Listed below are the dates and results for the qualification to the

1978 FIFA World Cup The 1978 FIFA World Cup was the 11th edition of the FIFA World Cup, a Anniversary#Latin-derived numerical names, quadrennial international Association football, football world championship tournament among the men's senior national teams. It wa ...

rounds for the European zone (

UEFA The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...

) in

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

. For an overview of the qualification rounds, see the article '' 1978 FIFA World Cup qualification''. The European zone was allocated 9.5 places (out of 16) in the final 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 ...

, the defending champions, qualified automatically, leaving 8.5 spots open for competition between 31 teams.

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

were the only UEFA team to not enter the competition. 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 winners of groups 1 to 8 would qualify, the winner of group 9 would advance to the UEFA / CONMEBOL Intercontinental Play-off.

Draw

The draw for the qualifying groups took place in

Guatemala City Guatemala City (, also known colloquially by the nickname Guate), is the Capital city, national capital and largest city of the Guatemala, Republic of Guatemala. It is also the Municipalities of Guatemala, municipal capital of the Guatemala Depa ...

on 20 November 1975. During the draw procedure, entrants were drawn into the 9 qualifying groups from the four pots of seeds.

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. Key: *Teams highlighted in green qualified for the

finals Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

. *Teams highlighted in blue advanced to the UEFA / CONMEBOL Intercontinental Play-off.

Groups

Group 1

Group 2

Group 3

Group 4

Group 5

Group 6

Group 7

Group 8

Group 9

Hungary advanced to the UEFA–CONMEBOL play-off.

Inter-confederation play-offs

Goalscorers

;9 goals *

Roberto Bettega Roberto Bettega (; born 27 December 1950) is an Italian former association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward. A prolific and athletic player, Bettega is mostly remembered for his successful time at his ...

;7 goals * Hans Krankl ;5 goals * Martin Hoffmann * Cemil Turan ;4 goals * Joachim Streich *

Kevin Keegan Joseph Kevin Keegan (born 14 February 1951) is an English former footballer and manager. Nicknamed "King Kev" or "Mighty Mouse", Keegan was recognised for his dribbling ability, as well as his finishing and presence in the air, and is regard ...

* Kazimierz Deyna *

Grzegorz Lato Grzegorz Bolesław Lato (Polish pronunciation: ; born 8 April 1950) is a Polish former professional association football, football player and manager who played as a winger (association football), winger. He was a member of Poland's golden gene ...

* Manuel Fernandes * Thomas Sjöberg ;3 goals *

Mick Channon Michael Roger Channon (born 28 November 1948) is an English former professional footballer who played as a forward and represented the England national team in the 1970s. Scoring over 250 goals in his career, mainly for Southampton, he becam ...

Michel Platini Michel François Platini (; born 21 June 1955) is a French association football, football Administrator (business), administrator and former player and manager. Regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time, Platini won the Ballon d'O ...

* Tibor Nyilasi * Francesco Graziani * Ruud Geels * Chris McGrath * Safet Sušić ;2 goals * Josef Stering * Raoul Lambert * Pavel Panov * Lars Bastrup * Henning Munk Jensen * Per Røntved * Allan Simonsen * Hartmut Schade *

Ray Kennedy Raymond Kennedy (28 July 1951 – 30 November 2021) was an English Association football, footballer who won every domestic honour in the game with Arsenal F.C., Arsenal and Liverpool F.C., Liverpool in the 1970s and early 1980s. Kennedy playe ...

* Aki Heiskanen * Esa Heiskanen * Olavi Rissanen *

Mimis Papaioannou Dimitrios "Mimis" Papaioannou (; 23 August 1942 – 15 March 2023) was a Greek professional footballer, who played as a forward, mostly for AEK Athens and a manager. Widely regarded as the greatest Greek footballer of his generation and one ...

* Zoltán Kereki * András Törőcsik * Giancarlo Antognoni *

Johan Cruyff Hendrik Johannes Cruijff (25 April 1947 – 24 March 2016), internationally known as Johan Cruyff (), was a Dutch professional Association football, football player and Manager (association football), manager. Regarded as one of the greatest ...

* Johnny Rep * Gerry Armstrong * Andrzej Szarmach * Stanisław Terlecki * Fernando Chalana * Nené * Dudu Georgescu * Anghel Iordănescu *

Kenny Dalglish Sir Kenneth Mathieson Dalglish (born 4 March 1951) is a Scottish former association football, football player and manager (association football), manager. He is regarded as one of the greatest players of all time as well as one of Celtic's, Liv ...

* David Kipiani * Rubén Cano * Bo Börjesson * Sedat Özden * Leighton James ;1 goal * Roland Hattenberger * Wilhelm Kreuz * Hans Pirkner * Herbert Prohaska * Walter Schachner * Paul Courant * Maurice Martens * Gilbert Van Binst * François Van der Elst * Roger Van Gool * Hristo Bonev * Chavdar Tsvetkov *

Andrey Zhelyazkov Andrey Kolev Zhelyazkov (; born 9 July 1952 in Radnevo) is a former Bulgarian Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward. He spent 12 years of his career playing for PFC Slavia Sofia, Slavia Sofia a ...

