Qualification
The hosts (Sweden) and the defending champions (West Germany) qualified automatically. Of the remaining 14 places, 9 were allocated to Europe, 3 to South America, one to North/Central America, and one to Asia/Africa.
This World Cup saw the entry and qualification of the Soviet Union for the first time, and the qualification of all the United Kingdom's Home Nations: England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
Aside from the main European zone matches, Wales, which finished second in its group behind Czechoslovakia, was drawn into a play-off with Israel after Israel won its group by default because its three opponents, Turkey, Indonesia and Sudan, refused to play. FIFA had imposed a rule that no team would qualify without playing at least one match, something that had happened in several previous World Cups. Wales won the play-off and qualified.
On 8 February, in Solna, Lennart Hyland and Sven Jerring presented the results of the draw where the qualified teams were divided into four groups. There was no seeding, apart from each group containing one western European team, one eastern European team, one of the four British teams that had qualified, and one from the American continent.
This tournament saw the first, and as of 2010 the only, appearance of Wales at a World Cup finals, and the only time England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have qualified for the same tournament. It also marked the debuts of the Soviet Union and Northern Ireland. Argentina appeared for the first time since 1934. This would be Paraguay's last finals appearance until 1986, Northern Ireland's last until 1982, and Austria's last until 1978.
The 1958 competition remains the only occasion on which Italy failed to qualify (Italy did not take part in the 1930 tournament but there was no qualification for that competition). Other teams failing to qualify were Uruguay, Spain and Belgium.
Read more about this topic: 1958 FIFA World Cup