1978 FIFA World Cup qualification

1978 FIFA World Cup Qualification
Tournament details
Dates	7 March 1976 – 11 December 1977
Teams	107 (from 6 confederations)
Tournament statistics
Matches played	252
Goals scored	723 (2.87 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Roberto Bettega (9 goals)

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.

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).

Continental Zones

To see the dates and results of the qualification rounds for each continental zone, click on the following articles:

Europe (UEFA)

Group 1 - Poland qualified.

Group 2 - Italy qualified.

Group 3 - Austria qualified.

Group 4 - Netherlands qualified.

Group 5 - France qualified.

Group 6 - Sweden qualified.

Group 7 - Scotland qualified.

Group 8 - Spain qualified.

Group 9 - Hungary advanced to the UEFA / CONMEBOL Intercontinental Play-off.

South America (CONMEBOL)

Brazil and Peru qualified.

Bolivia advanced to the UEFA / CONMEBOL Intercontinental Play-off.

North America (CONCACAF)

Mexico qualified.

Africa (CAF)

Tunisia qualified.

Asia (AFC) and Oceania (OFC)

Iran qualified.

Europe

UEFA Group 1

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:

Poland qualified.

UEFA Group 2

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

Source:

Italy qualified.

UEFA Group 3

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:

Austria qualified.

UEFA Group 4

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:

Netherlands qualified.

UEFA Group 5

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:

France qualified.

UEFA Group 6

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Sweden	4	3	1	7	4	+3	6
2	Norway	4	2	2	3	4	−1	4
3	Switzerland	4	1	3	3	5	−2	2

Source:

Sweden qualified.

UEFA Group 7

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Scotland	4	3	1	6	3	+3	6
2	Czechoslovakia	4	2	2	4	6	−2	4
3	Wales	4	1	3	3	4	−1	2

Source:

Scotland qualified.

UEFA Group 8

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Spain	4	3	1	4	1	+3	6
2	Romania	4	2	2	7	8	−1	4
3	Yugoslavia	4	1	3	6	8	−2	2

Source:

Spain qualified.

UEFA Group 9

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:

Hungary advanced to the UEFA–CONMEBOL play-off.

South America

Group 1

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

20 February 1977	Colombia	0 – 0	Brazil	Bogota, Colombia
				Referee: Comesaña (Argentina)

24 February 1977	Colombia	0 – 1	Paraguay	Bogota, Colombia
			Jara 26'	Referee: Orozco Guerrero (Peru)

6 March 1977	Paraguay	1 – 1	Colombia	Asuncion, Paraguay
	Jara 90'		Vilarete 58'	Referee: Cerullo Giuliano (Uruguay)

9 March 1977	Brazil	6 – 0	Colombia	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
	Roberto 15', 31' Zico 25' Marinho 41', 55' Rivellino 85'			Referee: Coerezza (Argentina)

13 March 1977	Paraguay	0 – 1	Brazil	Asuncion, Paraguay
			Insfrán 59' (o.g.)	Referee: Pestarino (Argentina)

20 March 1977	Brazil	1 – 1	Paraguay	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
	Roberto 6' (pen.)		Báez 54'	Referee: Barreto Ruiz (Uruguay)

Brazil advanced to the Final Round.

Group 2

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

9 February 1977	Venezuela	1 – 1	Uruguay	Caracas, Venezuela
	Flores 88'		Oliveira 5'	Referee: Ramirez (Colombia)

27 February 1977	Bolivia	1 – 0	Uruguay	La Paz, Bolivia
	Jiménez 48'			Referee: Arppi Filho (Brazil)

6 March 1977	Venezuela	1 – 3	Bolivia	Caracas, Venezuela
	Iriarte 86'		Mezza 5' Jiménez 76' Aguilar 80'	Referee: Silvagno Cavanna (Chile)

13 March 1977	Bolivia	2 – 0	Venezuela	La Paz, Bolivia
	Jiménez 17' Aragonés 53'			Referee: Pérez Nuñez (Peru)

17 March 1977	Uruguay	2 – 0	Venezuela	Montevideo, Uruguay
	Pizzani 11', 83'			Referee: Marques (Brazil)

27 March 1977	Uruguay	2 – 2	Bolivia	Montevideo, Uruguay
	Pereyra 23', 49'		Aguilar 25', 59'	Referee: Ithurralde (Argentina)

Bolivia advanced to the Final Round.

Group 3

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

20 February 1977	Ecuador	1 – 1	Peru	Quito, Ecuador
	Paz y Miño 81'		Oblitas 43'	Referee: Rohrig (Brazil)

27 February 1977	Ecuador	0 – 1	Chile	Guayaquil, Ecuador
			Gamboa 33'	Referee: Romero (Argentina)

6 March 1977	Chile	1 – 1	Peru	Santiago, Chile
	Ahumada 42'		Muñante 70'	Referee: Faville Neto (Brazil)

12 March 1977	Peru	4 – 0	Ecuador	Lima, Peru
	José Velásquez] 19' Oblitas 48', 50' Luces 63'			Referee: Barrancos Alvarez (Bolivia)

20 March 1977	Chile	3 – 0	Ecuador	Santiago, Chile
	Figueroa 29', 55' Castro 40'			Referee: Llobregat Vicedo (Venezuela)

26 March 1977	Peru	2 – 0	Chile	Lima, Peru
	Sotil 49' Oblitas 54'			Referee: Coelho (Brazil)

Peru advanced to the Final Round.

CONMEBOL Final round

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

10 July 1977	Brazil	1 – 0	Peru	Cali, Colombia
	Gil 53'			Referee: Comesana (Argentina)

14 July 1977	Brazil	8 – 0	Bolivia	Cali, Colombia
	Zico 5', 10', 27' (pen.), 60' Roberto 22' Gil 54' Cerezo 70' Marcelo 89'			Referee: Cavanna (Chile)

17 July 1977	Peru	5 – 0	Bolivia	Cali, Colombia
	Cubillas 31', 44' José Velásquez 65', 89' Rojas 74'			Referee: Barreto Ruiz (Uruguay)

Brazil and Peru qualified. Bolivia advanced to the UEFA / CONMEBOL Intercontinental Play-off.

North, Central America and Caribbean

Decided by 1977 CONCACAF Championship.

Inter-confederation play-offs: UEFA v CONMEBOL

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

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

Qualified teams

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

9 goals

Roberto Bettega

7 goals

6 goals

Notes

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.

External links

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