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, competing for a total of 16 spots in the final tournament. Argentina, as the hosts, and West Germany, as the defending champions, qualified automatically, leaving 14 spots open for competition.

The 16 spots available in the 1978 World Cup would be distributed among the continental zones as follows:

Europe (UEFA): 9 or 10 places, 1 of them went to automatic qualifier West Germany, while 9 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, 1 of them went to automatic qualifier Argentina, while the other 3 places were contested by 9 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.

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	Finals Appearance	Streak	Last Appearance
Argentina (h)	7th	2	1974
Austria	4th	1	1958
Brazil	11th	11	1974
France	7th	1	1966
Hungary	7th	1	1966
Iran	1st	1	–
Italy	9th	5	1974
Mexico	8th	1	1970
Netherlands	4th	2	1974
Peru	3rd	1	1970
Poland	3rd	2	1974
Scotland	4th	2	1974
Spain	5th	1	1966
Sweden	7th	3	1974
Tunisia	1st	1	–
West Germany (c)	9th	7	1974

(h) - qualified automatically as hosts

(c) - qualified automatically as defending champions

5 of the 16 teams subsequently failed to qualify for the 1982 finals: Iran, Mexico, Netherlands, Sweden and Tunisia.

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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