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== World Cup 1938 Qualifying ==
Qualified as hosts: France
Qualified as holders: Italy
EUROPE/NEAR EAST
Group 1 [Germany, Sweden]
16.06.37 Stockholm Sweden 4-0 Finland 1.GERMANY 3 3 0 0 11- 1 6
20.06.37 Stockholm Sweden 7-2 Estonia 2.SWEDEN 3 2 0 1 11- 7 4
29.06.37 Helsinki Finland 0-2 Germany 3.Estonia 3 1 0 2 4-11 2
19.08.37 Turku Finland 0-1 Estonia 4.Finland 3 0 0 3 0- 7 0
29.08.37 Königsberg Germany 4-1 Estonia
21.11.37 Hamburg Germany 5-0 Sweden
Group 2a [Norway]
10.10.37 Oslo Norway 3-2 Ireland
07.11.37 Dublin Ireland 3-3 Norway
Group 2b [Poland]
10.10.37 Warszawa Poland 4-0 Yugoslavia
03.04.38 Beograd Yugoslavia 1-0 Poland
Group 3 [Romania]
.12.37 Cairo Egypt o/w Romania
.04.38 Bucuresti Romania w/o Egypt
Egypt withdrew, Romania had a walkover.
Group 4 [Switzerland]
01.05.38 Milano Switzerland 2-1 Portugal
Group 5 [Hungary]
1st round
22.01.38 Tel-Aviv Palestina 1-3 Greece
20.02.38 Athinai Greece 1-0 Palestina
2nd round
25.03.38 Budapest Hungary 11-1 Greece
Group 6 [Czechoslovakia]
07.11.37 Sofia Bulgaria 1-1 Czechoslovakia
24.04.38 Praha Czechoslovakia 6-0 Bulgaria
Group 7 [Austria]
1st round
29.07.37 Riga Latvia 4-2 Lithuania
03.09.37 Kaunas Lithuania 1-5 Latvia
2nd round
05.10.37 Wien Austria 2-1 Latvia
Group 8 [Netherlands, Belgium]
28.11.37 Rotterdam Netherlands 4-0 Luxembourg
13.03.38 Luxembourg Luxembourg 2-3 Belgium
03.04.38 Antwerpen Belgium 1-1 Netherlands
EAST ASIA
Group 9 [Dutch East Indies]
25.01.38 Saigon Japan o/w Dutch East Indies
Match was originally to be played in Shanghai, but moved to Saigon due to
the second Sino-Japanese War.
Japan withdrew, Dutch East Indies had a walkover.
NB: after Japan's withdrawal, FIFA ruled (at a meeting in San Remo on 8 and
9 January 1938) that the Dutch East Indies had to play off against the
USA for a place in the final tournament.
The match was scheduled for 26 May 1938 (Ascension Day) in Rotterdam
(Netherlands) but the USA withdrew at the end of April for financial
reasons (they had hoped to finance the trip to Europe with the profits
of a match against an English team on the occasion of the silver jubilee
of the American federation, but the English cancelled the match refusing
to play on a Sunday) and the Dutch Indies qualified by walkover.
26.05.38 Rotterdam D. East Indies w/o USA
SOUTH AMERICA
Group 10 [Brazil]
Argentina withdrew, Brazil had a walkover.
NB: Argentina were later allowed to re-enter and following a FIFA meeting in
San Remo on 8 and 9 January 1938 they were scheduled to play the winners of
Group 12 (Central America) in Bordeaux on 29 May 1938; however, Argentina
withdrew again in spite of the fact they had been included among the 8 seeded
nations in the final tournament in the draw of the fixtures on 5 March 1938.
29.05.38 Bordeaux Cuba w/o Argentina
NORTH AMERICA
Group 11
Mexico were included in Central America; a Mexican objection against this
was rejected, leaving only the USA in this group.
The USA were scheduled to play Dutch East Indies on 26 May 1938 in Rotterdam (see
group 9) but withdrew in April 1938 for financial reasons.
26.05.38 Rotterdam D. East Indies w/o USA
CENTRAL AMERICA
Group 12 [Cuba]
Original set-up:
First Stage
To be played in Barranquilla, starting on 5 Nov 1937;
participants: Colombia, Cuba, Surinam (Dutch Guyana).
Second Stage
To be played in San José;
participants: Costa Rica, El Salvador, winners Barranquilla tounament.
Third Stage
Participants: Mexico, winners San José tournament;
winners to qualify for final tournament in France.
This set-up let to several objections (Mexico wanted to be included in the
North American group instead; also the six participants wished to have two
placed allocated for the final tournament in France).
Instead, a tournament was announced for the second half of April 1938
between Cuba, Colombia, Costa Rica and El Salvador, in a knock-out format
with each tie decided over three legs. Surinam were excluded on 9 April
for allegedly having not replied to correspondence from the organisers, a
decision against which Surinam successfully protested.
Later in April 1938, Colombia and El Salvador withdrew, and a triangular
tournament between Cuba, Costa Rica and Surinam was to be played in La Habana,
from which Surinam withdrew for financial reasons (requesting instead to play
against the Dutch East Indies (as the USA had meanwhile withdrawn), but this
was refused by the FIFA), and as Costa Rica withdrew as well, Cuba had a
walkover, as the match scheduled for the winners of this group against
Argentina in Bordeaux on 29 May 1938 was also cancelled after the renewed
withdrawal of Argentina (see group 10).
29.05.38 Bordeaux Cuba w/o Argentina
‹Detailed Infos, see page 38qual›
‹1938 Final Tournament, see page 38f›
‹Overview File, see page worldcup›
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