# Football at the 1968 Summer Olympics – Men's qualification

The 1968 Summer Olympics football qualification was the qualifying process which decide the 14 teams that would join hosts Mexico and holders Hungary, who received an automatic spot, at the 1968 Summer Olympics football tournament.

## Qualified teams

| Team | Method of qualification | Date of qualification | Total times qualified | Last time qualified | Current consecutive appearances | Previous best performance |
| Mexico | Hosts | 18 October 1963 | 2 | 1964 | 2 | First round (1928, 1948, 1964) |
| Hungary | Holders | 23 October 1964 | 2 | 1964 | 3 | Gold medal (1952, 1964) |
| Japan | Asia Group 1 winners | 10 October 1967 | 3 | 1964 | 2 | Quarter-finals (1964) |
| Thailand | Asia Group 2 winners | 22 January 1968 | 2 | 1956 | 1 | First round (1956) |
| Israel | Asia Group 3 winners | 22 March 1968 | 1 | — | 1 | — |
| Spain | Europe Group 4 winners | 1 April 1968 | 1 | — | 1 | — |
| Brazil | CONMEBOL final group winners | 9 April 1968 | 3 | 1964 | 3 | Quarter-finals (1952) |
| Colombia | CONMEBOL final group runners-up | 9 April 1968 | 1 | — | 1 | — |
| Bulgaria | Europe Group 2 winners | 24 April 1968 | 3 | 1960 | 1 | Bronze medal (1956) |
| Nigeria | Africa Group 2 winners | 4 May 1968 | 1 | — | 1 | — |
| France | Europe Group 3 winners | 12 May 1968 | 2 | 1960 | 1 | Silver medal (1900) |
| El Salvador | CONCACAF final round winner | 26 May 1968 | 1 | — | 1 | — |
| Czechoslovakia | Europe Group 1 winners | 1 June 1968 | 2 | 1964 | 2 | Silver medal (1964) |
| Guatemala | CONCACAF final round winner | 2 June 1968 | 1 | — | 1 | — |
| Guinea | Africa Group 1 winners | 30 June 1968 | 1 | — | 1 | — |
| Morocco | Africa Group 3 winners | 30 June 1968 | 2 | 1964 | 1 | First round (1964) |
Notes:
* ↑ Includes all participations by a competing nation at the Summer Olympics (clubs representing nations, olympic teams, full national teams, etc.)
* ↑ Morocco withdrew due to refusing to play against Israel in the final tournament, and were replaced by Ghana.

## Qualification process

* Africa: 3
* Asia: 3
* Europe: 4
* North America: 2
* South America: 2
* Hosts: 1
* Holders: 1

### Summary of qualification

| Region | Available slots in finals | Teams started | Teams eliminated | Teams qualified | Qualifying start date | Qualifying end date |
| Africa | 3 | 17 | 14 | 3 | 27 September 1967 | 22 March 1968 |
| Asia | 3 | 11 | 8 | 3 | 9 April 1967 | 30 June 1968 |
| Europe | 4 or 5 | 20 | 16 | 5 | 22 March 1967 | 1 June 1968 |
| North America | 2 or 3 | 13 | 11 | 3 | 21 May 1967 | 2 June 1968 |
| South America | 2 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 19 March 1968 | 9 April 1968 |
| Total | 16 | 69 | 55 | 16 | 22 March 1967 | 30 June 1968 |

## Europe

Four groups of five teams with group winners qualifying for the Summer Olympics finals.

### Group 1

| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| First round |||||
| Soviet Union | w/o | Albania | — | — |
| Second round |||||
| Poland | 1–3 | Soviet Union | 0–1 | 1–2 |
| Czechoslovakia | w/o | Yugoslavia | — | — |
| Final round |||||
| Soviet Union | 3–5 | Czechoslovakia | 3–2 | 0–3 |

### Group 2

| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| First round |||||
| Greece | 0–10 | East Germany | 0–5 | 0–5 |
| Second round |||||
| Turkey | 2–6 | Bulgaria | 2–3 | 0–3 |
| East Germany | 2–0 | Romania | 1–0 | 1–0 |
| Final round |||||
| Bulgaria | 6–4 | East Germany | 4–1 | 2–3 |

