World Cup Qualifiers
Group 1
The
Qualifiers for the North American Zone required three phases and actually
concluded just three days before the actual World Cup on Italian Soil.
In
late January and February 1934, Cuba defeated Haiti three times to advance to
the next round and face Mexico.
Mexico
Manager Aurelio Perez Melendez was forced to resign after pressure the media,
who blamed him for selecting foreign players at the expense of the locals.
Rafael
Garza Gutierrez "Record" was appointed to manage the squad.
In
three matches in March, Mexico defeated Cuba three times as well.
The
Final qualifier to determine the Continent representative was between Mexico
and the USA.
Strangely,
the two teams agreed to play the deciding qualifier on May 24, 1934 at Rome,
just three days before the World Cup inauguration.
Many
are baffled by the decision from the Nations to accept such conditions. Many
feel Mexico accepted because they felt overly confident of victory.
The
Americans traveled on May 5th and arrived in Naples on May 14th.
They
had ten full days to prepare for the match.
The
Mexican squad selected by Rafael Garza Gutierrez "Record" for the
trip was the following: Goalkeepers Alfonso Riestra and Rafael Navarro; Antonio
Azpiri, Lorenzo Camarena, Manuel Rosas and Alfredo Garz6n; Guillermo Ortega,
Ignacio "Calavera" Avila, Felipe "Diente" Rosas, Carlos
Laviada, Marcial Ortiz and Jose "The Pelon" Rosas; Vicente Garcia,
Manuel Alonso Prla, Dionisio "Nicho" Melia, "Trompito"
Carrell, Jose Ruvalcaba, Fernando Marcos, Felix Gomez, Jorge Mafalda.
The
Mexicans boarded the German ship ‘Orinoco’ under rapturous applause from fans
from the port of Veracruz on April 19th. The Return journey was
scheduled on June 12th.
They
arrived at Vigo, Spain, twenty days later. After further stops at Santander,
San Sebastian and Southampton, they arrived at Boulogne-sur-Mer in the north of
France.
From
there the squad took train to Paris and then to Rome.
The
players had not had a chance to train during all this time, they therefore
arrived somewhat overweight.
They
had an audience with the Pope as well as Mussolini. On the match day, Fascist
Dignitary General Achille Starace and Italian National Team Manager Vittorio
Pozzo visited the Mexican camp.
On
24th May 1934, the qualifier took place in Rome with ‘Il Duce’ Benito Mussolini
in the stands.
Rafael
Garza Gutierrez "Record" chose to start with Rafael Navarro in the net.
Until then, Alfonso Riestra had been the starting goalkeeper. The Mexican Press refer to
this as "The Mystery of Rome". Most players disapproved of the
decision as Navarro had been inactive for some time and many believed Navarro
owed his selection due to favoritism from Rafael Garza Gutierrez
"Record". A group of players actually asked Navarro to recuse
himself, but the Manager stood firm in his decision. The players on the field
were annoyed and gave little support to Navarro and his performance suffered.
Manuel
Alonso gave Mexico the lead, but USA’s Aldo Donelli was the hero of the match
and scored four goals for the Americans for a 4-2 win and American
qualification.
Mexico were not helped by the sending off of Antonio Azpiri in the 52nd
minute and losing Vicente García to injury in the 57th minute (after
a collision with George
Moorehouse.
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Photo
From: Гольдес И.- История чемпионатов мира 1930-1962+
(USA’s Aldo Doneli )
(July
22, 1907-August 9, 1994) |
 |
Photo
From: Guerin Sportivo I Mondiali del 1934
(May 24, 1934, World Cup Qualifier, USA 4-Mexico
2) |
USA
stayed on to face the Italian hosts three days later for the World Cup
inauguration at the same venue.
The
Mexican selection were stranded with their finances drained. They decided to
line up friendly matches to earn money for the return trip.
They
had difficulty finding opponents but nevertheless Matches were played in Berne,
Rotterdam, Konigsberg and Gijon.
 |
Photo
From: Guerin Sportivo I Mondiali del 1934
(May
24, 1934, World Cup Qualifier, USA 4-Mexico 2)
|
The
Mexicans were still short of money, as a result, they were forced to accept
offers from Spanish clubs for some of their players.
