From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base

1978 FIFA World Cup qualification

Field	Value
tourney_name	1978 FIFA World Cup Qualification
dates	7 March 1976 – 11 December 1977
num_teams	107
confederations	6
matches	252
goals	723
top_scorer	Roberto Bettega (9 goals)
prevseason	[1974](1974-fifa-world-cup-qualification)
nextseason	[1982](1982-fifa-world-cup-qualification)

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 16 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).

Qualified teams

The following 16 teams qualified for the 1978 FIFA World Cup:

Team	Date of qualification	Finals appearance	Streak	Last appearance
(hosts)	6 July 1966	7th	2	[1974](1974-fifa-world-cup)
	30 October 1977	4th	1	[1958](1958-fifa-world-cup)
	14 July 1977	11th	11	[1974](1974-fifa-world-cup)
	16 November 1977	7th	1	[1966](1966-fifa-world-cup)
	30 November 1977	7th	1	[1966](1966-fifa-world-cup)
	25 November 1977	1st	1	—
	3 December 1977	9th	5	[1974](1974-fifa-world-cup)
	19 October 1977	8th	1	[1970](1970-fifa-world-cup)
	26 October 1977	4th	2	[1974](1974-fifa-world-cup)
	17 July 1977	3rd	1	[1970](1970-fifa-world-cup)
	21 September 1977	3rd	2	[1974](1974-fifa-world-cup)
	12 October 1977	4th	2	[1974](1974-fifa-world-cup)
	30 November 1977	5th	1	[1966](1966-fifa-world-cup)
	30 October 1977	7th	3	[1974](1974-fifa-world-cup)
	11 December 1977	1st	1	—
(defending champions)	7 July 1974	9th	7	[1974](1974-fifa-world-cup)

Confederation qualification

AFC and OFC

Main article: 1978 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC and OFC)

Final round

Rank	Pts	Pld
1	14	8
2	10	8
3	9	8
4	7	8
5	0	8

Iran qualified.

CAF

Main article: 1978 FIFA World Cup qualification (CAF)

Final round

Rank	Pts	Pld
1	5	4
2	4	4
3	3	4

Tunisia qualified.

CONCACAF

Main article: 1977 CONCACAF Championship

Rank	Pts	Pld
1	10	5
2	7	5
3	5	5
4	5	5
5	3	5
6	0	5

Mexico qualified.

CONMEBOL

Main article: 1978 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONMEBOL)

Final round

Rank	Pts	Pld
1	4	2
2	2	2
3	0	2

Brazil and Peru qualified. Bolivia advanced to the inter-confederation play-offs.

UEFA

Main article: 1978 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA)

[Group 1](1978-fifa-world-cup-qualification-uefa-group-1)	[Group 2](1978-fifa-world-cup-qualification-uefa-group-2)	[Group 3](1978-fifa-world-cup-qualification-uefa-group-3)	[Group 4](1978-fifa-world-cup-qualification-uefa-group-4)	[Group 5](1978-fifa-world-cup-qualification-uefa-group-5)	[Group 6](1978-fifa-world-cup-qualification-uefa-group-6)	[Group 7](1978-fifa-world-cup-qualification-uefa-group-7)	[Group 8](1978-fifa-world-cup-qualification-uefa-group-8)	[Group 9](1978-fifa-world-cup-qualification-uefa-group-9)

Hungary advanced to the UEFA–CONMEBOL play-off.

Inter-confederation play-offs: UEFA v CONMEBOL

Main article: 1978 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA–CONMEBOL play-off)

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

Top goalscorers

;9 goals

ITA Roberto Bettega

;7 goals

AUT Hans Krankl
El Salvador Luis Ramírez Zapata
HAI Emmanuel Sanon
NZL Keith Nelson

;6 goals

AUS John Kosmina
AUS Peter Ollerton
EGY Mahmoud El Khatib
GUA Óscar Enrique Sánchez
HAI Leintz Domingue
KUW Faisal Al-Dakhil
MEX Víctor Rangel

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.

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

1978-fifa-world-cup-qualification 1978-fifa-world-cup fifa-world-cup-qualification

Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about 1978 FIFA World Cup qualification — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.

Research with Mako

Free with your Surf account

Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.

Report

Rank	Pts	Pld
1	14	8
2	10	8
3	9	8
4	7	8
5	0	8

Rank	Pts	Pld
1	5	4
2	4	4
3	3	4

Rank	Pts	Pld
1	10	5
2	7	5
3	5	5
4	5	5
5	3	5
6	0	5

Rank	Pts	Pld
1	4	2
2	2	2
3	0	2