Group 5 consisted of three of the 32 teams entered into the European zone:Only 31 of the entered teams actually competed in the qualification tournament:

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

qualified for the World Cup automatically as host.

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, and

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. These three teams competed on a home-and-away basis for one of the 9.5 spots in the final tournament allocated to the European zone, with the group's winner claiming the place in the finals. This was the first time England failed to qualify for the World Cup since first entering in 1950.

Standings

Matches

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Notes

External links

Group 5 Detailed Results at RSSSF
{{DEFAULTSORT:World Cup) 5 1972–73 in English football 1973–74 in English football 1972–73 in Polish football 1973–74 in Polish football 1972–73 in Welsh football 1973–74 in Welsh football