Football at the 1960 Summer Olympics – Men's qualification

This is the overview of the qualification for the football tournament at the 1960 Summer Olympics.

Summer Olympics – Men's Football Qualifiers

Tournament details
Dates	26 June 1959 – 18 May 1960
Teams	44
Tournament statistics
Matches played	101
Goals scored	138 (1.37 per match)
← 1956 1964 →

Qualified teams

Team	Method of qualification	Date of qualification	Total times qualified	Current consecutive appearances	Previous best performance
Italy	Hosts	15 June 1955	1	1	Gold medal (1936)
Denmark	Europe Group 1 winners	21 August 1959	1	1	Silver medal (1908, 1912)
Poland	Europe Group 2 winners	24 November 1959	2	1	Fourth place (1936)
Turkey	Middle East winners	24 November 1959	2	1	Quarter-finals (1948, 1948)
Great Britain	Europe Group 5 winners	2 April 1960	2	4	Gold medal (1900, 1908, 1912)
United Arab Republic	Africa second round winners	3 April 1960	2	1	Fourth place (1928)
Hungary	Europe Group 7 winners	6 April 1960	2	1	Gold medal (1952)
Tunisia	Africa second round runners-up	17 April 1960	1	1	–
Yugoslavia	Europe Group 4 winners	24 April 1960	2	3	Silver medal (1948, 1952, 1956)
Argentina	Americas second round winners	24 April 1960	1	1	Silver medal (1928)
Peru	Americas second round runners-up	24 April 1960	1	1	Quarter-finals (1936)
Brazil	Americas second round third place	27 April 1960	1	1	–
Taiwan	Asia second round winner	30 April 1960	1	1	–
India	Asia second round winner	30 April 1960	2	3	Fourth place (1956)
Bulgaria	Europe Group 3 winners	1 May 1960	2	1	Bronze medal (1956)
France	Europe Group 6 winners	1 May 1960	1	1	Silver medal (1900)

Qualification process

• Africa: 2
• Americas: 3
• Asia: 2
• Europe: 7
• Middle East: 1
• Hosts: 1

Summary of qualification

Region	Available slots in finals	Teams started	Teams eliminated	Teams qualified	Qualifying start date	Qualifying end date
Africa	2	9	7	2	1 November 1959	22 April 1960
Americas	3	10	7	3	8 October 1959	30 April 1960
Asia	2	8	6	2	27 August 1959	30 April 1960
Europe	7	22	15	7	26 June 1959	1 May 1960
Middle East	1	3	2	1	15 November 1959	15 December 1959
Total	15	52	37	15	26 June 1959	1 May 1960

Format

The formats of the qualifying competitions depended on each region (see below). Each round was played in either of the following formats:

• League format, in which more than two teams formed groups to play home-and-away round-robin matches, or single round-robin matches hosted by one of the participating teams or on neutral territory.
• Knockout format, in which two teams played home-and-away two-legged matches or single-legged matches.

Tiebreakers

1. Points (2 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss)
2. Overall goal difference
3. Overall goals scored

Europe

Main article: Football at the 1960 Summer Olympics – Men's European Qualifiers

Final positions (final round)

Group 1	Group 2	Group 3
Pos Team v t e Pld Pts 1  Denmark 4 7 2  Iceland 4 3 3  Norway 4 2 Source: RSSSF	Pos Team v t e Pld Pts 1  Poland 4 8 2  West Germany 4 2 3  Finland 4 2 Source: RSSSF	Pos Team v t e Pld Pts 1  Bulgaria 4 5 2  Soviet Union 4 4 3  Romania 4 3 Source: RSSSF
Group 4	Group 5	Group 6
Pos Team v t e Pld Pts 1  Yugoslavia 4 5 2  Israel 4 5 3  Greece 4 2 Source: RSSSF	Pos Team v t e Pld Pts 1  Great Britain 4 7 2  Republic of Ireland 4 3 3  Netherlands 4 2 Source: RSSSF	Pos Team v t e Pld Pts 1  France 4 6 2  Luxembourg 4 4 3   Switzerland 4 2 Source: RSSSF
Group 7
Pos Team v t e Pld Pts 1  Hungary 4 8 2  Czechoslovakia 4 3 3  Austria 4 1 Source: RSSSF

Americas

Main article: Football at the 1960 Summer Olympics – Men's Americas Qualifiers

• First round: 10 teams played home-and-away over two legs. The five winners advanced to the second round.
• Second round: 5 teams which advanced from the first round play round-robin matches. The top three teams of the group qualified for the Summer Olympics.

Final positions (second round)

Main article: Football at the 1960 Summer Olympics – Men's Americas Qualifiers – Second round

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	Pts
1	Argentina	4	8
2	Peru (H)	4	6
3	Brazil	4	4
4	Mexico	4	2
5	Suriname	4	0

Source: RSSSF
(H) Hosts

Africa

Main article: Football at the 1960 Summer Olympics – Men's African Qualifiers

• First round: Three groups of three teams played home-and-away round-robin matches. The winner of each group advances to the second round.
• Second round: Three teams which advanced from the first round play home-and-away round-robin matches. The top two teams of the group qualified for the Summer Olympics.

Final positions (second round)

Main article: Football at the 1960 Summer Olympics – Men's African Qualifiers – Second round

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	Pts
1	United Arab Republic	4	7
2	Tunisia	4	3
3	Sudan	4	2

Source: RSSSF

Asia

Main article: Football at the 1960 Summer Olympics – Men's Asian Qualifiers

• First round: Eight teams played home-and-away over two legs. The four winners advanced to the second round.
• Second round: Four teams from the first round played home-and-away over two legs. The two winners qualified for the Summer Olympics.

Second round

Main article: Football at the 1960 Summer Olympics – Men's Asian Qualifiers – Second round

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
India	6–2	Indonesia	4–2	2–0
Taiwan	2–2	South Korea	1–2	1–0[note 1]

Middle East

Main article: Football at the 1960 Summer Olympics – Men's Middle East Qualifiers

The three teams played a home-and-away round-robin tournament.

Final positions

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	Pts
1	Turkey	4	8
2	Iraq	4	4
3	Lebanon	4	0

Source: RSSSF

Notes

1. The tie was awarded to Taiwan, due to South Korea being disqualified as the second leg being abandoned at 23rd minute, with Taiwan winning 1–0, as South Korea players attacked referee John Petrie after he awarded a penalty to Taiwan.^[1]