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, with the worst recorded group winner 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 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:

Teams highlighted in green qualified for the finals.
Teams highlighted in blue 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

23 May 1976	Cyprus	1 – 5	Denmark	Limassol, Cyprus
	Michael 10'	Report	Simonsen 14' Tune-Hansen 19' Rasmussen 21' Bastrup 51', 76'	Referee: Dudin (Bulgaria)

16 October 1976	Portugal	0 – 2	Poland	Porto, Portugal
		Report	Lato 49', 77'	Referee: Kitabdjian (France)

27 October 1976	Denmark	5 – 0	Cyprus	Copenhagen, Denmark
	B. Nielsen 54' H.M. Jensen 60' (pen.), 64' Røntved 68' (pen.) Kristensen 75'	Report		Referee: Coiling (Luxembourg)

31 October 1976	Poland	5 – 0	Cyprus	Warsaw, Poland
	Deyna 24' (pen.), 40' Szarmach 25' Boniek 58' Terlecki 76'	Report		Referee: Müncs (Hungary)

17 November 1976	Portugal	1 – 0	Denmark	Lisbon, Portugal
	M. Fernandes 69'	Report		Referee: Aoussi (Algeria)

5 December 1976	Cyprus	1 – 2	Portugal	Limassol, Cyprus
	Stylianou 74' (pen.)	Report	Chalana 36' Nené 76'	Referee: Ghita (Romania)

1 May 1977	Denmark	1 – 2	Poland	Copenhagen, Denmark
	Simonsen 50'	Report	Lubański 7', 55'	Referee: Mattsson (Finland)

15 May 1977	Cyprus	1 – 3	Poland	Limassol, Cyprus
	Antoniou 13'	Report	Lato 26' Terlecki 40' Mazur 82'	Referee: Ashkenazi (Israel)

21 September 1977	Poland	4 – 1	Denmark	Chorzów, Poland
	Masztaler 27' Lato 38' Deyna 62' Szarmach 81'	Report	Nygaard 66' (pen.)	Referee: Rainea (Romania)

9 October 1977	Denmark	2 – 4	Portugal	Copenhagen, Denmark
	Røntved 45' (pen.) A. Hansen 88'	Report	Jordão 15' Nené 35' M. Fernandes 61' Machado 79'	Referee: Azim Zade (Soviet Union)

29 October 1977	Poland	1 – 1	Portugal	Chorzów, Poland
	Deyna 36'	Report	M. Fernandes 61'	Referee: Eschweiler (West Germany)

16 November 1977	Portugal	4 – 0	Cyprus	Faro, Portugal
	Seninho 11' Chalana 35' Vital 58' M. Fernandes 71'	Report		Referee: Jursa (Czechoslovakia)

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

13 June 1976	Finland	1 – 4	England	Helsinki, Finland
	Paatelainen 27'	Report	Pearson 14' Keegan 30', 60' Channon 56'	Stadium: Helsinki Olympic Stadium Attendance: 24,000 Referee: Alfred Delcourt (Belgium)

22 September 1976	Finland	7 – 1	Luxembourg	Helsinki, Finland
	A. Heiskanen 15' E. Heiskanen 22', 27' Rissanen 51', 61' Heikkinen 54' Mäkynen 82' (pen.)	Report	G. Zender 52'	Referee: Thime (Norway)

13 October 1976	England	2 – 1	Finland	London, England
	Tueart 4' Royle 51'	Report	Nieminen 48'	Referee: Eriksson (Sweden)

16 October 1976	Luxembourg	1 – 4	Italy	Luxembourg, Luxembourg
	Braun 86'	Report	Graziani 24' Bettega 44', 81' Antognoni 50'	Referee: Dörflinger (Switzerland)

17 November 1976	Italy	2 – 0	England	Rome, Italy
	Antognoni 36' Bettega 77'	Report		Referee: Klein (Israel)

30 March 1977	England	5 – 0	Luxembourg	London, England
	Keegan 9' T. Francis 58' Kennedy 65' Channon 68', 79'	Report		Referee: Bonett (Malta)

