Fibroblast growth factor receptor 1 (FGFR1) has recently been identified as a promising novel therapeutic target and prognostic marker in different types of cancer. In the present study, a meta-analysis was performed to clarify the correlation between FGFR1 and the survival outcomes of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) patients. PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science were systematically searched for relevant studies in order to explore the prognostic significance of FGFR1 in HNSCC. Hazards ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were collected to estimate the correlation between overexpression and amplification of FGFR1 and survival outcomes of HNSCC patients. Nine studies including 2708 patients with HNSCC were finally selected for the meta-analysis. The results indicated that FGFR1 predicted poor overall survival (OS) (HR, 1.97; 95% CI, 1.49-2.61, P<0.001) in HNSCC patients. Futhermore, FGFR1 was related to poor OS in human papillomavirus (HPV) negative HNSCC not in HPV positive HNSCC patients. Subgroup analysis stratified by molecular abnormalities, such as overexpression or amplification showed the similar results. The present study demonstrated that HNSCC patients with FGFR1 overexpression and amplification were more likely to exhibit poorer survival.