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Association football at the 1956 Summer Olympics – Men's qualification

{{Infobox international football competition

| tourney_name = 1956 Summer Olympics – Men's Football Qualifiers

| dates = 11–31 July 1956

| num_teams = 20

| matches = 10

| goals = 46

| prevseason =

| nextseason = 1960

}}

The men's qualification for association football tournament at the 1956 Summer Olympics was the first time the qualifying round was done on a home-and-away basis.

Qualified teams

{{dagger}} Withdrew after qualifying

class="wikitable sortable"
Team

!data-sort-type="text"|Method of qualification

!data-sort-type="number"|Previous best performance

{{fb|AUS}}data-sort-value="a"|Hostsdata-sort-value="1"|–
{{fb|POL}} {{dagger}}data-sort-value="b"|Automatic qualificationdata-sort-value="5"|Fourth place (1952)
{{fb|BUL|1948}}data-sort-value="c"|Bulgaria v Great Britain winnerdata-sort-value="3"|Round of 16 (1924, 1952)
{{fb|YUG}}data-sort-value="c"|Yugoslavia v Romania winnerdata-sort-value="7"|Silver medal (1948, 1952)
{{fb|HUN|1949}} {{dagger}}data-sort-value="c"|Hungary v East Germany winnerdata-sort-value="8"|Gold medal (1952)
{{fb|TUR}} {{dagger}}data-sort-value="c"|Turkey v West Germany winnerdata-sort-value="4"|Quarter-finals (1948, 1952)
{{fb|FRG}} {{dagger}}data-sort-value="c"|Turkey v West Germany winnerdata-sort-value="1"|–
{{fb|URS|1955}}data-sort-value="c"|Soviet Union v Israel winnerdata-sort-value="2"|First round (1952)
{{fb|EGY|1922}} {{dagger}}data-sort-value="c"|Ethiopia v Egypt winnerdata-sort-value="5"|Fourth place (1928)
{{fb|VSO}} {{dagger}}data-sort-value="c"|South Vietnam v Cambodia winnerdata-sort-value="1"|–
{{fb|IND}}data-sort-value="c"|India v Thailand winnerdata-sort-value="2"|First round (1948)
{{fb|THA}}data-sort-value="c"|India v Thailand winnerdata-sort-value="1"|–
{{fb|JPN}}data-sort-value="c"|Japan v South Korea winnerdata-sort-value="4"|Quarter-finals (1936)
{{fb|CHN}} {{dagger}}data-sort-value="c"|China v Philippines winnerdata-sort-value="2"|First round (1936, 1948)
{{fb|IDN}}data-sort-value="c"|Indonesia v Taiwan winnerdata-sort-value="1"|–
{{fb|USA|1912}}data-sort-value="c"|United States v Mexico winnerdata-sort-value="7"|Silver medal (1904)
{{fbo|EUA|EUA|name=United Team of Germany}}data-sort-value="d"|Formation by West Germany and East Germanydata-sort-value="5"|Fourth place (1952)
{{fb|GBR}}data-sort-value="d"|Replacement by Polanddata-sort-value="8"|Gold medal (1900, 1908, 1912)

Format

The final tournament had 16 spots reserved with 28 countries initially showing interest in the tournament.

Automatic qualification was granted to {{fb|AUS}} (host), {{fb|POL|1928}}, {{fb|TUR}}, and {{fbo|EUA|EUA|name=United Team of Germany}} (originally as West Germany).

  • Europe: 4 places, contested by 8 teams (including Israel).
  • Africa: 1 place, contested by 2 teams.
  • Asia: 6 places, contested by 12 teams.
  • Americas: 1 place, contested by 2 teams.

Europe

{{Further|Football at the 1956 Summer Olympics – Men's European Qualifiers}}

Africa

{{TwoLegStart}}

{{TwoLegResult| {{fb-rt|ETH|1897}} || 3–9 | {{fb|EGY|1922}} || 1–4 | 2–5 }}

|}

Asia

{{TwoLegStart}}

{{TwoLegResult| {{fb-rt|South Vietnam}} || 9–5 | {{fb|CAM}} || 5–2 | 4–3 }}

{{TwoLegResult| {{fb-rt|IRN|1964}} || n/p1 | {{fb|AFG|1930}} ||—|—}}

{{TwoLegResult| {{fb-rt|IND}} || bye2 | {{fb|THA}} ||—|—}}

{{TwoLegResult| {{fb-rt|JPN|1947}} || 2–23 | {{fb|KOR|1949}} || 2–0 | 0–2 }}

{{TwoLegResult| {{fb-rt|CHN}} || w/o4 | {{fb|PHI|1936}} ||—|—}}

{{TwoLegResult| {{fb-rt|IDN}} || w/o5 | {{fb|Republic of China}} ||—|—}}

|}

1 Both teams withdrew; the tie was scratched.

2 As the withdrawal of other teams left six winners, the tie was scratched and both teams qualified automatically.

3 Both matches were played in Japan due to the lack of a suitable stadium in South Korea; Japan advanced on the drawing of lots.

