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1986 FIFA World Cup qualification

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1986 FIFA World Cup qualification
Tournament details
Teams121 (from 6 confederations)
Tournament statistics
Matches played308
Goals scored801 (2.6 per match)
Top scorer(s)Denmark Preben Elkjær (8 goals)
← 1982
1990 →

121 teams entered the 1986 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds, competing for 24 places in the final tournament. Mexico, as the hosts, and Italy, as the defending champions, qualified automatically, leaving 22 spots open for competition. The draw took place on 7 December 1983 in Zürich, Switzerland.

The 24 spots available in the 1986 World Cup would be distributed among the continental zones as follows:

  • Europe (UEFA): 13.5 places, 1 of them went to automatic qualifier Italy, while the other 12.5 places were contested by 32 teams. The winner of the 0.5 place would advance to the intercontinental play-offs (against a team from OFC).
  • South America (CONMEBOL): 4 places, contested by 10 teams.
  • North, Central America, and Caribbean (CONCACAF): 2 places, 1 of them went to automatic qualifier Mexico, while the other place was contested by 17 teams.
  • Africa (CAF): 2 places, contested by 29 teams.
  • Asia (AFC): 2 places, contested by 27 teams.
  • Oceania (OFC): 0.5 place, contested by 4 teams (including Israel and Chinese Taipei). The winner of the 0.5 place would advance to the intercontinental play-offs (against a team from UEFA).

A total of 110 teams played at least one qualifying match. A total of 308 qualifying matches were played, and 801 goals were scored (an average of 2.60 per match).

Confederation qualification

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AFC

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Main article: 1986 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC)
Iraq and Korea Republic qualified.

CAF

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Main article: 1986 FIFA World Cup qualification (CAF)
Algeria and Morocco qualified.

CONCACAF

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Main article: 1985 CONCACAF Championship
Canada qualified.

CONMEBOL

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Main article: 1986 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONMEBOL)
Group 1 – Argentina qualified. Peru and Colombia advanced to the CONMEBOL play-offs.
Group 2 – Uruguay qualified. Chile advanced to the CONMEBOL play-offs.
Group 3 – Brazil qualified. Paraguay advanced to the CONMEBOL play-offs.
Play-offs – Paraguay qualified over Chile, Colombia and Peru.

OFC

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Main article: 1986 FIFA World Cup qualification (OFC)
Australia advanced to the UEFA–OFC intercontinental play-off

UEFA

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Main article: 1986 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA)
Group 1 – Poland qualified. Belgium advanced to the UEFA play-offs.
Group 2 – West Germany and Portugal qualified.
Group 3 – England and Northern Ireland qualified.
Group 4 – France and Bulgaria qualified.
Group 5 – Hungary qualified. Netherlands advanced to the UEFA play-offs.
Group 6 – Denmark and USSR qualified.
Group 7 – Spain qualified. Scotland advanced to the UEFA–OFC intercontinental play-off.
Play-offs – Belgium qualified over Netherlands.

Inter-confederation play-offs: UEFA v OFC

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Main article: 1986 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA–OFC play-off)

The two teams would play against each other on a home-and-away basis. The winner qualified for the 1986 FIFA World Cup.

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Scotland  2–0  Australia 2–0 0–0

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 24 teams qualified for the 1986 FIFA World Cup:

Team Date of qualification Finals appearance Streak Last appearance
 Algeria 18 October 1985 2nd 2 1982
 Argentina 30 June 1985 9th 4 1982
 Belgium 20 November 1985 7th 2 1982
 Brazil 23 June 1985 13th 13 1982
 Bulgaria 28 September 1985 5th 1 1974
 Canada 14 September 1985 1st 1 —
 Denmark 13 November 1985 1st 1 —
 England 16 October 1985 8th 2 1982
 France 16 November 1985 9th 3 1982
 Hungary 17 April 1985 9th 3 1982
 Iraq 29 November 1985 1st 1 —
 Italy (defending champions) 11 July 1982 11th 7 1982
 South Korea 3 November 1985 2nd 1 1954
 Mexico (hosts) 20 May 1983 9th 1 1978
 Morocco 18 October 1985 2nd 1 1970
 Northern Ireland 13 November 1985 3rd 2 1982
 Paraguay 17 November 1985 4th 1 1958
 Poland 11 September 1985 5th 4 1982
 Portugal 16 October 1985 2nd 1 1966
 Scotland 4 December 1985 6th 4 1982
 Spain 25 September 1985 7th 3 1982
 Uruguay 7 April 1985 8th 1 1974
 Soviet Union 30 October 1985 6th 2 1982
 West Germany 25 September 1985 11th 9 1982

(h) – qualified automatically as hosts

(c) – qualified automatically as defending champions

Top goalscorers

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8 goals
7 goals
6 goals
5 goals

Notes

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  • West Germany lost a World Cup qualifying match for the first time on 16 October 1985, when they were defeated 0–1 by Portugal in Stuttgart, in what was their 37th World Cup qualifier (including games played by Germany before World War II). The other two losses that the (now-reunified) German team suffered in the competition also took place on home soil: 1–5 to England in Munich in 2001, and 1–2 to North Macedonia in Duisburg in 2021. With only three losses in over 100 games, Germany remains the team with by far the lowest loss ratio in the FIFA World Cup qualification.
  • Scotland manager Jock Stein died during their qualifier at Wales, suffering a heart attack immediately after the Scots scored a late equaliser.
  • Iraq qualified to their only World Cup up to date.
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