1978 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA)

Listed below are the dates and results for the qualification to the 1978 FIFA World Cup rounds for the European zone (UEFA) in association football. For an overview of the qualification rounds, see the article 1978 FIFA World Cup qualification.

1978 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA)
Tournament details
Teams31 (from 1 confederation)
1974
1982

The European zone was allocated 9.5 places (out of 16) in the final tournament. West Germany, the defending champions, qualified automatically, leaving 8.5 spots open for competition between 31 teams. Albania were the only UEFA team to not enter the competition.

The 31 teams were divided into 9 groups of 3 or 4 teams each (five groups with 3 teams and four groups with 4 teams). The teams would play against each other on a home-and-away basis. The winners of groups 1 to 8 would qualify, the winner of group 9 would advance to the UEFA / CONMEBOL Intercontinental Play-off.

Draw

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The draw for the qualifying groups took place in Guatemala City on 20 November 1975. During the draw procedure, entrants were drawn into the 9 qualifying groups from the four pots of seeds.

Pot A Pot B Pot C Pot D

  Bulgaria
  East Germany
  Italy
  Netherlands
  Poland
  Scotland
  Sweden
  Yugoslavia
  Soviet Union

  Austria
  Belgium
  Czechoslovakia
  England
  France
  Hungary
  Portugal
  Spain
   Switzerland

  Denmark
  Finland
  Greece
  Republic of Ireland
  Northern Ireland
  Norway
  Romania
  Turkey
  Wales

  Cyprus
  Iceland
  Luxembourg
  Malta

Summary

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Below is a table containing all nine qualifying groups. Teams that qualified and secured a place in the final tournament are highlighted in green, while teams who were eliminated are highlighted in red. The team that secured a place in the UEFA / CONMEBOL Intercontinental Play-off is highlighted in blue. Teams are ordered by final group position.

Group 1 Group 2 Group 3 Group 4 Group 5 Group 6 Group 7 Group 8 Group 9
 
Poland
 
Italy
 
Austria
 
Netherlands
 
France
 
Sweden
 
Scotland
 
Spain
 
Hungary
 
Portugal
 
Denmark
 
Cyprus
 
England
 
Finland
 
Luxembourg
 
East Germany
 
Turkey
 
Malta
 
Belgium
 
Northern Ireland
 
Iceland
 
Bulgaria
 
Republic of Ireland
 
Norway
 
Switzerland
 
Czechoslovakia
 
Wales
 
Romania
 
Yugoslavia
 
Soviet Union
 
Greece

Key:

Groups

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Group 1

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1   Poland 6 5 1 0 17 4 +13 11
2   Portugal 6 4 1 1 12 6 +6 9
3   Denmark 6 2 0 4 14 12 +2 4
4   Cyprus 6 0 0 6 3 24 −21 0
Source: [citation needed]

Group 2

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1   Italy 6 5 0 1 18 4 +14 10
2   England 6 5 0 1 15 4 +11 10
3   Finland 6 2 0 4 11 16 −5 4
4   Luxembourg 6 0 0 6 2 22 −20 0
Source: [citation needed]

Group 3

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1   Austria 6 4 2 0 14 2 +12 10
2   East Germany 6 3 3 0 15 4 +11 9
3   Turkey 6 2 1 3 9 5 +4 5
4   Malta 6 0 0 6 0 27 −27 0
Source: [citation needed]

Group 4

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1   Netherlands 6 5 1 0 11 3 +8 11
2   Belgium 6 3 0 3 7 6 +1 6
3   Northern Ireland 6 2 1 3 7 6 +1 5
4   Iceland 6 1 0 5 2 12 −10 2
Source: [citation needed]

Group 5

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1   France 4 2 1 1 7 4 +3 5
2   Bulgaria 4 1 2 1 5 6 −1 4
3   Republic of Ireland 4 1 1 2 2 4 −2 3
Source: [citation needed]

Group 6

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1   Sweden 4 3 0 1 7 4 +3 6
2   Norway 4 2 0 2 3 4 −1 4
3    Switzerland 4 1 0 3 3 5 −2 2
Source: [citation needed]

Group 7

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1   Scotland 4 3 0 1 6 3 +3 6
2   Czechoslovakia 4 2 0 2 4 6 −2 4
3   Wales 4 1 0 3 3 4 −1 2
Source: [citation needed]

Group 8

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1   Spain 4 3 0 1 4 1 +3 6
2   Romania 4 2 0 2 7 8 −1 4
3   Yugoslavia 4 1 0 3 6 8 −2 2
Source: [citation needed]

Group 9

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1   Hungary 4 2 1 1 6 4 +2 5
2   Soviet Union 4 2 0 2 5 3 +2 4
3   Greece 4 1 1 2 2 6 −4 3
Source: [citation needed]

Hungary advanced to the UEFA–CONMEBOL play-off.

Inter-confederation play-offs

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Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Hungary   9–2   Bolivia 6–0 3–2

Goalscorers

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9 goals
7 goals
5 goals
4 goals
3 goals
2 goals
1 goal
1 own goal

See also

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References

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