1974 FIFA World Cup qualification

99 teams entered the 1974 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds, competing for 16 places in the final tournament. West Germany, as the hosts, and Brazil, as the defending champions, qualified automatically, leaving 14 spots open for competition.

The 16 spots available in the 1974 World Cup would be distributed among the continental zones as follows:
 * Europe (UEFA): 9.5 places, 1 of them went to automatic qualifier West Germany, while the other 8.5 places were contested by 32 teams. The winner of the 0.5 place would advance to the Intercontinental Play-offs (against a team from CONMEBOL).
 * South America (CONMEBOL): 3.5 places, 1 of them went to automatic qualifier Brazil, while the other 2.5 places were contested by 9 teams. The winner of the 0.5 place would advance to the Intercontinental Play-offs (against a team from UEFA).
 * North, Central America and Caribbean (CONCACAF): 1 place, contested by 14 teams.
 * Africa (CAF): 1 place, contested by 24 teams.
 * Asia (AFC) and Oceania (OFC): 1 place, contested by 18 teams.

90 teams played at least one qualifying match. 226 qualifying matches were played, and 620 goals were scored (an average of 2.74 per match).

AFC and OFC

 * Australia qualified.

CAF

 * Zaire qualified.

CONCACAF

 * Haiti qualified.

CONMEBOL

 * Group 1 - Uruguay qualified.
 * Group 2 - Argentina qualified.
 * Group 3 - Chile advanced to the UEFA / CONMEBOL Intercontinental Play-off.

UEFA

 * Group 1 - Sweden qualified.
 * Group 2 - Italy qualified.
 * Group 3 - Netherlands qualified.
 * Group 4 - East Germany qualified.
 * Group 5 - Poland qualified.
 * Group 6 - Bulgaria qualified.
 * Group 7 - Yugoslavia qualified.
 * Group 8 - Scotland qualified.
 * Group 9 - Soviet Union advanced to the UEFA / CONMEBOL Intercontinental Play-off.

Inter-confederation play-offs: UEFA v CONMEBOL
The teams would play against each other on a home-and-away basis, with the winner qualifying to the finals.

The second leg was scratched as the Soviet Union were disqualified after they refused to travel to Santiago for the return leg due to the 1973 Chilean coup d'état and the executions of left-wing prisoners in the Santiago stadium. The match did "go ahead" with the eleven Chilean players facing zero Soviet players before thousands of bemused spectators, and half a dozen Chilean players slowly passed the ball to each other in mock play until the captain walked the ball into the net.

Qualified teams


The following 16 teams qualified for the 1974 FIFA World Cup:

Goalscorers

 * 12 goals


 * Steve David


 * 11 goals


 * Emmanuel Sanon


 * 7 goals


 * 🇧🇬 Hristo Bonev
 * Joachim Streich
 * 🇮🇹 Luigi Riva
 * Johan Cruyff


 * 6 goals


 * 🇰🇪 William Ouma
 * Kembo Uba Kembo


 * 5 goals


 * 🇦🇷 Rubén Ayala
 * 🇬🇭 Kwasi Owusu
 * Emmanuel Sanon
 * 🇮🇶 Sabah Hatim
 * 🇮🇱 Moshe Onana
 * 🇲🇦 Ahmed Faras
 * Willy Brokamp
 * 🇷🇴 Florea Dumitrache
 * 🇸🇪 Roland Sandberg


 * 4 goals


 * 🇦🇺 Adrian Alston
 * 🇧🇪 Raoul Lambert
 * Jürgen Sparwasser
 * 🇲🇽 Octavio Muciño
 * Johan Neeskens
 * Arnold Robert Zebeda
 * 🇸🇪 Ralf Edström
 * 🇸🇪 Bo Larsson
 * Sammy Llewellyn
 * Kakoko Etepé
 * Jean-Kalala N'Tumba


 * 3 goals


 * 🇦🇹 Josef Hickersberger
 * 🇦🇹 Kurt Jara
 * 🇦🇺 Attila Abonyi
 * 🇦🇺 Ray Baartz
 * 🇦🇺 Jimmy Mackay
 * 🇧🇬 Georgi Denev
 * 🇨🇴 Willington Ortiz
 * Zdeněk Nehoda
 * Bohumil Veselý
 * 🇪🇹 Tariku Ingdawerk
 * Jean-Claude Désir
 * Rigoberto Gómez
 * Rubén Guifarro
 * 🇭🇺 Ferenc Bene
 * 🇮🇷 Parviz Ghelichkhani
 * 🇲🇽 Horacio López Salgado
 * 🇲🇦 Moustapha Choukri
 * 🇳🇴 Tor Egil Johansen
 * 🇰🇷 Chung Kyu-Poong
 * 🇰🇷 Kim Jae-Han
 * 🇸🇾 Joseph Chahrestan
 * Raymond Roberts
 * Fernando Morena
 * 🇺🇸 Willy Roy
 * Dušan Bajević
 * Freddie Mwila
 * Moses Simwala
 * Brighton Sinyangwe