26 May 1977	Luxembourg	0 – 1	Finland	Luxembourg, Luxembourg
		Report	A. Heiskanen 57'	Referee: Amundsen (Denmark)

8 June 1977	Finland	0 – 3	Italy	Helsinki, Finland
		Report	Gentile 8' Bettega 56' Benetti 81'	Referee: Helies (France)

12 October 1977	Luxembourg	0 – 2	England	Luxembourg, Luxembourg
		Report	Kennedy 31' Mariner 90'	Referee: Jarguz (Poland)

15 October 1977	Italy	6 – 1	Finland	Turin, Italy
	Bettega 29', 38', 59', 62' Graziani 45' Zaccarelli 71'	Report	Haaskivi 67'	Referee: Dudin (Bulgaria)

16 November 1977	England	2 – 0	Italy	London, England
	Keegan 11' Brooking 80'	Report		Referee: Palotai (Hungary)

3 December 1977	Italy	3 – 0	Luxembourg	Rome, Italy
	Bettega 4' Graziani 11' Causio 56'	Report		Referee: Maksimović (Yugoslavia)

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

31 October 1976	Turkey	4 – 0	Malta	Izmir, Turkey
	Mehmet 22' Cemil 54', 57', 75'	Report		Referee: Jursa (Czechoslovakia)

17 November 1976	East Germany	1 – 1	Turkey	Dresden, East Germany
	Kotte 3' (pen.)	Report	Cemil 31' (pen.)	Referee: Partridge (England)

5 December 1976	Malta	0 – 1	Austria	Valletta, Malta
		Report	Krankl 57'	Referee: Seouidi (Tunisia)

2 April 1977	Malta	0 – 1	East Germany	Valletta, Malta
		Report	Streich 55'	Referee: Delia Bruna (Switzerland)

17 April 1977	Austria	1 – 0	Turkey	Vienna, Austria
	Schachner 43'	Report		Referee: Yarkov (Soviet Union)

30 April 1977	Austria	9 – 0	Malta	Salzburg, Austria
	Krankl 9', 12', 18', 20', 53', 66' Stering 30', 69' Pirkner 65'	Report		Referee: Jarguz (Poland)

24 September 1977	Austria	1 – 1	East Germany	Vienna, Austria
	Kreuz 9'	Report	Hoffmann 40'	Referee: Reynolds (Wales)

12 October 1977	East Germany	1 – 1	Austria	Leipzig, East Germany
	Löwe 50'	Report	Hattenberger 43'	Referee: Foote (Scotland)

29 October 1977	East Germany	9 – 0	Malta	Babelsberg, East Germany
	Hoffmann 2', 44', 84' Schade 38' Sparwasser 52' Weber 56' Streich 63' (pen.), 79', 82'	Report		Referee: Namdar (Iran)

30 October 1977	Turkey	0 – 1	Austria	Izmir, Turkey
		Report	Prohaska 72'	Referee: Gordon (Scotland)

16 November 1977	Turkey	1 – 2	East Germany	Izmir, Turkey
	Volkan 81'	Report	Schade 30' Hoffmann 62'	Referee: Michelotti (Italy)

27 November 1977	Malta	0 – 3	Turkey	Gżira, Malta
		Report	Sedat 21', 48' Cemil 36'	Referee: Larache (Morocco)

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

5 September 1976	Iceland	0 – 1	Belgium	Reykjavík, Iceland
		Report	Van Der Elst 73'	Referee: Carpenter (Republic of Ireland)

8 September 1976	Iceland	0 – 1	Netherlands	Reykjavík, Iceland
		Report	Geels 42'	Referee: Mulhall (Republic of Ireland)

13 October 1976	Netherlands	2 – 2	Northern Ireland	Rotterdam, Netherlands
	Krol 64' Cruijff 66'	Report	McGrath 4' Spence 88'	Referee: Martinez (Spain)

10 November 1976	Belgium	2 – 0	Northern Ireland	Liege, Belgium
	Van Gool 29' Lambert 52'	Report		Referee: Prokop (East Germany)

