1966 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA – Group 1)

The three teams in this group played against each other on a home-and-away basis. Belgium and Bulgaria finished level on points, a play-off on neutral ground was played to decide who would qualify. The winner (Bulgaria) qualified for the eighth FIFA World Cup held in England.

Matches

9 May 1965

Belgium	1–0	Israel
Jurion  24' (pen.)	Report

Heysel Stadium, Brussels, Belgium

Attendance: 21,699

Referee: Poulsen (Denmark)

13 June 1965

Bulgaria	4–0	Israel
Kotkov  16', 39' Asparuhov  67' Kitov  69'	Report

Slavia Stadium, Sofia, Bulgaria

Attendance: 18,770

Referee: Talu (Turkey)

26 September 1965

Bulgaria	3–0	Belgium
Kotkov  30', 60' Asparuhov  34'	Report

Slavia Stadium, Sofia, Bulgaria

Attendance: 25,380

Referee: Zečevič (Yugoslavia)

27 October 1965

Belgium	5–0	Bulgaria
Van Himst  18', 55' Thio  75', 80' Stockman  89'	Report

Constant Vanden Stock Stadium, Anderlecht, Belgium

Attendance: 13,780

Referee: Bois (France)

10 November 1965

Israel	0–5	Belgium
	Report	Van Himst  24', 33', 69' Thio  31' Puis  48'

Ramat Gan, Tel-Aviv, Israel

Attendance: 48,355

Referee: Sbardeua (Italy)

21 November 1965

Israel	1–2	Bulgaria
Talbi  48'	Report	Kolev  31' Asparuhov  81'

Ramat Gan, Tel-Aviv, Israel

Attendance: 28,213

Referee: Babauczek (Austria)

Belgium and Bulgaria finished level on points, and a play-off on neutral ground was played to decide who would qualify.

29 December 1965

Bulgaria	2–1	Belgium
Asparuhov  18', 19'	Report	Vutsov  75' (o.g.)

Stadio Comunale, Florence, Italy

Attendance: 11,659

Referee: Sbardella (Italy)

Bulgaria qualified.

Final Table

Final table															Home							Away
Rank	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts						Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pts
1.	Belgium	4	3	0	1	11	3	+8	6		X	5:0	1:0		2	2	0	0	6	0	4	2	1	0	1	5	3	2
2.	Bulgaria	4	3	0	1	9	6	+3	6		3:0	X	4:0		2	2	0	0	7	0	4	2	1	0	1	2	6	2
3.	Israel	4	0	0	4	1	12	-11	0		0:5	1:2	X		2	0	0	2	1	7	0	2	0	0	2	0	5	0

