Editing 1974 FIFA World Cup (section)

==Qualification==
{{main|1974 FIFA World Cup qualification}}
[[File:1974 world cup qualification.png|thumb|{{legend|#000cff|Countries qualified for World Cup}} {{legend|#ffb400|Country failed to qualify}} {{legend|black|Countries that did not enter World Cup}} {{legend|#ababab|Country not a FIFA member in 1974}}]]

Ninety-eight countries took part in the qualifying tournament.

Some of football's most successful nations did not qualify, including 1966 champions England, France, hosts and quarter-finalists of the 1970 tournament Mexico, Spain, 1966 third-place finishers Portugal, 1970 quarter-finalists Peru, Belgium, 1962 runners-up Czechoslovakia, Switzerland, Hungary, and Romania. The USSR was also disqualified after refusing to travel for the second leg of their playoff against Chile as a result of the [[1973 Chilean coup d'état]]. The Netherlands and Poland qualified for the first time since 1938. Scotland were back in the finals after a 16-year absence. Argentina and Chile were also back after having missed the 1970 tournament and Yugoslavia returned after missing both the 1966 and 1970 tournaments.

First-time qualifiers were East Germany (who made their sole appearance in a [[FIFA]] senior tournament's as a separate team); Australia, which were the first team from Oceania to qualify (they would not qualify again until the next time the tournament was held in Germany, in [[2006 FIFA World Cup|2006]]); Haiti, the first team from the Caribbean to qualify since [[Cuba national football team|Cuba]] in 1938; and Zaire, the first team from sub-Saharan Africa to reach the finals, and the third African team overall.

As of 2022, this was the last time Haiti and Zaire (now DR Congo) qualified for a FIFA World Cup tournament, as well as the last time Spain failed to qualify.

This was the first tournament in which the defending champions (in this case [[Brazil national football team|Brazil]]) played in the opening game as opposed to the hosts, although this was later changed back to the hosts for the [[2006 FIFA World Cup|2006]] tournament, which was also held in Germany, as the defending champions no longer had a secured spot in the tournament.

===List of qualified teams===

The following 16 teams qualified for the final tournament.
{{col begin}}
{{col-4}}
'''[[1974 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC and OFC)|AFC/OFC]] (1)'''
* {{fb|AUS}} (debut)<ref>Australia was not a member of the OFC between 1972 and 1978</ref>
'''[[1974 FIFA World Cup qualification (CAF)|CAF]] (1)'''
* {{fb|ZAI}} (debut)
'''[[1974 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONCACAF)|CONCACAF]] (1)'''
* {{fb|HAI|1964}} (debut)
{{col-4}}
'''[[1974 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONMEBOL)|CONMEBOL]] (4)'''
* {{fb|ARG|1861}}
* {{fb|BRA|1968}} (holders)
* {{fb|CHI}}
* {{fb|URU}}
{{col-4}}
'''[[1974 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA)|UEFA]] (9)'''
* {{fb|PRB}}
* {{fb|GDR}} (debut)
* {{fb|ITA|1946}}
* {{fb|NED}}
* {{fb|POL|1928}}
* {{fb|SCO}}
* {{fb|SWE}}
* {{fb|FRG}} (hosts)
* {{fb|YUG}}
{{col-4}}
{{col end}}