 * 2 goals


 * 🇦🇷 Miguel Ángel Brindisi
 * 🇦🇬 Patrick Morris
 * 🇦🇹 August Starek
 * 🇦🇺 Branko Buljevic
 * 🇦🇺 Ernie Campbell
 * 🇦🇺 Ray Richards
 * 🇧🇪 Léon Dolmans
 * 🇧🇪 Odilon Polleunis
 * 🇧🇬 Bozhil Kolev
 * 🇨🇮 Noël Kouamé
 * 🇨🇮 Bernard N'Guessan
 * 🇨🇮 Mama Ouattara
 * Bernd Bransch
 * Hans-Jürgen Kreische
 * Wolfram Löwe
 * 🇪🇨 Washington Muñoz
 * 🇬🇭 Abwcari Gariba
 * 🇬🇭 Osei Kofi
 * 🇬🇭 Ibrahim Sunday
 * Nelson Melgar
 * Chérif Souleymane
 * 🇭🇰 Yuen Kuen-Chu
 * Jorge Bran
 * 🇭🇺 Lajos Kocsis
 * 🇭🇺 Sándor Zámbó
 * 🇮🇩 Iswadi Idris
 * 🇮🇩 Sarman Panggabean
 * 🇮🇪 Terry Conroy
 * 🇮🇶 Ali Kadhim
 * 🇮🇱 Zvi Rozen
 * 🇮🇱 Itzhak Shum
 * 🇮🇱 Mordechai Spiegler
 * 🇮🇹 Gianni Rivera
 * 🇯🇵 Kunishige Kamamoto
 * Hamad Bo Hamad
 * Daniel Jean Robert Imbert
 * 🇲🇽 Juan Manuel Borbolla
 * 🇲🇽 Enrique Borja
 * 🇲🇽 Fernando Bustos
 * 🇲🇽 Cesário Victorino
 * Wim van Hanegem
 * 🇳🇬 Yakubu Mambo
 * 🇳🇬 Kenneth Olayombo
 * 🇳🇿 Alan Vest
 * 🇰🇵 Ma Jung-U
 * Trevor Anderson
 * 🇳🇴 Harry Hestad
 * Adalberto Escobar
 * Saturnino Arrúa
 * Jorge Insfran
 * 🇵🇪 Hugo Sotil
 * 🇵🇱 Jan Domarski
 * 🇵🇱 Robert Gadocha
 * Rui Jordão
 * Nené
 * 🇷🇴 Ion Dumitru
 * 🇷🇴 Dumitru Marcu
 * 🇷🇴 Mircea Sandu
 * 🇰🇷 Cha Bum-Kun
 * Volodymyr Onyshchenko
 * 🇪🇸 José Claramunt
 * 🇪🇸 Rubén Óscar Valdez
 * Armand Doesburg
 * Arnold Miller
 * Edwin Schalf
 * 🇸🇪 Ove Kindvall
 * Leopold Brewster
 * Everald Cummings
 * Leroy Spann
 * 🇹🇳 Ezzedine Chakroun
 * 🇹🇳 Mohieddine Habita
 * 🇹🇷 Osman Arpacıoğlu
 * Luis Cubilla
 * 🇺🇸 Gene Geimer
 * Stanislav Karasi
 * Bernard Chanda
 * Godfrey Chitalu
 * Joseph Mapulanga


