| 1 | Vereinigte Staaten | USA | 3:05,53 | Q |
| (Campbell, Smith, | ||||
| Valmon, McKay) | ||||
| 2 | Italien | ITA | 3:07,55 | Q |
| (Vaccari, Petrella, | ||||
| Aimat, Nuti) | ||||
| 3 | UdSSR | URS | 3:08,05 | Q |
| (Kocheryagin, Golovastov, | ||||
| Prossin, Starodubzev) | ||||
| 4 | Spanien | ESP | 3:10,92 | |
| (Gay, Alonso, | ||||
| Cumellas, Cuesta) |
| 1 | Deutschland | GER | 3:07,39 | Q |
| (Lieder, Carlowitz, | ||||
| Just, Schönlebe) | ||||
| 2 | Jamaika | JAM | 3:08,92 | Q |
| (D. Morris, Clarke, | ||||
| Price, Burnett) | ||||
| 3 | Australien | AUS | 3:09,30 | Q |
| (Greene, Garner, | ||||
| Robinson, Perry | ||||
| 4 | Trinidad/Tobago | TRI | DQ | |
| (de Silva, Jules, | ||||
| Daniel, I. Morris) |