A total of 56 teams entered the 1962 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds, competing for a total of 16 spots in the final tournament. Chile, as the hosts, and Brazil, as the defending champions, qualified automatically, leaving 14 spots open for competition. As with previous World Cups, the rules of the qualification rounds varied by confederation. The winners of the four weakest continental zones: North America (NAFC), Central America and Caribbean (CCCF), Africa (CAF) and Asia (AFC), were not guaranteed direct spots in the final tournament. Instead, they entered a play-off against a team from either Europe (UEFA) or South America (CONMEBOL), with the winners of the three play-offs qualifying.

Format

The 16 spots available in the 1962 World Cup would be distributed among the continental zones as follows: A total of 49 teams played at least one qualifying match. A total of 92 qualifying matches were played, and 325 goals were scored (an average of 3.53 per match). Listed below are the dates and results of the qualification rounds.

Confederation qualification

AFC

There would be only one round of play. The 3 teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winner would advance to the UEFA/AFC Intercontinental Play-off.

CAF

There would be two rounds of play:

First round

Second round

CCCF and NAFC

There would be two rounds of play:

First round

Second round

CONMEBOL

Among the 7 teams, Paraguay were drawn to play in the CONMEBOL / CCCF / NAFC Intercontinental Play-off. The remaining 6 teams were divided into 3 groups of 2 teams each. The teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winners would qualify.

UEFA

The 30 teams were divided into 10 groups. The groups had different rules, as follows:

Inter-confederation play-offs

In each play-off, the teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The winners would qualify.

CAF v UEFA

UEFA v AFC

CCCF/NAFC v CONMEBOL

Qualified teams

Goalscorers