 * 1 goal


 * 🇦🇱 Sabah Bizi
 * 🇦🇱 Mihal Gjika
 * 🇦🇱 Ramazan Rragami
 * Rabah Gamouh
 * Mokhtar Kalem
 * 🇦🇬 Vernon Edwards
 * 🇦🇷 Oscar Fornari
 * 🇦🇷 Carlos Guerini
 * 🇦🇺 Doug Utjesenovic
 * 🇦🇺 Peter Wilson
 * 🇦🇹 Franz Hasil
 * 🇦🇹 Roland Hattenberger
 * 🇦🇹 Norbert Hof
 * 🇦🇹 Helmut Köglberger
 * 🇦🇹 Thomas Parits
 * 🇦🇹 Peter Pumm
 * 🇧🇪 Jean Dockx
 * 🇧🇪 Paul van Himst
 * 🇧🇪 Frans Janssens
 * 🇧🇴 Raúl Morales
 * 🇧🇬 Atanas Mihaylov
 * 🇨🇦 Jimmy Douglas
 * 🇨🇦 Glen Johnson
 * 🇨🇦 Ike MacKay
 * 🇨🇦 Buzz Parsons
 * 🇨🇦 Brian Robinson
 * 🇨🇦 Bruce Twamley
 * 🇨🇲 Paul-Gaston Ndongo
 * Sergio Ahumada
 * Julio Crisosto
 * Rogelio Farias
 * Francisco Valdés
 * Jean-Michel M'Bono
 * Noël Minga
 * Nemesia Cárcamo
 * Wálter Elizondo
 * Asdrúbal Paniagua
 * Roy Sáenz
 * 🇨🇮 Kouman Kobinam
 * 🇨🇮 Laurent Pokou
 * 🇨🇾 Kokos Antoniou
 * Přemysl Bičovský
 * Vladimír Hagara
 * Ladislav Petráš
 * Damien Kamilou
 * Ole Bjørnmose
 * Finn Laudrup
 * Peter Ducke
 * 🇪🇨 Ítalo Estupiñán
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Colin Bell
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Allan Clarke
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Norman Hunter
 * 🇪🇬 Sayed Abdelrazak
 * 🇪🇬 Ali Khalil
 * 🇪🇹 Tekeste Gebremedhin
 * 🇪🇹 Kassahun Teka
 * 🇪🇹 Seyoum Tesfaye
 * 🇫🇮 Jarmo Manninen
 * 🇫🇮 Olavi Rissanen
 * 🇫🇮 Miikka Toivola
 * 🇫🇷 Georges Bereta
 * 🇫🇷 Serge Chiesa
 * 🇫🇷 Jean-Michel Larqué
 * 🇬🇭 Akuetteh Armah
 * 🇬🇭 Joseph Ghartey
 * 🇬🇭 Clifford Odame
 * 🇬🇭 Joseph Sam
 * Antonis Antoniadis
 * Mimis Domazos
 * Kostas Eleftherakis
 * Giorgos Koudas
 * Maxime Camara
 * Smith Samuel
 * Petit Sory
 * Soriba Soumah
 * Juan Banegas
 * Benjamín Monterroso
 * René Morales
 * Jorge Roldán
 * Claude Barthélemy
 * Pierre Bayonne
 * Guy François
 * Guy Saint-Vil
 * Roger Saint-Vil
 * Philippe Vorbe
 * Óscar Rolando Hernández
 * Roberto Soza
 * Jorge Urquía
 * 🇭🇰 Kwok Ka-Ming
 * 🇭🇰 Lo Hung-Hoi
 * 🇭🇺 László Bálint
 * 🇭🇺 Antal Dunai
 * 🇭🇺 István Juhász
 * 🇭🇺 Mihály Kozma
 * 🇭🇺 Csaba Vidáts
 * 🇮🇸 Elmar Geirsson
 * 🇮🇸 Örn Óskarsson
 * 🇮🇩 Andjas Asmara
 * 🇮🇷 Ali Jabbari
 * 🇮🇷 Akbar Kargarjam
 * 🇮🇷 Mehdi Monajati
 * 🇮🇷 Ali Parvin
 * 🇮🇷 Mohammad Sadeghi
 * 🇮🇷 Gholam Vafakhah
 * 🇮🇶 Douglas Aziz
 * 🇮🇶 Riyadh Nouri
 * 🇮🇶 Bashar Rashid
 * 🇮🇶 Salah Obeid
 * 🇮🇪 Mick Martin
 * 🇮🇪 Ray Treacy
 * 🇮🇱 George Borba
 * 🇮🇱 Zvi Farkash
 * 🇮🇹 Pietro Anastasi
 * 🇮🇹 Fabio Capello
 * 🇮🇹 Giorgio Chinaglia
 * 🇯🇵 Shusaku Hirasawa
 * 🇯🇵 Koji Mori
 * 🇰🇪 Daniel Anyanzwa
 * 🇰🇪 Peter Ouma
 * 🇰🇪 John Shore
 * Ibrahim Al Duraihem
 * Fathi Kameel
