1966 FIFA World Cup qualification

1966 FIFA World Cup qualification

Tournament details
Dates	24 May 1964 – 29 December 1965
Teams	74 (from 5 confederations)
Tournament statistics
Matches played	127
Goals scored	393 (3.09 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Eusébio (9 goals)
← 1962 1970 →

The 1966 FIFA World Cup qualification was a series of tournaments organised by the five FIFA confederations. The 1966 FIFA World Cup featured 16 teams with one place reserved for the host nation, England, and one reserved for defending champions Brazil. The remaining 14 places were determined by a qualification process in which the other 72 entered teams, from the five FIFA confederations, competed. UEFA, CONCACAF and CONMEBOL qualification was determined within the confederations, whilst AFC and CAF teams (alongside Australia) competed for one place at the tournament.

Of these 72 teams, 51 competed, while Guatemala, Congo-Brazzaville and the Philippines had their entries rejected.

In the Africa/Asia/Oceania zone:

• South Africa were disqualified after being suspended by FIFA due to apartheid.
• All 15 African nations later withdrew in protest after FIFA, citing competitive and logistical issues, confirmed there would be no direct qualification for an African team, with Syria (who were grouped in Europe) withdrawing in support of the African teams.
• South Korea were later forced to withdraw due to logistical issues after the Asia/Oceania tournament was moved from Japan to Cambodia.

The first qualification match, between Netherlands and Albania, was played on 24 May 1964 and the first goal in qualification was a penalty, scored by Dutch defender Daan Schrijvers. Qualification ended on 29 December 1965, when Bulgaria eliminated Belgium in a group tiebreaker to become the final qualifier for the World Cup.

There were 393 goals scored over 127 games, for an average of 3.09 goals per game and 51 teams played in qualification.^[1]