Editing 1958 FIFA World Cup (section)

== Qualification ==
{{main|1958 FIFA World Cup qualification}}
The hosts ([[Sweden men's national football team|Sweden]]) and the defending champions ([[Germany national football team|West Germany]]) qualified automatically. Of the remaining 14 places, nine were allocated to Europe, three to South America, one to North/Central America, and one to Asia/Africa.

Aside from the main European zone matches, [[Wales national football team|Wales]], which finished second in its group behind [[Czechoslovakia national football team|Czechoslovakia]], was drawn into a play-off with [[Israel national football team|Israel]] after Israel won its group by default because its three opponents, [[Turkey national football team|Turkey]], [[Indonesia national football team|Indonesia]] and [[Sudan national football team|Sudan]], refused to play. FIFA had imposed a rule that no team would qualify without playing at least one match, something that had happened in several previous World Cups. Wales won the play-off and qualified for the first time (something they would not do again until [[2022 FIFA World Cup|2022]]). With [[Northern Ireland national football team|Northern Ireland]] making its debut, and [[England national football team|England]] and [[Scotland national football team|Scotland]] also qualifying, this World Cup was the only one to date to feature all four of the [[United Kingdom]]'s [[Home Nations]].

This World Cup also saw the entry and qualification of the [[USSR national football team|Soviet Union]] for the first time, while Argentina appeared for the first time since [[1934 FIFA World Cup|1934]]. It was also the first one for which [[Italy national football team|Italy]] failed to qualify (Italy did not take part in the [[1930 FIFA World Cup|1930 tournament]] but there was no qualification for that competition). Other teams that failed to qualify included two-time champions and [[1954 FIFA World Cup|1954]] semifinalists [[Uruguay national football team|Uruguay]], as well as [[Spain men's national football team|Spain]] and [[Belgium national football team|Belgium]].

On 8 February 1958, in [[Solna Municipality|Solna]], [[Lennart Hyland]] and [[Sven Jerring]] presented the results of the draw where the qualified teams were divided into four groups. Seeding was geographical rather than by team strength, with each group containing one western European team, one eastern European team, one of the four British teams that had qualified, and one from the Americas.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.fifa.com/mm/document/fifafacts/mcwc/ip-201_10e_fwcdraw-history_8842.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080226235749/http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/fifafacts/mcwc/ip-201_10e_fwcdraw-history_8842.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=26 February 2008 |title=History of the World Cup Final Draw|access-date=2 March 2012}}</ref>

===List of qualified teams===

The following 16 teams qualified for the final tournament.
{{col begin}}
{{col-4}}
'''[[1958 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC)|AFC]] (0)'''
* None qualified
'''[[1958 FIFA World Cup qualification (CAF)|CAF]] (0)'''
* None qualified
{{col-4}}
'''[[1958 FIFA World Cup qualification#North, Central America and Caribbean|NAFC]] (1)'''
* {{fb|MEX|1934}}
'''[[1958 FIFA World Cup qualification#North, Central America and Caribbean|CCCF]] (0)'''
* None qualified
'''[[1958 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONMEBOL)|CONMEBOL]] (3)'''
* {{fb|ARG|1861}}
* {{fb|BRA|1889}}
* {{fb|PAR|1954}}
{{col-4}}
'''[[1958 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA)|UEFA]] (12)'''
* {{fb|AUT}}
* {{fb|TCH}}
* {{fb|ENG}}
* {{fb|FRA|1830}}
* {{fb|HUN}}
* {{fb|NIR}} (debut)
* {{fb|SCO}}
* {{fb|URS|1955}} (debut)
* {{fb|SWE}} (hosts)
* {{fb|WAL|1953}} (debut)
* {{fb|FRG}} (title holders)
* {{fb|YUG}}
{{col-4}}
[[File:1958 world cup.png|left|thumb|upright=2.0|Qualifying countries and their results]]
{{col end}}