1958 World Cup
| Världsmästerskapet i Fotboll Sverige 1958 |
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|---|---|
1958 FIFA World Cup official logo
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| Tournament details | |
| Host country | Sweden |
| Dates | 8–29 June (22 days) |
| Teams | 16 (from 3 confederations) |
| Venue(s) | 12 (in 12 host cities) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |
 Brazil (1st title)
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| Runners-up |  Sweden |
| Third place |  France |
| Fourth place |  West Germany |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 35 |
| Goals scored | 126 (3.6 per match) |
| Attendance | 819,810 (23,423 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) |
Just Fontaine (13 goals) |
| Best young player |
Pelé
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The 1958 FIFA World Cup, the sixth staging of the World Cup, was hosted by Sweden from 8 to 29 June. The tournament was won by Brazil, who beat Sweden 5–2 in the final for their first title. The tournament is also notable for marking the debut on the world stage of a then largely unknown 17-year-old Pelé.
Argentina, Chile, Mexico, and Sweden expressed interest in hosting the tournament. Swedish delegates lobbied other countries at the FIFA Congress held in Rio de Janeiro around the opening of the 1950 World Cup finals. Sweden was awarded the 1958 tournament unopposed on 23 June 1950.
The hosts (Sweden) and the defending champions (West Germany) qualified automatically. Of the remaining 14 places, nine were allocated to Europe, three to South America, one to North/Central America, and one to Asia/Africa.
This World Cup saw the entry and qualification of the Soviet Union for the first time, and the only qualification of all the United Kingdom's Home Nations: England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
Aside from the main European zone matches, Wales, which finished second in its group behind Czechoslovakia, was drawn into a play-off with Israel after Israel won its group by default because its three opponents, Turkey, Indonesia and Sudan, refused to play. FIFA had imposed a rule that no team would qualify without playing at least one match, something that had happened in several previous World Cups. Wales won the play-off and qualified.
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