The Group 13 qualifiers for the 1954 FIFA World Cup were contested by teams from Asia. Following the rejection of entries from India and Vietnam, the group was organized into a three-team round-robin tournament between Japan, the Republic of China, and South Korea. The Republic of China later withdrew, leaving Japan and South Korea to play a pair of matches.
Both matches were played at Meiji Jingu Gaien Stadium due to a refusal by South Korean president Rhee Syng-man to allow the entry of Japanese players. The tournament was played less than a decade after the end of World War II, which ended the occupation of Korea under Japanese rule. South Korea won the first leg 5–1 and drew 2–2 in the second leg to earn qualification to their first FIFA World Cup. It was the last qualification tournament not organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), which was established in May 1954.
Group 13
| Final table | Home | Away | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rank | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | 
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|
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Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | Pts | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | Pts | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Korea
|
2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 3 | +4 | 3 | X | 5:1 | – | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 3 | 3 | ||
| 2 | Japan
|
2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 7 | –4 | 1 | 2:2 | X | – | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| – | Republic of China
|
– | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | X | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
Japan vs South Korea
| Japan | 1–5 | South Korea |
|---|---|---|
Ken Naganuma  16' |
Chung Nam-sik 22', 83' Choi Kwang Suk 34'Choi Chung-min 68', 87' |
South Korea vs Japan
| South Korea | 2–2 | Japan |
|---|---|---|
| Chung Nam-sik 24' Choi Chung-min 43' |
Toshio Iwatani 17', 61' |
References
- "World Cup 1954 qualifications". RSSSF. Retrieved December 13, 2022.
- Woitalla, Mike (May 8, 2018). "World Cup Retro 1954: Five names to have at your fingertips". Soccer America. Retrieved December 13, 2022.
- "S. Korea's inaugural victory over Japan in men's football to be made into film". Yonhap News Agency. August 14, 2019. Retrieved December 13, 2022.
External links
| 1954 FIFA World Cup qualification | |
|---|---|
| « 1950 1958 » | |
| Europe and Africa | |
| CONMEBOL | |
| CCCF/NAFC | |
| Asia | |