4 Philippines withdrew.

5 Republic of China withdrew after the organizing committee ruled they had to play under the FIFA flag during the first leg, due to concerns over social and political unrest in Indonesia relating to the use of the Blue Sky with a White Sun flag.{{cite news |title='No Chinese Flag,' Rules Committee |url=https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/freepress19560530-1.2.101?ST=1&AT=filter&DF=&DT=&AO=true&NPT=&L=&CTA=&NID=&CT=&WC=&YR=&k=philippines+football%26ka%3dphilippines+football&P=4&Display=0&filterS=0&QT=philippines,football&oref=article |access-date=21 November 2020 |work=The Singapore Free Press |date=30 May 1956}}

Americas

{{TwoLegStart}}

{{TwoLegResult| {{fb-rt|USA|1912}} || w/o1 | {{fb|MEX|1934}} ||—|—}}

|}

1 Mexico withdrew.

Notes on qualifying

Before the official draw for the final tournament on September 1, 1956, Poland withdrew and was replaced by {{fb|GBR}}.

After the draw, Hungary also withdrew: its place was offered to South Korea, however South Korea declined due to financial reasons.

Subsequently, South Vietnam and Turkey both withdrew, while the People's Republic of China and Egypt boycotted the Olympics.

Qualifying Matches

{{football box

|date = 11 July 1956

|team1 = {{fb-rt|ETH|1897}}

|score = 1–4

|team2 = {{fb|EGY|1922}}

|goals1 = {{goal|}}

|goals2 = El-Fanagily {{goal|3||31}}
Ad-Diba {{goal|54}}
Adam {{goal|60}}

|stadium = Haile Selassie Stadium, Addis Ababa

|attendance =

|referee =

}}

{{football box

| date = 31 July 1956

| team1 = {{fb-rt|EGY|1922}}

| score = 5–2

| team2 = {{fb|ETH|1897}}

| goals1 = Saleh {{goal|}} {{goal|}}
Attia {{goal|}}
El-Far {{goal|}}
Ad-Diba {{goal|}}

| goals2 = {{goal|}} {{goal|}}

| stadium = Al Ahly Stadium, Cairo

| attendance =

| referee =

| event =

| time =

| round =

| score1 =

| score2 =

| report =

}}

----

{{football box

|date = 3 June 1956

|team1 = {{fb-rt|South Vietnam}}

|score = 5–2

|team2 = {{fb|CAM}}

|stadium =

}}

{{football box

|date = 10 June 1956

|team1 = {{fb-rt|CAM}}

|score = 3–4

|team2 = {{fb|South Vietnam}}

|stadium =

}}

----

{{football box

|date = 3 June 1956

|team1 = {{fb-rt|JPN|1947}}

|score = 2–0

|team2 = {{fb|KOR|1949}}

|goals1 = Uchino {{goal|54}}
Iwabuchi {{goal|77}}

|goals2 =

|stadium = Korakuen Velodrome, Tokyo

|attendance = 10,000

|referee =

|report = [http://www.japannationalfootballteam.com/en/1956/0603.html Report]

}}

{{football box

|date = 10 June 1956

|team1 = {{fb-rt|JPN|1947}}

|score = 0–2

|team2 = {{fb|KOR|1949}}

|goals1 =

|goals2 = ? {{goal|58}}
? {{goal|64}}

|stadium = Korakuen Velodrome, Tokyo

|attendance = 20,000

|referee =

|report = [http://www.japannationalfootballteam.com/en/1956/0610.html Report]

}}

Japan advanced by the drawing of lots.

See also

Further reading

  • Guinness Record of World Soccer, by Guy Oliver (1st ed., Guinness Publishing, 1992)
  • The Times newspaper, various dates

References

{{Reflist}}

External links

  • Russell Gerrard. [https://web.archive.org/web/20140111061227/http://www.rsssf.com/tableso/ol1956q.html Games of the XVI Olympiad. Football Qualifying Tournament]. RSSSF. 20 September 1998.

{{1956 in Japanese football}}

{{Football at the Summer Olympics}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Football at the 1956 Summer Olympics - Men's qualification}}

Category:Football qualification for the 1956 Summer Olympics