Team stats

 Belgium

Head coach: Constant Vanden Stock

Pos.	Player	DoB	Games played	Goals	Minutes played	Sub off	Sub on						Club
DF	Yves Baré	October 28, 1938	4	0	360	0	0	90	B	90	90	90	RFC Liégeois
DF	Jean Cornelis	August 2, 1941	1	0	90	0	0	-	90	-	-	-	R.S.C. Anderlecht
GK	Guy Delhasse	February 19, 1933	1	0	90	0	0	B	90	-	-	-	RFC Liégeois
	Robert Granjé		0	0	0	0	0	B	-	-	-	-	Lierse S.K.
DF	Pierre Hanon	December 29, 1936	1	0	90	0	0	-	90	-	-	-	R.S.C. Anderlecht
DF	Georges Heylens	August 8, 1941	5	0	450	0	0	90	90	90	90	90	R.S.C. Anderlecht
MF	Armand Jurion	February 24, 1937	5	1	450	0	0	90	90	90	90	90	R.S.C. Anderlecht
MF	Albert Michiels	March 14, 1939	3	0	270	0	0	-	-	90	90	90	R. Beerschot AC
GK	Jean Nicolay	December 27, 1937	3	0	270	0	0	90	B	B	90	90	Standard Liège
DF	Jean Plaskie	August 24, 1941	5	0	450	0	0	90	90	90	90	90	R.S.C. Anderlecht
MF	Wilfried Puis	February 18, 1943	5	1	450	0	0	90	90	90	90	90	R.S.C. Anderlecht
MF	Léon Semmeling	January 4, 1940	1	0	90	0	0	-	90	-	-	-	Standard Liège
FW	Jacques Stockman	October 8, 1938	4	1	360	0	0	90	B	90	90	90	R.S.C. Anderlecht
DF	Albert Sulon	April 3, 1938	1	0	90	0	0	90	-	-	-	-	RFC Liégeois
MF	Gérard Sulon	April 3, 1938	1	0	90	0	0	90	B	-	-	-	RFC Liégeois
FW	Johnny Thio	September 2, 1944	3	3	270	0	0	-	-	90	90	90	Club Brugge K.V.
GK	Jean-Marie Trappeniers	January 13, 1942	1	0	90	0	0	-	-	90	B	B	R.S.C. Anderlecht
FW	Paul Van Himst	October 2, 1943	5	5	450	0	0	90	90	90	90	90	R.S.C. Anderlecht
MF	Paul Vandenberg	October 11, 1936	1	0	90	0	0	B					R. Union Saint-Gilloise
									90	-	-	-	Standard Liège
FW	Frits Vandenboer	May 8, 1934	0	0	0	0	0	-	-	B	B	B	K. Sint-Truidense V.V.
DF	Laurent Verbiest	April 16, 1939	3	0	270	0	0	-	90	90	B	90	R.S.C. Anderlecht
MF	Jan Verheyen	July 9, 1944	0	0	0	0	0	B	-	B	B	B	R. Beerschot AC
MF	Frans Vermeyen	March 25, 1943	1	0	90	0	0	90	-	-	-	-	Lierse S.K.
DF	Robert Weyn	March 21, 1940	1	0	90	0	0	-	-	B	90	B	R. Beerschot AC

 Bulgaria

Head coach: Rudolf Vytlačil

Pos.	Player	DoB	Games played	Goals	Minutes played	Sub off	Sub on						Club
MF	Stefan Abadzhiev	July 3, 1934	1	0	90	0	0	-	-	-	-	90	FD Levski Sofia
DF	Vidin Apostolov	October 17, 1941	3	0	270	0	0	90	90	90	-	-	DNA Plovdiv
FW	Georgi Asparuhov	May 4, 1943	5	5	450	0	0	90	90	90	90	90	FD Levski Sofia
GK	Stancho Bonchev	May 1, 1942	2	0	180	0	0	90	90	-	-	-	DFS Lokomotiv Plovdiv
FW	Spiro Debarski	December 8, 1933	2	0	180	0	0	-	90	90	-	-	FD Lokomotiv Sofia
GK	Ivan Deyanov	December 16, 1937	2	0	180	0	0	-	-	90	90	-	FD Lokomotiv Sofia
MF	Todor Diev	September 28, 1934	3	0	270	0	0	90	90	90	-	-	Spartak Plovdiv
DF	Ivan Dimitrov	May 14, 1935	4	0	360	0	0	90	90	90	90	-	FD Lokomotiv Sofia
DF	Boris Gaganelov	October 7, 1941	5	0	450	0	0	90	90	90	90	90	CSKA Sofia
MF	Stoyan Kitov	August 27, 1938	2	0	180	0	0	90	-	-	90	-	Spartak Sofia
FW	Ivan Kolev	November 1, 1930	2	1	180	0	0	-	-	-	90	90	CSKA Sofia
FW	Aleksandar Kostov	March 5, 1938	1	1	90	0	0	90	-	-	-	-	FD Levski Sofia
FW	Nikola Kotkov	December 9, 1938	4	4	360	0	0	90	90	90	90	-	FD Lokomotiv Sofia
DF	Dimitar Largov	September 10, 1936	1	0	90	0	0	-	-	-	-	90	FD Slavia Sofia
GK	Georgi Naydenov	December 21, 1931	1	0	90	0	0	-	-	-	-	90	CSKA Sofia
DF	Dimitar Penev	July 12, 1945	4	0	360	0	0	90	90	90	90	-	CSKA Sofia
DF	Aleksandar Shalamanov	September 4, 1941	2	0	180	0	0	-	-	-	90	90	FD Slavia Sofia
MF	Ivan Vasilev	January 18, 1939	3	0	270	0	0	90	90	90	-	-	FD Slavia Sofia
DF	Ivan Vutsov	December 14, 1939	1	0	90	0	0	-	-	-	-	90	FD Levski Sofia
FW	Dimitar Yakimov	August 12, 1941	2	0	180	0	0	-	-	-	90	90	CSKA Sofia
MF	Evgeni Yanchovski	September 5, 1939	3	0	270	0	0	-	90	90	90	-	Beroe Stara Zagora
FW	Dobromir Zhechev	November 12, 1942	1	0	90	0	0	-	-	-	-	90	Spartak Sofia
FW	Petar Zhekov	October 10, 1944	1	0	90	0	0	-	-	-	-	90	Beroe Stara Zagora

