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

1956 Summer Olympics – Men's Football Qualifiers

Tournament details
Dates	11–31 July 1956
Teams	20
Tournament statistics
Matches played	10
Goals scored	46 (4.6 per match)
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

† Withdrew after qualifying

Team	Method of qualification	Previous best performance
Australia	Hosts	–
Poland †	Automatic qualification	Fourth place (1952)
Bulgaria	Bulgaria v Great Britain winner	Round of 16 (1924, 1952)
Yugoslavia	Yugoslavia v Romania winner	Silver medal (1948, 1952)
Hungary †	Hungary v East Germany winner	Gold medal (1952)
Turkey †	Turkey v West Germany winner	Quarter-finals (1948, 1952)
West Germany †	Turkey v West Germany winner	–
Soviet Union	Soviet Union v Israel winner	First round (1952)
Egypt †	Ethiopia v Egypt winner	Fourth place (1928)
South Vietnam †	South Vietnam v Cambodia winner	–
India	India v Thailand winner	First round (1948)
Thailand	India v Thailand winner	–
Japan	Japan v South Korea winner	Quarter-finals (1936)
China †	China v Philippines winner	First round (1936, 1948)
Indonesia	Indonesia v Taiwan winner	–
United States	United States v Mexico winner	Silver medal (1904)
United Team of Germany	Formation by West Germany and East Germany	Fourth place (1952)
Great Britain	Replacement by Poland	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  Australia (host),  Poland,  Turkey, and  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 information: Football at the 1956 Summer Olympics – Men's European Qualifiers

Africa

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Ethiopia	3–9	Egypt	1–4	2–5

Asia

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
South Vietnam	9–5	Cambodia	5–2	4–3
Iran	n/p^1	Afghanistan	—	—
India	bye^2	Thailand	—	—
Japan	2–2^3	South Korea	2–0	0–2
China	w/o^4	Philippines	—	—
Indonesia	w/o^5	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.[1]

Americas

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
United States	w/o^1	Mexico	—	—

^1 Mexico withdrew.

Notes on qualifying

Before the official draw for the final tournament on September 1, 1956, Poland withdrew and was replaced by  Great Britain.

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

11 July 1956

Ethiopia	1–4	Egypt
		El-Fanagily 3', 31' Ad-Diba 54' Adam 60'

Haile Selassie Stadium, Addis Ababa

31 July 1956

Egypt	5–2	Ethiopia
Saleh Attia El-Far Ad-Diba

Al Ahly Stadium, Cairo

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3 June 1956

South Vietnam	5–2	Cambodia

10 June 1956

Cambodia	3–4	South Vietnam

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3 June 1956

Japan	2–0	South Korea
Uchino 54' Iwabuchi 77'	Report

Korakuen Velodrome, Tokyo

Attendance: 10,000

10 June 1956

Japan	0–2	South Korea
	Report	? 58'  ? 64'

Korakuen Velodrome, Tokyo

Attendance: 20,000

Japan advanced by the drawing of lots.

See also

• Australian football at the 1956 Summer Olympics
• 1956 Summer Olympics

Further reading

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

References

1. "'No Chinese Flag,' Rules Committee". The Singapore Free Press. 30 May 1956. Retrieved 21 November 2020.

External links

• Russell Gerrard. Games of the XVI Olympiad. Football Qualifying Tournament. RSSSF. 20 September 1998.