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1978 FIFA World Cup qualification

A total of 107 teams entered the 1978 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds, which began with the preliminary qualification draw on 20 November 1975 at Guatemala City. Argentina, as the hosts, and West Germany, as the defending champions, qualified automatically, leaving 14 spots open for competition.

1978 FIFA World Cup Qualification
Tournament details
Dates7 March 1976 – 11 December 1977
Teams107 (from 6 confederations)
Tournament statistics
Matches played252
Goals scored723 (2.87 per match)
Top scorer(s)Italy Roberto Bettega (9 goals)
← 1974
1982 →

The 16 places would be distributed among the continental zones as follows:

  • Europe (UEFA): 9 or 10 places. One place went to automatic qualifier West Germany, while nine places were contested by 31 teams. The team coming ninth in qualifying would advance to the intercontinental play-offs against a team from CONMEBOL.
  • South America (CONMEBOL): 3 or 4 places. One place automatically went to host nation Argentina, while the other three places were contested by nine teams. The team coming third in qualifying would advance to the intercontinental play-offs (against a team from UEFA).
  • North, Central America and Caribbean (CONCACAF): 1 place, contested by 17 teams.
  • Africa (CAF): 1 place, contested by 26 teams.
  • Asia (AFC) and Oceania (OFC): 1 place, contested by 22 teams.

A total of 95 teams played at least one qualifying match. A total of 252 qualifying matches were played, and 723 goals were scored (an average of 2.87 per match).

Confederation qualification

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AFC and OFC

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Main article: 1978 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC and OFC)
Iran qualified.

CAF

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Main article: 1978 FIFA World Cup qualification (CAF)
Tunisia qualified.

CONCACAF

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Main article: 1977 CONCACAF Championship
Mexico qualified.

CONMEBOL

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Main article: 1978 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONMEBOL)

First round

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Group 1
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Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
1   Brazil 6 4 2 2 0 8 1 7
2   Paraguay 4 4 1 2 1 3 3 0
3   Colombia 2 4 0 2 2 1 8 −7
Group 2
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Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
1   Bolivia 7 4 3 1 0 8 3 5
2   Uruguay 4 4 1 2 1 5 4 1
3   Venezuela 1 4 0 1 3 2 8 −6
Group 3
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Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
1   Peru 6 4 2 2 0 8 2 6
2   Chile 5 4 2 1 1 5 3 2
3   Ecuador 1 4 0 1 3 1 9 −8

Final round

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Rank Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
1   Brazil 4 2 2 0 0 9 0 9
2   Peru 2 2 1 0 1 5 1 4
3   Bolivia 0 2 0 0 2 0 13 −13

Brazil and Peru qualified. Bolivia advanced to the inter-confederation play-offs.

UEFA

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Main article: 1978 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA)
Group 1 Group 2 Group 3

Pos Team
 Pld Pts
1   Poland 6 11
2   Portugal 6 9
3   Denmark 6 4
4   Cyprus 6 0
Source: [citation needed]

Pos Team
 Pld Pts
1   Italy 6 10
2   England 6 10
3   Finland 6 4
4   Luxembourg 6 0
Source: [citation needed]

Pos Team
 Pld Pts
1   Austria 6 10
2   East Germany 6 9
3   Turkey 6 5
4   Malta 6 0
Source: [citation needed]
Group 4 Group 5 Group 6

Pos Team
 Pld Pts
1   Netherlands 6 11
2   Belgium 6 6
3   Northern Ireland 6 5
4   Iceland 6 2
Source: [citation needed]

Pos Team
 Pld Pts
1   France 4 5
2   Bulgaria 4 4
3   Republic of Ireland 4 3
Source: [citation needed]

Pos Team
 Pld Pts
1   Sweden 4 6
2   Norway 4 4
3    Switzerland 4 2
Source: [citation needed]
Group 7 Group 8 Group 9

Pos Team
 Pld Pts
1   Scotland 4 6
2   Czechoslovakia 4 4
3   Wales 4 2
Source: [citation needed]

Pos Team
 Pld Pts
1   Spain 4 6
2   Romania 4 4
3   Yugoslavia 4 2
Source: [citation needed]

Pos Team
 Pld Pts
1   Hungary 4 5
2   Soviet Union 4 4
3   Greece 4 3
Source: [citation needed]

Hungary advanced to the UEFA–CONMEBOL play-off.

Inter-confederation play-offs: UEFA v CONMEBOL

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Main article: 1978 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA–CONMEBOL play-off)

The teams would play against each other on a home-and-away basis. The winner would qualify.

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

Qualified teams

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Final qualification status
  Country qualified for World Cup
  Country failed to qualify
  Country did not enter World Cup
  Country not a FIFA member

The following 16 teams qualified for the 1978 FIFA World Cup:

Team Date of qualification Finals appearance Streak Last appearance
  Argentina (hosts) 6 July 1966 7th 2 1974
  Austria 30 October 1977 4th 1 1958
  Brazil 14 July 1977 11th 11 1974
  France 16 November 1977 7th 1 1966
  Hungary 30 November 1977 7th 1 1966
  Iran 25 November 1977 1st 1 —
  Italy 3 December 1977 9th 5 1974
  Mexico 19 October 1977 8th 1 1970
  Netherlands 26 October 1977 4th 2 1974
  Peru 17 July 1977 3rd 1 1970
  Poland 21 September 1977 3rd 2 1974
  Scotland 12 October 1977 4th 2 1974
  Spain 30 November 1977 5th 1 1966
  Sweden 30 October 1977 7th 3 1974
  Tunisia 11 December 1977 1st 1 —
  West Germany (defending champions) 7 July 1974 9th 7 1974

Top goalscorers

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9 goals
7 goals
6 goals

Notes

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  • For the first time, over 100 teams entered qualification for the World Cup.
  • Statistically, this was the most difficult World Cup to qualify for. Taking the two automatic places into account, and excluding twelve teams who withdrew before playing, 95 teams competed for the remaining 14 places (14.7%). The number of spots was increased to 24 for the next World Cup.
  • Tunisia's victory over Morocco on penalties was the first penalty shootout in World Cup qualification matches.
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