Manolo
Alonso and Luis de la Fuente joined Racing Santander and Carlos Laviada joined
Real Oviedo.
The
Mexican squad returned on the steamboat ‘Sierra Ventura’.
This
was the only World Cup qualifier that was played in the host Nation just days
before the main event.
Group 2
This
Group featured Egypt, Palestine and Turkey. Turkey withdrew so it was left to
Egypt and Palestine to contest.
Palestine squad was made of Jewish settlers
that had never played before.
In fact the first qualifier on March 16th,
1934 at Cairo was their first ever match. Egypt comfortably defeated them
(7-1).
Egypt also won the return leg on April 6th
(4-1) to qualify for the World Cup.
They became the first ever qualifiers from the
continent of Africa.
Group 3
Brazil
and Peru had to face off for one of the South American spots.
Alvaro
Monteiro de Barro, the FIFA commissioner for South America, had suggested
qualifiers in Rio first two weeks of April. The date of April 15, 1934, was
chosen.
Six
days before matchday Brazil considered itself qualified since no word had come
from Peru. Peru would have had to take a long sea journey to reach Rio and
there was not enough time to reach the scheduled matchday.
Peru
withdrew because their National Sports Commission and the Peruvian Football
Association had broken off and it was impossible to get Governmental funding
for their expenses.
Brazil
qualified without kicking a ball.
Group 4
In
the other South American Group, Argentina had to face Chile.
On
March 14, 1934, FIFA agreed on a match date of April 14th, 1934, in
Buenos Aires (Some sources state that matchdays were agreed upon for March 29th
and 31st).
At
the time the Argentinean Football had two entities, the Professionals and the
Amateurs (affiliated with FIFA).
Due
to this split Argentina waived its registration and notified the World Cup
Organizers.
On
April 5th, Argentina’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Worship
informed the Argentinean League that General Vaccaro (Italian Federation) had
spoken to the Argentinean Ambassador at Rome and insisted on Argentinean
presence at the World Cup.
(Another
source states that General Vaccaro had traveled to Argentina to insist on the
Professionals to send a squad).
Apparently
the Italians feared a loss of revenue if Argentina presented itself with
unknown amateurs instead of its professionals.
As
a result, on April 11th, the Argentinean Association revoked its
previous decision by a vote of 7-4. They decided to stage the qualifier vs.
Chile in Italy.
On
the following day, the Chilean Federation asked FIFA to stage the match at
Santiago on April 28th.
Jorge
Ferri, the FIFA Commissioner South America notified Chile on April 19th
that they might have travel to Rome for the qualifier (tickets would be
reimbursed).
Plans
changed once more and on April 24th, FIFA ordered Chile to play
Argentina in Buenos Aires on April 28th.
It
was impossible to travel at such short notice as the Chileans had to cross the
mountain ranges to reach Argentina.
Chile
were forced to withdraw and demanded their Ministry of Foreign Affairs to seek
compensation from FIFA (money spent on training the selected National Team
since March 29th)
Just
like Brazil, Argentina qualified without kicking a ball.
Group 5
Sweden
qualified comfortably by defeating Estonia at Stockholm on June 11, 1933 (6-2
win) and following up with a win on June 29th, 1933 at Kaunas vs.
Lithuania (2-0).
No
more matches and the return legs of these matches were not played and (2-0)
wins were awarded for Sweden.
While
Estonia and Lithuania matches did not take place.
 |
Photo
From: IFFHS-Norge (1908-1940), Suomi
(1911-1940)-Essti (1920-1940)
(June 11, 1933, World Cup Qualifier, Sweden
6-Estonia 2) |
 |
Photo
From: IFFHS-Russia (1912-1920), Soviet Union (1923-1940), Polska(1921-1940),
Lietuva(1923-1940)
(June 29, 1933, World Cup Qualifier, Sweden
2-Lithaunia 0) |
Group 6
Spain
easily qualified by defeating its Portuguese neighbors on March 11, 1934 by a
score of (9-0).
The
Portuguese changed their goalkeeper after 15 minutes as they were already
losing (0-3). In a rare move, Portugal
made two more substitutions before halftime. This was not authorized but the
Referee and the Spanish Captain Zamora accepted it.
The
return leg, the next week on March 18th was a formality and Spain
once again won (2-1).
