Syria played their first official game against Lebanon on 19 April 1942; they won 2–1.
There's some fun and games going on in the European Championship this week, but this is nothing new. On 20 November 1949, in Ankara, at a first official qualifying match, Turkey got their record win, beating Syria 7-0 in a 1950 World Cup qualifier, one of the first countries succeed this from the region.
Thanks to that, the Syrian team participated in the 1950 World Cup qualifiers, as one of the first teams in the region to do so. One of their biggest defeats was played in Athens against Greece on 25th November 1949, 5 days after its first official match, which ended in a score of 8:0 to the Greeks.
Group 2 First round 20th November 1949
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Turkey | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | +7 | 2 |
| 2 |  Syria | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | −7 | 0 |
| Turkey | 7–0 | Syria |
|---|---|---|
Cansever  12', 16', 87'Eken 44'Kücükandonyadis 66'Keskin 67'Kilic 72' | Report |
Syria withdrew following this. The remaining match was not played, so Turkey advanced to the Final Round, but also later withdrew.
| Pos | Team | Pld | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | Turkey | 0 | 0 | Qualified, later withdrew |
| — |  Austria | 0 | 0 | Withdrew |
Austria withdrew, on the grounds that their team was too young. They had also withdrawn from the previous World Cup tournament, held in 1938...clearly there was no competition for a number of years following this, due to World War Two.
With Austria withdrawing, Turkey (badge below) qualified automatically. But Turkey later also withdrew from the competition and FIFA offered the place to Portugal, the runner-up of Group 6, but they declined. FIFA decided not to allow anyone else to qualify, leaving the World Cup two teams short.
It was the opening qualifying match for the three-team Group 2, which had one qualifying spot up for grabs. Turkey and Syria were scheduled to play a home-and-away series, with the winner advancing to play a similar series against the group's other member, Austria. Turkey hosted the first leg in Ankara against the newly-formed Syrian team and quickly established their dominance, going up 2-0 in the first sixteen minutes with a brace from Fahreddin Cansever. They then got goals from Bülent Eken (44'), Lefter Küçükandonyadis (66'), Erol Keskin (67'), and Gündüz Kılıç (72') before Cansever completed his hat-trick in the 87th minute.
The teams never played the second leg, as Syria withdrew after the first one. Turkey then advanced to play Austria, but the Austrians also withdrew. That meant that Turkey received the group's qualification spot, but they eventually withdrew as well. FIFA then offered the group's spot to Group 6 runners-up Portugal, but they declined and the spot went unfilled.
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