat-tricks Milestone goals Own goals Penalty shoot-outs Player appearances Records Red cards Referees Team appearances Teams with no appearances Undefeated teams Miscellaneous Awards Balls Broadcasters Economics History Hosts Mascots Official films Official songs Trophy Video games 1Decisive match of a final group stage. 2No qualification took place as places were given by invitation only.

v t e International association football FIFA World Cup Confederations Cup U-20 World Cup U-17 World Cup Olympics Minor tournaments World Rankings Player of the Year FIFA Ballon d'Or Teams Debuts Competitions Federations Codes Asia AFC – Asian Cup U-22 U-19 U-16 U-14 Africa CAF – Africa Cup of Nations U-23 U-20 U-17 North America, Central America and the Caribbean CONCACAF – Gold Cup U-20 U-17 South America CONMEBOL – Copa América U-20 U-17 U-15 Oceania OFC – Nations Cup U-20 U-17 Europe UEFA – European Championship U-21 U-19 U-17 Non-FIFA NF-Board – Viva World Cup IGA Island Games Games All-Africa Games Asian Games CARIFTA Games East Asian Games Francophonie Games IOIG Lusophony Games Mediterranean Games Pan American Games Pan Arab Games Pacific Games South Asian Games Southeast Asian Games See also International women's football