Portugal’s
poor performance became a point of debate in Portugal and led to the formation
of the National League the following season.
 |
Photo
From: Todo Sobre La Seleccion Espanola, Felix Martialay, 2006
(Spain
squad, March 11, 1934, World Cup Qualifier, Spain 9-Portugal 0)
|
 |
Photo
From: (Magazine Source unknown) / Contribution From a blog viewer (special
thanks to Jose Luis Carbonell)
(March 11, 1934, World Cup Qualifier, Spain
9-Portugal 0) |
 |
Photo
From: (Magazine Source unknown) / Contribution From a blog viewer (special
thanks to Jose Luis Carbonell)
(March 11, 1934, World Cup Qualifier, Spain
9-Portugal 0) |
 |
Photo
From: (Magazine Source unknown) / Contribution From a blog viewer (special
thanks to Jose Luis Carbonell)
(March
18, 1934, World Cup Qualifier, Portugal 1- Spain 2)
|
 |
Photo
From: (Magazine Source unknown) / Contribution From a blog viewer (special
thanks to Jose Luis Carbonell)
(March 18, 1934, World Cup Qualifier, Portugal
1- Spain 2) |
Group 7
In
the only time in the History of the World Cup the host had to qualify, Italy
were to take on Greece.
The
match took place on March 25, 1934 in Milan and was predictably won by the
Italians (4-0).
The
match featured the only National Team appearance of future Coaching Great Nereo
Rocco (May 20 1912-February 20, 1979), who played in the first half before
being substituted.
The
match also featured Italian Oriundis Monti, Guaita and the Brazilian Guarisi
(who scored the first goal) who per regulations should not have been qualified
to play for Italy.
After
the debacle of their last friendly vs. Austria, Italy Manager Vittorio Pozzo
had made changes.
Carlo
Ceresoli started in goal in place of Giampiero Combi and his Juventus teammates
in defense: Umberto Caligaris and Virginio Rosetta also did not start.
The
return leg that seemed like a formality was scheduled for April/May of 1934 and
Pozzo did not want to send his team to Athens.
A
contact with the Greek Federation had shown that they open to negotiations to
that end. It was alleged that the Greek goalkeeper Achilleas Grammatikopoulos
was also contacted for the renunciation of Greece for the return leg. Later, after Greece
announced their withdrawal, a further 300,000 drachmas were sent.
Everyone
came out satisfied, Italy could prepare for the World Cup in peace, while the
Greeks with the money bought a house in Athens that became the Federation’s
Offices until 1980.
 |
Photo
From: Guerin Sportivo-La Grande Storia Del
Calcio Italiana-1933-1934
(Italy squad, March 25, 1934, World Cup
Qualifier, Italy 4-Greece 0)
artoon of Italy’s Raimundo Orsi) |
 |
Photo
From: Azzurri, Storia della Nazionale di calcio tre volte campioni del Mondo,
1910-1983
(March 25, 1934, World Cup Qualifier, Italy
4-Greece 0) |
Group 8
This
Group contained Austria, Hungary and Bulgaria. The Austrian ‘Wunderteam’ were
favorites to qualify from the onset.
The
first match in the Group was on March 25th, 1934, at Sofia.
Upon
setting foot on the field the Hungarians had been shocked to see such a hard
surface. The Hungarian Delegation leader declared, "On such a terrain you
can never learn to play football, you can only break your legs,"
They
had demanded the cancellation of the match, but the match Referee, the Romanian
Denis Xifando decided to go ahead with the match.
Hungary
won comprehensively (4-1) as the away team.
The
second match was one month later on April 25th, as Austria defeated
Bulgaria (6-1).
In
the 70th minute match, Austria’s Walter Nausch (February 5, 1907-July 11, 1957) was severely injured by Borislav Gabrovski. Nausch went off the field
injured and that was the end of his World Cup dreams, while Borislav Gabrovski
was sent off.
 |
Photo
From: Miroir du Football, Issue 130, April-May 1970
(Austria’s
Walter Nausch)
(February
5, 1907-July 11, 1957)
|
Four
days later at Budapest, Hungary once again defeated Bulgaria (4-1).
In
fact it was Hungary’s B-Team that played in this match, while its full National
Team were facing Czechoslovakia at Prague at the same time.
