A qualifying tournament was necessary to reduce the number of participants to 16.
Australia bye
Poland bye
Bulgaria 2-0 Great Britain
Great Britain 3-3 Bulgaria (Bulgaria qualify 5-3 on aggregate)
Yugoslavia vs Romania (Yugoslavia qualify; Romania withdrew)
Hungary vs East Germany (Hungary qualify; East Germany withdrew)
Turkey vs West Germany (both teams awarded byes)
Soviet Union 5-0 Israel
Israel 1-2 Soviet Union (Soviet Union qualify 7-1 on aggregate)
Ethiopia 1-4 Egypt
Egypt 5-2 Ethiopia (Egypt qualify 9-3 on aggregate)
Vietnam 5-2 Cambodia
Cambodia 3-4 Vietnam (Vietnam qualify 9-5 on aggregate)
Iran vs Afghanistan (both teams withdrew)
India vs Thailand (both teams awarded byes)
Japan 2-0 South Korea
South Korea 2-0 Japan (in Tokyo. Japan qualify on the drawing of lots)
China vs Philippines (China qualify; the Philippines withdrew)
Indonesia vs Taiwan (Indonesia qualify; Taiwan withdrew)
United States vs Mexico (United States qualify; Mexico withdrew)
East and West Germany agreed to send a combined Germany team.
Poland withdrew and were replaced by Great Britain.
The original draw for the finals (made in Zürich on 1st September 1956) was:
United States vs Yugoslavia
Bulgaria vs Egypt
China vs Turkey
Germany vs Soviet Union
Vietnam vs Indonesia
Thailand vs Great Britain
Australia vs Japan
India vs Hungary
Hungary withdrew. South Korea declined the invitation to replace them.
Subsequently Egypt, Vietnam, China and Turkey also withdrew, for reasons of finance
and distance.
Prepared and maintained by Russell Gerrard for the Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation
Author: Russell Gerrard
Last updated: 16 Apr 2015
(C) Copyright Russell Gerrard and RSSSF 1997/2015
You are free to copy this document in whole or part provided that proper
acknowledgement is given to the author. All rights reserved.