| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 21 August 1960 – 16 December 1961 |
| Teams | 56 (from 6 confederations) |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 92 |
| Goals scored | 325 (3.53 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) |  Andrej Kvašňák(7 goals) |
← 1958 1966 → | |
A total of 56 teams entered the 1962 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds, competing for a total of 16 spots in the final tournament. Chile, as the hosts, and Brazil, as the defending champions, qualified automatically, leaving 14 spots open for competition.
As with previous World Cups, the rules of the qualification rounds varied by confederation.[1] The winners of the four weakest continental zones: North America (NAFC), Central America and Caribbean (CCCF), Africa (CAF) and Asia (AFC), were not guaranteed direct spots in the final tournament. Instead, they entered a play-off against a team from either Europe (UEFA) or South America (CONMEBOL), with the winners of the three play-offs qualifying.
- ^ "History of the FIFA World Cup Preliminary Competition (by year)" (PDF). FIFA. 2010-06-10. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-06-02. Retrieved 2022-06-06.