1978 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA)

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

A total of 32 UEFA teams entered the competition. 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.

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 group winners would qualify, except the winner of Group 9, who would advance to the UEFA / CONMEBOL Intercontinental Play-off.

Summary

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 orange. 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:

Teams highlighted in green qualified for the finals.
Teams highlighted in Orange advanced to the UEFA / CONMEBOL Intercontinental Play-off.

Group 1

Rank	Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
1	Poland	11	6	5	1	0	17	4	+13
2	Portugal	9	6	4	1	1	12	6	+6
3	Denmark	4	6	2	0	4	14	12	+2
4	Cyprus	0	6	0	0	6	3	24	−21

Poland qualified.

Group 2

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

Italy qualified.

Group 3

Rank	Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
1	Austria	10	6	4	2	0	14	2	+12
2	East Germany	9	6	3	3	0	15	4	+11
3	Turkey	5	6	2	1	3	9	5	+4
4	Malta	0	6	0	0	6	0	27	−27

Austria qualified.

Group 4

Rank	Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
1	Netherlands	11	6	5	1	0	11	3	+8
2	Belgium	6	6	3	0	3	7	6	+1
3	Northern Ireland	5	6	2	1	3	7	6	+1
4	Iceland	2	6	1	0	5	2	12	−10

Netherlands qualified.

Group 5

Rank	Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
1	France	5	4	2	1	1	7	4	+3
2	Bulgaria	4	4	1	2	1	5	6	−1
3	Republic of Ireland	3	4	1	1	2	2	4	−2
—	Albania	Withdrew

France qualified.

Group 6

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

Sweden qualified.

Group 7

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

Scotland qualified.

Group 8

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

Spain qualified.

Group 9

Rank	Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
1	Hungary	5	4	2	1	1	6	4	+2
2	Soviet Union	4	4	2	0	2	5	3	+2
3	Greece	3	4	1	1	2	2	6	−4

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

References

v t e 1978 FIFA World Cup
Stages	First group stage Group 1 Group 2 Group 3 Group 4 Second group stage Group A Austria v West Germany Group B Argentina v Peru Knockout stage Final
General information	Qualifying Squads Officials

v t e 1978 FIFA World Cup finalists
Champions	Argentina
Runners-up	Netherlands
Third place	Brazil
Fourth place	Italy
Second group stage	Austria Peru Poland West Germany
First group stage	France Hungary Iran Mexico Scotland Spain Sweden Tunisia