26 March 1977	Belgium	0 – 2	Netherlands	Antwerp, Belgium
		Report	Rep 19' Cruijff 65'	Referee: Gonella (Italy)

11 June 1977	Iceland	1 – 0	Northern Ireland	Reykjavík, Iceland
	Albertsson 33'	Report		Referee: Glöckner (East Germany)

31 August 1977	Netherlands	4 – 1	Iceland	Nijmegen, Netherlands
	Van Hanegem 15' Geels 18', 89' (pen.) Rep 35'	Report	Sigurvinsson 68'	Referee: Hirviniemi (Finland)

3 September 1977	Belgium	4 – 0	Iceland	Brussels, Belgium
	Van Binst 15' Martens 20' Courant 60' Lambert 65'	Report		Referee: Thime (Norway)

21 September 1977	Northern Ireland	2 – 0	Iceland	Belfast, Northern Ireland
	McGrath 67' McIlroy 76'	Report		Referee: Lund-Sørensen (Denmark)

12 October 1977	Northern Ireland	0 – 1	Netherlands	Belfast, Northern Ireland
		Report	W. van de Kerkhof 76'	Referee: Garrido (Portugal)

26 October 1977	Netherlands	1 – 0	Belgium	Amsterdam, Netherlands
	R. van de Kerkhof 4'	Report		Referee: Partridge (England)

16 November 1977	Northern Ireland	3 – 0	Belgium	Belfast, Northern Ireland
	Armstrong 42', 74' McGrath 58'	Report		Referee: Konrath (France)

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

9 October 1976	Bulgaria	2 – 2	France	Sofia, Bulgaria
	Bonev 45' Panov 68'	Report	Platini 37' Lacombe 40'	Referee: Foote (Scotland)

17 November 1976	France	2 – 0	Republic of Ireland	Paris, France
	Platini 47' Bathenay 88'	Report		Referee: Maksimovic (Yugoslavia)

30 March 1977	Republic of Ireland	1 – 0	France	Dublin, Republic of Ireland
	Brady 11'	Report		Referee: Linemayr (Austria)

1 June 1977	Bulgaria	2 – 1	Republic of Ireland	Sofia, Bulgaria
	Panov 14' Zhelyazkov 76'	Report	Givens 47'	Referee: Zlatanos (Greece)

12 October 1977	Republic of Ireland	0 – 0	Bulgaria	Dublin, Republic of Ireland
		Report		Referee: Gonella (Italy)

16 November 1977	France	3 – 1	Bulgaria	Paris, France
	Rocheteau 38' Platini 63' Dalger 89'	Report	Tsvetkov 85'	Referee: Corver (Netherlands)

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

16 June 1976	Sweden	2 – 0	Norway	Stockholm, Sweden
	B. Andersson 27' Sjöberg 42'	Report		Referee: Corver (Netherlands)

8 September 1976	Norway	1 – 0	Switzerland	Oslo, Norway
	Lund 75'	Report		Referee: Rion (Belgium)

9 October 1976	Switzerland	1 – 2	Sweden	Basel, Switzerland
	Trinchero 40' (pen.)	Report	Börjesson 29' Sjöberg 73'	Referee: Ok (Turkey)

8 June 1977	Sweden	2 – 1	Switzerland	Stockholm, Sweden
	Börjesson 69' Sjöberg 77'	Report	Risi 80'	Referee: Wright (Republic of Ireland)

7 September 1977	Norway	2 – 1	Sweden	Oslo, Norway
	Ottesen 34' Iversen 66'	Report	Sjöberg 53'	Referee: Prokop (East Germany)

30 October 1977	Switzerland	1 – 0	Norway	Bern, Switzerland
	Sulser 29'	Report		Referee: Lipatov (Soviet Union)

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

13 October 1976	Czechoslovakia	2 – 0	Scotland	Prague, Czechoslovakia
	Panenka 48' Petráš 50'	Report		Stadium: Sparta Stadion Referee: Michelotti (Italy)

17 November 1976	Scotland	1 – 0	Wales	Glasgow, Scotland
	Evans 15' (o.g.)	Report		Stadium: Hampden Park Referee: Biwersi (West Germany)

