# 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.

## 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

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

## Europe
### Final positions (final round)

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

## Americas

* 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)

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | Pts |
| 1 | Argentina | 4 | 8 |
| 2 | Peru (H) | 4 | 6 |
| 3 | Brazil | 4 | 4 |
| 4 | Mexico | 4 | 2 |
| 5 | Suriname | 4 | 0 |

## Africa

* 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)

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | Pts |
| 1 | United Arab Republic | 4 | 7 |
| 2 | Tunisia | 4 | 3 |
| 3 | Sudan | 4 | 2 |

## Asia

* 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

| 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 |

## Middle East

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

### Final positions

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | Pts |
| 1 | Turkey | 4 | 8 |
| 2 | Iraq | 4 | 4 |
| 3 | Lebanon | 4 | 0 |