1970 FIFA World Cup qualification
A total of 75 teams entered the 1970 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds, competing for a total of 16 spots in the final tournament. Hosts Mexico and defending champions England qualified automatically, leaving 14 spots open for competition.
For the first time, the winners of both the African zone and the Asian and Oceanian zone were guaranteed a direct place in the final tournament. The 16 spots available in the 1970 World Cup would be distributed among the continental zones as follows:
- Europe : 9 places, 1 of them went to automatic qualifier England, while the other 8 places were contested by 29 teams.
- South America : 3 places, contested by 10 teams.
- North, Central America and Caribbean : 2 places, 1 of them went to automatic qualifier Mexico, while the other 1 place was contested by 13 teams.
- Africa : 1 place, contested by 13 teams.
- Asia and Oceania : 1 place, contested by 7 teams.
Listed below are the dates and results of the qualification rounds.
Key:
- Teams highlighted in green qualified for the finals.
- Teams highlighted in red in the same table finished level on points and advanced to a play-off on neutral ground.
Qualified teams
| Team | Method of qualification | Date of qualification | Finals appearance | Streak | Previous best performance |
| s | 8 October 1964 | ||||
| Defending Champions | 30 July 1966 | ||||
| 30 April 1969 | |||||
| 10 August 1969 | |||||
| 24 August 1969 | |||||
| 31 August 1969 | |||||
| 8 October 1969 | — | ||||
| 15 October 1969 | |||||
| 22 October 1969 | |||||
| 26 October 1969 | — | ||||
| 4 November 1969 | |||||
| 16 November 1969 | |||||
| 22 November 1969 | |||||
| 3 December 1969 | |||||
| 7 December 1969 | |||||
| 14 December 1969 | — |
Confederation qualification
AFC and OFC
- First Round: Australia, Japan, South Korea and Rhodesia were included in group A, but the other three countries involved refused to play against Rhodesia due to political concerns regarding apartheid. Australia, Japan and South Korea played against each other twice in South Korea and after the matches in Seoul were completed, FIFA determined that the winner would still have to meet Rhodesia in what resulted to be the second round of Group A. North Korea was included in Group B but withdrew for political reasons and the group was contested by only two teams. The group winners would advance to the Final Round.
- Final Round: The 2 teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The winner would qualify.
First round
| Rank | Team | ||||||||
| 1 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 4 | 3 | |
| 2 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 1 | |
| 3 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 8 | −4 |
Second round
| Rank | Team | ||||||||
| 1= | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
| 1= | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
Play-off
| Rank | Team | ||||||||
| 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | +2 | |
| 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | −2 |
Group 2
CAF
FIFA rejected the entries of Guinea and Zaire. There would be three rounds of play:- First Round: Ghana received a bye and advanced to the Second Round directly. The remaining 10 teams were paired up to play knockout matches on a home-and-away basis. The winners would advance to the Second Round.
- Second Round: The 6 teams were paired up to play knockout matches on a home-and-away basis. The winners would advance to the Final Round.
- Final Round: The 3 teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winner would qualify.
CONCACAF
FIFA rejected the entry of Cuba. There would be three rounds of play:- First Round: The remaining 12 teams were divided into 4 groups of 3 teams each. The teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winners would advance to the Semifinal Round.
- Semifinal Round: The 4 teams were paired up to play knockout matches on a home-and-away basis. The winners would advance to the Final Round.
- Final Round: The 2 teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The winner would qualify.
First round
Group 1
Group 2
Group 3
Group 4
Second round
Group 1
Group 2
CONMEBOL
The 10 teams were divided into 3 groups; two groups with 3 teams and one group with 4 teams. The teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winners would qualify.UEFA
'FIFA rejected the entry of Albania. The remaining 29 teams were divided into 8 groups, 3 groups with 3 teams and 5 groups with 4 teams. The teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winners would qualify.