30 March 1977	Wales	3 – 0	Czechoslovakia	Wrexham, Wales
	L. James 27', 65' Deacy 65'	Report		Referee: Garrido (Portugal)

21 September 1977	Scotland	3 – 1	Czechoslovakia	Glasgow, Scotland
	Jordan 19' Hartford 35' Dalglish 54'	Report	Gajdůšek 82'	Stadium: Hampden Park Referee: Rion (Belgium)

12 October 1977	Wales	0 – 2	Scotland	Liverpool, England^[1]
		Report	Masson 78' (pen.) Dalglish 85'	Stadium: Anfield Referee: Wurtz (France)

16 November 1977	Czechoslovakia	1 – 0	Wales	Prague, Czechoslovakia
	Nehoda 12'	Report		Referee: Prokop (East Germany)

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

10 October 1976	Spain	1 – 0	Yugoslavia	Seville, Spain
	Pirri 86' (pen.)	Report		Referee: Palotai (Hungary)

16 April 1977	Romania	1 – 0	Spain	Bucharest, Romania
	Benito 8' (o.g.)	Report		Referee: Gordon (Scotland)

8 May 1977	Yugoslavia	0 – 2	Romania	Zagreb, Yugoslavia
		Report	D. Georgescu 37' Iordănescu 44'	Referee: Ashkenazi (Israel)

26 October 1977	Spain	2 – 0	Romania	Madrid, Spain
	Leal 75' Cano 83'	Report		Referee: Wurtz (France)

13 November 1977	Romania	4 – 6	Yugoslavia	Bucharest, Romania
	Vigu 2' Iordănescu 40' Bölöni 43' Georgescu 67'	Report	Sušić 14', 51', 62' Mužinić 18' Trifunović 79' Filipović 84'	Referee: Delcourt (Belgium)

30 November 1977	Yugoslavia	0 – 1	Spain	Belgrade, Yugoslavia
		Report	Cano 71'	Referee: Burns (England)

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

9 October 1976	Greece	1 – 1	Hungary	Athens, Greece
	Papaioannou 68'	Report	Kereki 84'	Referee: Wöhrer (Austria)

24 April 1977	Soviet Union	2 – 0	Greece	Moscow, Soviet Union
	Konkov 26' Kipiani 77'	Report		Referee: Dubach (Switzerland)

30 April 1977	Hungary	2 – 1	Soviet Union	Budapest, Hungary
	Nyilasi 44' Kereki 67'	Report	Kipiani 88'	Referee: Aldinger (West Germany)

10 May 1977	Greece	1 – 0	Soviet Union	Thessaloniki, Greece
	Papaioannou 58'	Report		Referee: Gussoni (Italy)

18 May 1977	Soviet Union	2 – 0	Hungary	Tbilisi, Soviet Union
	Burjak 3' Bálint 14' (o.g.)	Report		Referee: Taylor (England)

28 May 1977	Hungary	3 – 0	Greece	Budapest, Hungary
	Pusztai 13' Nyilasi 15' Fazekas 88'	Report		Referee: Beck (Netherlands)

Hungary advanced to the UEFA / CONMEBOL Intercontinental Play-off. This is the first time the USSR failed to qualify. The previous absences of the Soviet team at World Cup were all due to them not participating in the qualification.

Inter-confederation play-offs

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

Goalscorers

9 goals

Roberto Bettega

7 goals

Hans Krankl

5 goals

4 goals

3 goals

Safet Sušić

2 goals

1 goal

1 own goal

László Bálint (playing against the Soviet Union)

Gregorio Benito (playing against Romania)

Ian Evans (playing against Scotland)

References

^ This match was played on neutral ground (Anfield) instead of in Wales because of crowd trouble at a European Championship quarter final match at Ninian Park between Wales and Yugoslavia the previous year.

[1] This match was played on neutral ground (Anfield) instead of in Wales because of crowd trouble at a European Championship quarter final match at Ninian Park between Wales and Yugoslavia the previous year.

[1]