FIFA World Cup qualification - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org › wiki › FIFA_World_Cup_qualificationHistory. The berths for the inaugural 1930 tournament were filled by invitation only. The 1934 one was the first one to have an actual qualifying phase.The first ever World Cup qualifying match was played on 11 June 1933, when Sweden defeated Estonia 6–2 in Stockholm, and the first goal was scored 7 minutes into the game, with some sources attributing it to Swedish captain Knut Kroon ...