### Group 3

| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| First round |||||
| Finland | 1–0 | Netherlands | 0–0 | 1–0 |
| Second round |||||
| Austria | 4–2 | Switzerland | 4–1 | 0–1 |
| Finland | 2–4 | France | 1–1 | 1–3 |
| Final round |||||
| France | 4–2 | Austria | 3–1 | 1–1 |

### Group 4

| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| First round |||||
| Iceland | 4–6 | Spain | 1–1 | 3–5 |
| Second round |||||
| West Germany | 1–2 | Great Britain | 0–2 | 1–0 |
| Spain | w/o | Italy | — | — |
| Final round |||||
| Spain | 1–0 | Great Britain | 1–0 | 0–0 |

## South America

* Group stage: Two groups of four teams played single round-robin matches, the top two teams of each group advanced to the final group.
* Final group: Four teams played single round-robin matches, the top two teams qualified for the Summer Olympics.

### Final positions (final group)

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Brazil | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 2 | +4 | 4 | Qualification for 1968 Summer Olympics |
| 2 | Colombia | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 5 | +1 | 4 | Qualification for 1968 Summer Olympics |
| 3 | Uruguay | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 6 | −1 | 3 | |
| 4 | Paraguay | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 9 | −4 | 1 | |

## North and Central America

* First round: 10 teams played home-and-away over two legs. The five winners advanced to the second round.
* Second round: 8 teams played home-and-away over two legs (5 which advanced from the first round, 3 automatically entered). The four winners advanced to the second round.
* Final round: 4 teams played home-and-away over two legs. The two winners qualified for the 1968 Summer Olympics.

### Final round

| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| El Salvador | 4–1 | Trinidad and Tobago | 2–0 | 2–1 |
| Guatemala | 3–3 (l) | Costa Rica | 1–0 | 2–3 |

## Africa

Three groups of five to six teams with group winners qualifying for the Summer Olympics finals.

### Group 1

| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| First round |||||
| Libya | 4–2 | Niger | 2–0 | 2–2 |
| Gabon | 1–6 | Guinea | 0–0 | 1–6 |
| Second round |||||
| Guinea | w/o | United Arab Republic | — | — |
| Libya | 2–3 | Algeria | 1–2 | 1–1 |
| Final round |||||
| Guinea | 5–4 | Algeria | 3–2 | 2–2 |

### Group 2

| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| First round |||||
| Nigeria | w/o | Uganda | — | — |
| Madagascar | 6–2 | Tanzania | 4–2 | 2–0 |
| Second round |||||
| Nigeria | 2–2 (l) | Sudan | 1–0 | 1–2 |
| Madagascar | 4–8 | Ethiopia | 1–0 | 3–8 |
| Final round |||||
| Nigeria | 3–2 | Ethiopia | 3–1 | 0–1 |

### Group 3

| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| First round |||||
| Cameroon | w/o | Mali | — | — |
| Second round |||||
| Morocco | 1–1 (l) | Tunisia | 1–1 | 0–0 |
| Cameroon | 3–3 | Ghana | 1–0 | 2–3 |
| Second round play-off |||||
| Cameroon | w/o | Ghana |
| Final round |||||
| Morocco | 3–2 | Ghana | 1–1 | 2–1 |

## Asia

Three groups of six teams played single round-robin matches. The winner of each group qualified for the 1968 Summer Olympics.

### Final positions

| Group 1 | Group 2 | Group 3 |
| Pos Teamvte Pld Pts 1  Japan (H) 5 9 2  South Korea 5 9 3  Lebanon 5 5 4  South Vietnam 5 5 5  Taiwan 5 2 6  Philippines 5 0 Source: RSSSF (H) Hosts | Pos Teamvte Pld Pts 1  Thailand (H) 4 6 2  Iraq 4 3 3  Indonesia 4 3 4  Hong Kong 0 0 5  Malaysia 0 0 6  Pakistan 0 0 Source: RSSSF (H) Hosts | Pos Teamvte Pld Pts 1  Israel (H) 2 4 2  Ceylon 2 0 3  Burma 0 0 4  India 0 0 5  Iran 0 0 6  North Korea 0 0 Source: RSSSF (H) Hosts |