 * 🇱🇺 Nico Braun
 * 🇱🇺 Gilbert Dussier
 * Shaharuddin Abdullah
 * Harun Jusoh
 * 🇲🇹 Anton Camilleri
 * Anwar Jackaria
 * 🇲🇽 Manuel Lapuente
 * 🇲🇽 Héctor Pulido
 * 🇲🇽 Sergio Ceballos Aldape
 * 🇲🇦 Hassan Amcharrat
 * 🇲🇦 Chérif Fetoui
 * 🇲🇦 Maouhoub Ghazouani
 * 🇲🇦 Mohamed Maghfour
 * Arie Haan
 * Barry Hullshoff
 * Theo de Jong
 * Piet Keizer
 * René van der Kerkhof
 * Dick Schneider
 * Rignald Alfonso Clemencia
 * Adelbert Toppenberg
 * Siegfried Schoop
 * Erroll Maximino St. Jago
 * 🇳🇿 Dennis Tindall
 * 🇳🇿 Brian Turner
 * 🇳🇬 Sunday Oyarekhua
 * 🇰🇵 An Se-Uk
 * 🇰🇵 Kim Jong-Min
 * 🇰🇵 Pak Sung-Jin
 * Sammy Morgan
 * Liam O'Kane
 * Martin O'Neill
 * 🇳🇴 Jan Fuglset
 * 🇳🇴 Tom Lund
 * 🇳🇴 Per Pettersen
 * 🇳🇴 Harald Sunde
 * Pedro Alcides Bareiro
 * Juvencio Osorio
 * 🇵🇪 Héctor Bailetti
 * 🇵🇱 Grzegorz Lato
 * 🇵🇱 Włodzimierz Lubański
 * Humberto Coelho
 * Eusébio
 * Chico Faria
 * Artur Jorge
 * Alfredo Quaresma
 * António Simões
 * 🇷🇴 Emerich Dembrovschi
 * 🇷🇴 Nicolae Dobrin
 * 🇷🇴 Dudu Georgescu
 * 🇷🇴 Radu Nunweiller
 * 🇷🇴 Nicolae Pantea
 * 🇷🇴 Teodor Tarălungă
 * Jimmy Bone
 * Kenny Dalglish
 * Joe Harper
 * Jim Holton
 * Joe Jordan
 * Peter Lorimer
 * Lou Macari
 * Willie Morgan
 * 🇸🇳 Louis Gomis Diop
 * 🇰🇷 Ko Jae-Wook
 * 🇰🇷 Park Yi-Chun
 * Oleh Blokhin
 * Vladimir Fedotov
 * Viktor Kolotov
 * 🇪🇸 Amancio Amaro
 * 🇪🇸 Juan Manuel Asensi
 * 🇪🇸 Roberto Juan Martínez
 * 🇪🇸 Juan Cruz Sol
 * Izzeldin Osman
 * Eugene Sordam
 * 🇸🇪 Ove Grahn
 * 🇸🇪 Dag Szepanski
 * Rolf Blättler
 * Karl Odermatt
 * 🇸🇾 Nabil Nano
 * 🇸🇾 Samir Said
 * 🇸🇾 Abdulghani Tatiche
 * Nassoro Mashoto
 * Warren Archibald
 * 🇹🇳 Abdesselam Adhouma
 * 🇹🇷 Köksal Mesçi
 * 🇹🇷 Mehmet Türkkan
 * 🇹🇷 Melih Atacan
 * Denís Milar
 * 🇺🇸 Rudy Getzinger
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Trevor Hockey
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Leighton James
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 John Toshack
 * Jovan Aćimović
 * Josip Katalinski
 * Ivica Šurjak
 * Mbungu Ekofa
 * Mavuba Mafuila
 * Mayanga Maku
 * Kamunda Tshinabu
 * Obby Kapita
 * Simon Kaushi
 * Burton Mugala
 * Boniface Simutowe


 * 1 own goal


 * 🇦🇺 Bobby Hogg (playing against New Zealand)
 * Siegfried Brunken (playing against Trinidad and Tobago)
 * 🇮🇸 Einar Gunnarsson (playing against Belgium)
 * 🇲🇹 Charles Spiteri (playing against Austria)
 * 🇳🇿 Maurice Tillotson (playing against Indonesia)
 * Nguyễn Vinh Quang (playing against Japan)
 * 🇹🇭 Supakit Meelarpkit (playing against South Vietnam)
 * Josip Katalinski (playing against Greece)