The
rest of the matches in the Group were cancelled as Bulgaria were out and
Austria and Hungary had qualified.
Group 9
This Group contained Czechoslovakia and Poland.
The
only match turned out to be the first leg on October 15th, 1933 at
Warsaw that Czechoslovakia won (2-1).
The
return leg at Prague scheduled for April 15th, 1934 was cancelled
after the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs banned the Polish National Team
from traveling to Prague just four days before the match.
There
had been tensions because of the 'anti-Polish' politics of Czechoslovakia.
The
two Nations disputed areas in the border regions of the Nations (Cieszyn
Silesia, Orava Territory and Spiš).
There had been accusations of persecution of Poles in the
border regions of Czechoslovakia.
In
the end, FIFA
ordered Poland to pay Czechoslovakia 30,000 polish zlotys as compensation. The
Polish authorities at short notice made the cancellation, therefore tickets had
been sold.
(Special
thanks to @rightbankwarsaw
for the
information)
Group 10
This
Group contained Switzerland, Romania and Yugoslavia.
The
first match in the Group was on September 24, 1933 at Belgrade between
Yugoslavia and Switzerland. The match ended in a (2-2) tie that was
advantageous to the Swiss as the away team.
On
October 29th, 1933, the Swiss hosted Romania at Berne. The match
ended as another (2-2) tie. However, the Swiss protested since Romania player Iuliu Baratky should have
been ineligible. He was a former Hungarian International and had played for the
Hungarians just few months prior. He should have waited at least three years per
FIFA guidelines.
The
result was overturned and awarded (2-0) for the Swiss.
The
last match in the Group was on April 29th, 1934 at Bucharest between
Romania and Yugoslavia. Romania won (2-1) to qualify for the World Cup along
with Switzerland.
 |
Photo
From: Гольдес И.- История чемпионатов мира 1930-1962+
(Romania’s
Iuliu Baratky)
(May 14, 1910-April 14, 1962) |
 |
Photo
From: IFFHS, Schweiz,Suisse, Svizzera (1905-1940)
(October 29, 1933, World Cup Qualifier,
Switzerland 2-Romania 2) |
Group 11
This
Group contained neighbors Belgium and Holland along with the Republic of
Ireland.
On
September 1933, it was alleged that both Belgium and Holland had objected in
being grouped with Ireland.
The Dutch had offered the Irish FA, £1,250 to play their
qualifier at Amsterdam. The Belgians had also offered the Irish FA, £500 to
play their qualifier at Brussels. However, the Irish refused since they wanted
to stage at least one qualifier on home soil.
On
January 7th, 1934, at a Conference in London the terms of the
qualifiers were agreed. The Irish FA paid Belgium £500 to play them in Dublin and
Holland paid the Irish £650 to play in Amsterdam.
It
was agreed beforehand that before halftime, the goalkeeper and two players
could be substituted in the event of injury, and after halftime only the
goalkeeper could be replaced.
The
first match in the Group was on February 25, 1934 at Dublin between the
Republic of Ireland and Belgium.
This
was Ireland’s first ever competitive International. This match was played on a
Sunday, which restricted the Irish in calling up some of the English and
Scottish based players since they had League matches that weekend.
Others
such as Ireland’s Patrick Gaskins presented themselves despite having had
played a League match the day before.
Aberdeen
Manager Paddy Travers took Ireland’s Patrick Moore (who would be the Irish hero
of this match) personally for the all night journey to Dublin following
Aberdeen’s League match on that Saturday.
Belgium’s
King Albert I had recently been killed in a Mountain climbing accident
(February 17th, 1934), therefore the Belgians wore black armbands.
Belgium
took a (2-0) lead early on. In the 33rd minute, Belgium’s second
goalscorer Stanley Vanden Eynde was severely injured (double
fracture of the leg) from a foul by Jeremiah Lynch and was
replaced by his brother François.
Stanley Vanden Eynde would be forced to spend several
weeks in a Dublin Hospital and would be out of the game for three years.
His brother François Vanden
Eynde went on to score twice more for Belgium.
