1974 Individual Speedway World Championship
The 1974 Individual Speedway World Championship was the 29th edition of the official World Championship to determine the world champion rider.
Sweden's own Anders Michanek scored a 15-point maximum to claim his only Individual world title in front of a capacity crowd at the Ullevi stadium in Gothenburg. Four time champion Ivan Mauger finished second on 11 points after winning a run-off with Swede Sören Sjösten who also scored 11. With the defending champion Jerzy Szczakiel not qualifying after finishing last in the 2nd Continental Semi-final, the only other World Champion in the field was Denmark's Ole Olsen who suffered a horror night, finishing second in his first ride before falling in his second and not being able to contest the rest of the meeting.
Format changes
The format of the Championship changed for the 1974 event. This time the Swedish riders were allowed five places in the World Final to be held in Sweden. All other nations had to go through the European Final route to provide the remaining 11 riders for the World Final.First round
British/Commonwealth preliminaries
- Riders progress to British/Commonwealth qualifying
| Date | Venue | Winner | 2nd | 3rd |
| 1 April | Quibell Park Stadium, Scunthorpe | Reg Luckhurst | Russ Osborne | Mike Hiftle |
| 5 April | Derwent Park, Workington | Alan Cowland | Dave Gatenby | Brian Clark |
| 21 April | Arlington Stadium, Eastbourne | Phil Herne | Mike Sampson | Mike Cake |
| 22 April | Earle Street, Crewe | Carl Glover | Mike Broadbanks | Richard Greer |
| 23 April | Ellesmere Port Stadium, Ellesmere Port | Barry Crowson | Richard May | Ken Eyre |
Second round
Continental qualifying
- Riders progress to Continental quarter-finals
| Date | Venue | Winner | 2nd | 3rd | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1 May |  Third roundNorwegian qualifying
Finnish qualifying
Danish final
Continental quarter-finals
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