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

Quick Facts Tournament details, Dates ...

1974 FIFA World Cup Qualification

Tournament details
Dates	14 November 1971 – 13 February 1974
Teams	99 (from 6 confederations)
Tournament statistics
Matches played	226
Goals scored	620 (2.74 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Steve David (12 goals)
← 1970 1978 →

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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).

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,^[1] 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.

More information Team 1, Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score ...

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Soviet Union	w.o.[note 1]	Chile	0–0	0–2[note 1]

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

More information Team, Date of qualification ...

Team	Date of qualification	Finals appearance	Streak	Last appearance
Argentina	7 October 1973	6th	1	1966
Australia	13 November 1973	1st	1	–
Brazil (Defending Champions)	21 June 1970	10th	10	1970
Bulgaria	14 November 1973	4th	4	1970
Chile	21 November 1973	5th	1	1966
East Germany	13 November 1973	1st	1	–
Haiti	14 December 1973	1st	1	–
Italy	20 October 1973	8th	4	1970
Netherlands	18 November 1973	3rd	1	1938
Poland	17 October 1973	2nd	1	1938
Scotland	26 September 1973	3rd	1	1958
Sweden	27 November 1973	6th	2	1970
Uruguay	8 July 1973	7th	4	1970
West Germany (Hosts)	6 July 1966	8th	6	1970
Yugoslavia	13 February 1974	6th	1	1962
Zaire	9 December 1973	1st	1	–

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12 goals

11 goals

7 goals

6 goals

5 goals

4 goals

3 goals

2 goals

1 goal

1 own goal

• For the first time in the qualifiers, goal difference was used as a tie-breaker for teams who finished level on points. Aggregate score was also used to determine the winners of two-legged ties.
• Australia was the first team from OFC to qualify for a World Cup.