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1954 Preliminaries
 

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England: the road to Brazil 19

50

 
Background 18 UEFA national teams entered qualification, and seven teams will qualify for the 1950 World Cup.

A record 34 teams entered, and 25 took part.

The preliminary draw was conducted in Genève on 15 January 1949.  It was decided that the British Championship of 1949-50 would double as the World Cup qualifying group for the four home countries.
 

Group 1

Team P W D L F A GD Pts
England 3 3 0 0 14 3 +11 6
                 
Scotland 3 2 0 1 10 3 +7 4
Wales 3 0 1 2 1 6 -5 1
Ireland 3 0 1 2 4 17 -13 1


Matches
1 October 1949
Ireland 2 Scotland 8 [0-5]
Windsor Park, Belfast (56,000)
Smyth (2)
Morris (3), Waddell (pen), Steel, Reilly, Mason
15 October 1949
Wales 1 England 4 [0-3]
Ninian Park, Cardiff (61,079)
Griffiths
Mortensen, Milburn
(3)
9 November 1949
Scotland 2 Wales 0 [1-0]
Hampden Park, Glasgow (72,381)
McPhail, Linwood
16 November 1949
England 9 Ireland 2 [4-0]
Maine Road, Manchester (69,742)
Rowley (4), Froggatt, Pearson (2), Mortensen (2)
Smyth, Brennan
8 March 1950
Wales 0 Ireland 0 [0-0]
Racecourse Ground, Wrexham (30,000)
 
15 April 1950
Scotland 0 England 1 [0-0]
Hampden Park, Glasgow (133,250)
Bentley
ENGLAND QUALIFIED
Scotland also qualified as runners-up, but refused to go

Notes
It was a significant moment in the history of Irish football as it was the last time that the (Northern) Irish Football Association entered a team featuring players born in both Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland.

Scottish FA insisted that they would only enter the World Cup Finals if they won their group/ Home Championship outright and even though they finished second, the Scottish FA declined the opportunity to travel to the World Cup finals. FIFA subsequently offered their place to France, the runners-up of Group 3 and the southern version of Ireland (FAI), the runners-up of Group 5.  Both teams also declined the invitation.








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