 Israel

Head coach: Milovan Ćirić

Pos.	Player	DoB	Games played	Goals	Minutes played	Sub off	Sub on					Club
MF	Haim Bahar	April 9, 1943	3	0	270	0	0	90	-	90	90	Hapoel Petah Tikva
DF	Menahem Bello	December 26, 1947	1	0	90	0	0	-	90	-	-	Maccabi Tel Aviv
MF	Itzhak Englander	April 30, 1946	1	0	90	0	0	-	-	90	-	Hapoel Haifa
FW	Yehezkel Hazum	1947	1	0	90	0	0	-	-	90	-	Hapoel Tel Aviv F.C.
FW	Boaz Kofman	May 23, 1935	2	0	180	0	0	-	90	-	90	Hapoel Petah Tikva
DF	Moshe Leon	1944	3	0	270	0	0	90	-	90	90	Maccabi Jaffa
GK	Haim Levin	March 3, 1937	3	0	270	0	0	90	90	90	-	Maccabi Tel Aviv
DF	Amatsia Levkovich	September 1938	2	0	180	0	0	90	90	-	-	Hapoel Tel Aviv
FW	Yosef Mahalal	1939	1	0	90	0	0	-	-	90	-	Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv
GK	Yair Nosovski	June 29, 1937	1	0	90	0	0	-	-	-	90	Hapoel Kfar Saba
MF	Haim Nurieli	1943	1	0	90	0	0	90	-	-	-	Hapoel Tel Aviv
DF	David Primo	May 5, 1946	4	0	360	0	0	90	90	90	90	Hapoel Tel Aviv
FW	Moshe Romano	1946	1	0	90	0	0	-	-	-	90	Shimshon Tel Aviv
MF	Shmuel Rosenthal	April 22, 1947	3	0	270	0	0	-	90	90	90	Hapoel Petah Tikva F.C.
MF	Danny Shmulevich-Rom	November 29, 1940	4	0	360	0	0	90	90	90	90	Maccabi Haifa
MF	Giora Spiegel	July 27, 1947	1	0	90	0	0	-	-	-	90	Maccabi Tel Aviv
FW	Mordechai Spiegler	August 19, 1944	3	0	270	0	0	90	90	90	-	Maccabi Netanya
FW	Nahum Stelmach	July 19, 1936	2	0	180	0	0	90	90	-	-	Hapoel Petah Tikva
MF	Rahamim Talbi	May 17, 1943	3	1	270	0	0	-	90	90	90	Maccabi Tel Aviv
MF	Reuven Young	May 15, 1942	3	0	270	0	0	90	90	-	90	Hapoel Haifa
FW	Gadi Zelniker	March 12, 1944	1	0	90	0	0	90	-	-	-	Hakoah Ramat Gan

External links

• FIFA official page
• RSSSF - 1966 World Cup Qualification
• Allworldcup