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1978 FIFA World Cup qualification

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Matches played
  
252

Goals scored
  
723 (2.87 per match)

1978 FIFA World Cup qualification

Teams
  
107 (from 6 confederations)

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.

Contents

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.

    Intercontinental Play-Off

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

    Hungary qualified.

    Qualified teams

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

    (h) - qualified automatically as hosts

    (c) - qualified automatically as defending champions

    References

    1978 FIFA World Cup qualification Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA