A total of 37 teams entered the 1938 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds, competing for a total of 16 spots in the final tournament. For the first time the title holders and the host country were given automatic qualification. Therefore, France, as the hosts, and Italy, as the defending champions, qualified automatically, leaving 14 spots open for competition. Due to the Spanish Civil War, Spain withdrew from the competition. The remaining 34 teams were divided into 12 groups, based on geographical considerations, as follows:
Groups 1 to 9 - Europe: 11 places, contested by 23 teams.
Groups 10 and 11 - The Americas: 2 places, contested by 9 teams.
Group 12 - Asia: 1 place, contested by 2 teams.
However, due to the withdrawal of Austria after qualifying, only 15 teams actually competed in the final tournament. FIFA did not offer participation to the runner-up of the group that Austria had played in, Latvia. A total of 21 teams played at least one qualifying match. A total of 22 qualifying matches were played, and 96 goals were scored.
Format
The 12 groups had different rules, as follows:
Group 1 had 4 teams. The teams played against each other once. The group winner and runner-up would qualify.
Groups 2, 3, 4, 5 and 7 had 2 teams each. The teams, except in Group 5, played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winners would qualify. In Group 5, Switzerland and Portugal were to play only one match on a neutral ground with the winner to qualify.
Groups 6 and 8 had 3 teams each. The strongest team of each group was seeded. There would be two rounds of play:
* First Round: The seeded team received a bye and advanced to the Final Round directly. The remaining 2 teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The winner would advance to the Final Round.
* Final Round: The seeded team played against the winner of the First Round at home. The winner would qualify.
Group 9 had 3 teams. The teams played against each other once. The group winner and runner-up would qualify.
Group 10 had 2 teams. The group winner would qualify.
Group 11 had 7 teams. The group winner would qualify.
Group 12 had 2 teams. The group winner would qualify.
Key:
Teams highlighted in green qualified for the finals.
Teams highlighted in Orange qualified for the final phase of their group.
Group 1
Rank
Team
1
3
3
0
0
11
1
11.0
6
2
3
2
0
1
11
7
1.57
4
3
3
1
0
2
4
11
0.36
2
4
3
0
0
3
0
7
0.00
0
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- Germany and Sweden qualified.
Group 2
Rank
Team
1
2
1
1
0
6
5
1.20
3
2
2
0
1
1
5
6
0.83
1
---- Norway qualified.
Group 3
Rank
Team
1
2
1
0
1
4
1
4.00
2
2
2
1
0
1
1
4
0.25
2
---- Poland finished above Yugoslavia on goal average, and thus qualified.
Group 4
Egypt were to play Romania on 17 December 1937, but Egypt refused to play Romania during the Ramadan month, with Egyptian officials arguing that it was "impossible" to play football during that time period. After Egyptian officials invited Austrian club side First Vienna FC to Egypt to participate in a friendly game against the national team during the holy month, Egypt were withdrawn by FIFA, and Romania qualified automatically.
Group 5
Rank
Team
1
1
1
0
0
2
1
2.00
2
2
1
0
0
1
1
2
0.50
0
Switzerland qualified.
Group 6
First round
---- Greece qualified for the final round.
Final round
Hungary qualified.
Group 7
Rank
Team
1
2
1
1
0
7
1
7.00
3
2
2
0
1
1
1
7
0.14
1
---- Czechoslovakia qualified.
Group 8
First round
---- Latvia qualified for the final round.
Final round
Austria qualified, but was later incorporated by Germany during the Anschluss. FIFA offered the place to England, who had opted not to enter the competition, but they declined the offer; FIFA decided not to allow anyone else to qualify, leaving the World Cup one team short.
Group 9
---- ---- Netherlands and Belgium qualified.
Group 10
Argentina withdrew, so Brazil qualified automatically.
11 of the 15 teams subsequently failed to qualify for the 1950 finals: Belgium, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, Dutch East Indies, France, Germany, Hungary, Netherlands, Norway, Poland and Romania.
