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A total of 147 teams entered the 1994 World Cup qualification rounds, competing for a total of 24 spots in the final tournament. United States, as the hosts, and Germany, as the defending champions, qualified automatically, leaving 22 spots open for competition.
For the first time, 3 teams would qualify from the African zone, due to the performance of African teams in the previous tournament. The 24 spots available in the 1994 World Cup would be distributed among the continental zones as follows:
- Europe (UEFA): 13 places, 1 of them went to automatic qualifier Germany, while the other 12 places were contested by 38 teams (including Israel).
- South America (CONMEBOL): 3.5 places, contested by 9 teams. The winner of the 0.5 place would advance to the Intercontinental Play-offs (against a team from CONCACAF or OFC).
- North, Central America and Caribbean (CONCACAF): 2.25 places, 1 of them went to automatic qualifier United States, while the other 1.25 places were contested by 22 teams. The winner of the 0.25 place would advance to the Intercontinental Play-offs (against a team from OFC).
- Africa (CAF): 3 places, contested by 40 teams.
- Asia (AFC): 2 places, contested by 29 teams.
- Oceania (OFC): 0.25 place, contested by 7 teams. The winner of the 0.25 place would advance to the Intercontinental Play-offs (against a team from CONCACAF).
Overview
An entry of close to 150 countries, nearly 500 matches and once again more goals than in the past twenty years - these were the figures of the biggest World Cup preliminary in 60 years.
Two of Europe's big names failed to make the finals: England conceded an embarrassing goal after a few seconds in their final match in San Marino and although they won 7-1 in the end they were unable to overtake the Netherlands in the group, who qualified along with group winners Norway. In Group 6, France looked to be heading comfortably for the top spot two matches before the end, but lost surprisingly at home to Israel and then were beaten away by Bulgaria, thanks to a Kostadinov counter-strike in the dying seconds. It was thus Bulgaria who squeezed into second place and accompanied Sweden to the USA. Helped by good results against group winners Italy, Switzerland also qualified for the first time in nearly thirty years.
In South America the only team to come through convincingly were Colombia, undefeated in their group and ahead of Argentina. In the other group Brazil and Bolivia only managed to secure definite qualification in their very last matches. Argentina had to go into a play-off against Oceania winners Australia and were on a knife's edge until a narrow 1-0 home win got them through.
In Africa it was Nigeria (first time for them), Morocco, and Cameroon who qualified, but it was a close battle for all three against the second team in their groups. In a dramatic final in Qatar, Japan let a safe-looking qualification slip away from them at the last minute. After a 2-2 draw against Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Korea Republic (only on goal difference) finally edged out Japan. After slipping up in Costa Rica and El Salvador, Mexico earned their passage in the direct encounter with their closest rivals Canada.
Continental zones
To see the dates and results of the qualification rounds for each continental zone, click on the following articles:
- Group 1 - Italy and Switzerland qualified.
- Group 2 - Norway and Netherlands qualified.
- Group 3 - Spain and Republic of Ireland qualified.
- Group 4 - Romania and Belgium qualified.
- Group 5 - Greece and Russia qualified.
- Group 6 - Sweden and Bulgaria qualified.
- Group 1 - Colombia qualified. Argentina advanced to the CONMEBOL / CONCACAF / OFC Intercontinental Play-off.
- Group 2 - Brazil and Bolivia qualified.
- Mexico qualified. Canada advanced to the CONCACAF / OFC Intercontinental Play-off.
- Group 1 - Nigeria qualified.
- Group 2 - Morocco qualified.
- Group 3 - Cameroon qualified.
- Saudi Arabia and South Korea qualified.
- Australia advanced to the CONCACAF / OFC Intercontinental Play-off.
Intercontinental Play-offs
For the first time, there would be two rounds of play in the Intercontinental Play-offs. The teams from CONCACAF and OFC would first play against each other on a home-and-away basis. The winner would then play against the team from CONMEBOL on a home-and-away basis. The winner would qualify.
CONCACAF / OFC Intercontinental Play-off
July 31, 1993, Edmonton, Canada - 2 - 1
August 15, 1993, Sydney, Australia - 2 - 1
Australia won 4-1 on penalties and advanced to the CONMEBOL / CONCACAF / OFC Intercontinental Play-off.
CONMEBOL / CONCACAF / OFC Intercontinental Play-off
October 31, 1993, Sydney, Australia - 1 - 1 *
November 17, 1993, Buenos Aires, Argentina - 1 - 0
Argentina qualified.
Qualified teams
| Team | Appearance | Streak | Previous appearance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11th | 6 | 1990 | |
| 9th | 4 | 1990 | |
| 3rd | 1 | 1950 | |
| 15th | 15 | 1990 | |
| 6th | 1 | 1986 | |
| 3rd | 2 | 1990 | |
| 3rd | 2 | 1990 | |
| (c) | 13th(1) | 11(1) | 1990(1) |
| 1st | 1 | - | |
| 13th | 9 | 1990 | |
| 10th | 1 | 1986 | |
| 3rd | 1 | 1986 | |
| 6th | 2 | 1990 | |
| 1st | 1 | - | |
| 2nd | 1 | 1938 | |
| 2nd | 2 | 1990 | |
| 4th | 3 | 1990 | |
| 6th | 2 | 1990 | |
| 1st(2) | 1(2) | -(2) | |
| 1st | 1 | - | |
| 9th | 5 | 1990 | |
| 9th | 2 | 1990 | |
| 7th | 1 | 1966 | |
| (h) | 5th | 2 | 1990 |
(h) - qualified automatically as hosts
(c) - qualified automatically as defending champions
Notes
- Tragedy struck when the entire team of Zambia was killed on a plane crash in Gabon carrying them to a qualifier against Senegal.The nation virtually had to build a new team from scratch, but the new team was a formidable opponent, missing USA 1994 by one point
- San Marino’s Davide Gualtieri scored the fastest goal ever in World Cup competiton: the opener against England after just 8.3 seconds *, although England went on to win the game 7-1. The English radio commentary on that day went like this: "Welcome to Bologna on Capital Gold for England versus San Marino with Tennent's Pilsner, brewed with Czechoslovakian yeast for that extra Pilsner taste...and England are one down."
- Emil Kostadinov scored the Bulgaria's winner against France in the dying seconds of their last World Cup qualifier in November 1993 at Parc des Princes. Bulgaria got the points and qualified for the finals, while denying France a ticket, as they would have qualified with a draw.
- Japan also conceded a last-minute goal against Iraq in their final match, thus denying themselves a place in the finals and handing the spot to their rivals South Korea. The episode is called the Agony of Doha in Japan.
External links
FIFA World Cup qualification | 1994 FIFA World Cup | 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification
Fußball-Weltmeisterschaft 1994/Qualifikation | WK voetbal 1994 (kwalificatie)
"1994 FIFA World Cup qualification"