But
it was Patrick Moore who grabbed the headlines by scoring all four of Ireland’s
goals in a (4-4) tie. This was the first time ever that a player had scored
four goals in a World Cup qualifier.
 |
Photo
From: IFFHS, England (1872-1940), Eire (1924-1940), England/Amateurs
(1906-1940)
(Republic of Ireland squad, February 25, 1934,
World Cup Qualifier, Republic of Ireland 4-Belgium 4) |
Afterwards
it was discovered that Jan Hamers, one of Belgium’s reserves that day was
actually Dutch.
In
addition, Ireland’s James Kelly and Patrick Moore may have been ineligible
since they had played for Northern Ireland (in case of Kelly, just few months
prior on November 4, 1933).
Patrick
Moore also faced Holland just few weeks later.
But
the biggest event was at the post match banquet. Republic of
Ireland International Timothy O’Keeffe stole a Belgian goalkeeper Andrè Vandeweyer’s wallet. Belgium’s Louis Verysp caught him.
Timothy O’Keeffe was banned from the National team until
1938.
On April 8th, 1934, Holland hosted the Irish at
Amsterdam. The Irish took two ships to travel to Amsterdam.
The Dutch defeated the Irish (5-2) to get the upper hand
in the Group.
In the 40th minute of them match, Ireland’s
William Jordan left the field injured
and was substituted by Alfred
Horlacher.
This was the first
ever substitution in the history of the Republic of Ireland National Team.
 |
Photo
From: IFFHS, England (1872-1940), Eire (1924-1940), England/Amateurs
(1906-1940)
(April
8, 1934, World Cup Qualifier, Holland 5-Republic of Ireland 2)
|
In the last qualifier on April 29th, Belgium
hosted the Dutch at Antwerp. The two teams had faced one another in their
annual meeting just a month prior on March 11th, where the Dutch had
won (9-3).
This World Cup qualifier was refereed by future FIFA
President, the Englishman Stanley Rous.
Just the day before he had refereed the English FA Cup
Final (Manchester City 2-Portsmouth 1). He had taken a plane, thus becoming the
first ever Football personality to use this method of travel as related to the
game.
 |
Photo
From: Fussballweltmeisterschaft 1934 Italien, Author Hardy Grune
(Team captains, April 29, 1934, World Cup
Qualifier, Belgium 2-Holland 4) |
Belgium Captain Jules Pappaert was injured in the 25th
minute and replaced by Frans Van Dessel.
The Dutch won (4-2) to qualify as the leader of the Group with Belgium
just behind.
Belgium
qualified without winning a single match and giving up 8 goals in 2 matches.
They qualified with a single goal differential compared to Republic of Ireland
in their Group.
 |
Photo
From: Rode Duivels & Oranje Leeuwen., 100 jaar Derby der Lage Landen,
Authors Ralf Willems, Matty Verkamman, 2001
(April
29, 1934, World Cup Qualifier, Belgium 2-Holland 4)
|
 |
Photo
From: Het Nederlands Elftal, 1911-1955, Jan Mulder
(April
29, 1934, World Cup Qualifier, Belgium 2-Holland 4)
|
Group 12
The
last Group included Germany, France and Luxembourg. The first match was at
Luxembourg on March 11th, 1934, when Luxembourg hosted the Germans.
German Manager Otto Nerz selected his strongest squad and the Germans
comfortably won (9-1) with Josef Rasselnberg scoring four goals and Hohmann
scoring a hat trick. Nerz brought back Fritz Szepan to the National Team after
the Press had reproached his previous National Team performances.
Many
credited the Luxembourg goalkeeper Theodore Loesch from saving Luxembourg from
even further goals.
A
month later on April 15th, Luxembourg hosted France and were once
again heavily defeated (1-6) with four goals coming from Jean Nicolas.
In
the match Luxembourg sent on a substitute in the second half, which was against
FIFA regulations.
The
third match, which was to be between Germany and France, was therefore
cancelled since both Nations had already qualified.
 |
Photo
From: 90 Joer Letzebuerger Footballfederatioun / 90 ans Federation
Luxembourgeoise de Football
(A
cartoon concerning the match, March 11, 1934, World Cup Qualifier, Germany
9-Luxembourg 1)
|
 |
Photo
From: Capitaines des bleus depuis 1904, Author Vincent Duluc
(Jean Nicolas, April 15, 1934, World Cup
Qualifier, Luxembourg 1-France 6) |
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