* Takis Antoniou * Stefanis Michael * Stavros Stylianou * Miroslav Gajdůšek * Zdeněk Nehoda * Antonín Panenka * Ladislav Petráš * Allan Hansen * Jørgen Kristensen * Benny Nielsen *

Kristen Nygaard Kristen Nygaard (27 August 1926 – 10 August 2002) was a Norwegian computer scientist, programming language pioneer, and politician. Internationally, Nygaard is acknowledged as the co-inventor of object-oriented programming and the programming ...

* Ole Rasmussen *

Niels Tune-Hansen Niels Tune-Hansen (born 19 January 1953) is a Danish former professional association football, footballer who played at as a defender (association football), defender. He made 15 appearances for the Denmark national football team, Denmark nationa ...

* Peter Kotte * Wolfram Löwe * Jürgen Sparwasser * Gert Weber *

Trevor Brooking Sir Trevor David Brooking (born 2 October 1948) is a former England national football team, England international Association football, footballer, manager, pundit and football administrator; he now works as director of football development in En ...

Trevor Francis Trevor John Francis (19 April 1954 – 24 July 2023) was an English footballer who played as a forward for a number of clubs in England, the United States, Italy, Scotland and Australia. In 1979 he became Britain's first £1 million pla ...

Paul Mariner Paul Mariner (22 May 1953 – 9 July 2021) was an English Association football, football player and Coach (sport), coach. A centre forward during his playing days, Mariner began his career with Chorley F.C., Chorley. He became a professional p ...

* Stuart Pearson * Joe Royle * Dennis Tueart * Kai Haaskivi * Teppo Heikkinen * Ari Mäkynen * Jyrki Nieminen * Matti Paatelainen * Dominique Bathenay * Christian Dalger * Bernard Lacombe * Dominique Rocheteau * László Fazekas *

István Halász István Halász (12 October 1951 – 4 June 2016) was a Hungarian football midfielder who played for Hungary in the 1978 FIFA World Cup The 1978 FIFA World Cup was the 11th edition of the FIFA World Cup, a Anniversary#Latin-derived numerica ...

* László Nagy *

Sándor Pintér Sándor Pintér (born 3 July 1948) is a Hungarian politician and former top police officer. He served as Minister of the Interior from 1998 to 2002 and since 2010, in Viktor Orbán's cabinets. Biography Pintér was born and raised in Budapest. ...

László Pusztai László Pusztai (1 March 1946 – 6 July 1987) was a Hungarian football player who participated in the 1978 World Cup where Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Bas ...

* Béla Várady * Sándor Zombori * Ingi Björn Albertsson * Ásgeir Sigurvinsson * Liam Brady * Don Givens * Romeo Benetti * Franco Causio * Claudio Gentile * Renato Zaccarelli * Nico Braun * Gilbert Zender * Ruud Krol *

Willem Van Hanegem Willem "Wim" van Hanegem (; born 20 February 1944) is a Dutch former Association football, football player and coach who played as a midfielder. In a playing career spanning over 20 years, he won several domestic honours in the Netherlands, as ...

* René Van de Kerkhof * Willy Van de Kerkhof * Sammy McIlroy * Derek Spence * Odd Iversen * Tom Lund * Rune Ottesen *

Zbigniew Boniek Zbigniew Kazimierz Boniek (; born 3 March 1956) is a Polish former association football, footballer and manager as well as a current UEFA vice-president. A former midfielder, who was also capable of playing mostly as a right winger and Forward ( ...

* Bohdan Masztaler * Włodzimierz Mazur *

Rui Jordão Rui Manuel Trindade Jordão (; 9 August 1952 – 18 October 2019) was a Portuguese footballer. His professional career was spent mostly with two of the biggest clubs in the country, Benfica and Sporting CP. One of the most prolific strikers ...

* Octávio Machado * Seninho * Francisco Vital * László Bölöni *

Iosif Vigu Iosif Vigu (born 15 May 1946) is a Romanian former footballer who played as a left back. He was also a manager. Club career Vigu was born on 15 May 1946 in Șimian, Bihor, Romania, starting to play football at the junior squads of Crișul Ora ...

* Asa Hartford * Joe Jordan * Don Masson * Leonid Burjak * Anatoliy Konkov * Eugenio Leal *

Pirri José Martínez Sánchez (born 11 March 1945), nicknamed Pirri, is a Spanish former footballer. A central midfielder in the early part of his career, he finished up as a sweeper. He spent the vast majority of his career with Real Madrid, ap ...

* Björn Andersson * Peter Risi * Claudio Sulser * Serge Trinchero * Mehmet Özgül * Volkan Yayim *

Nick Deacy Nick Deacy (born 19 July 1953) is a Welsh former professional association football, footballer who played as a striker (association football), striker. He played for PSV Eindhoven, and won the UEFA Cup with them in 1978, coming on as a substi ...

Zoran Filipović Zoran Filipović ( sr-Cyrl, Зоран Филиповић, ; born 6 February 1953) is a Montenegrin former football coach and player, best known for his playing stints with Red Star Belgrade and S.L. Benfica. Club career Filipović, born 6 Fe ...

* Dražen Mužinić * Aleksandar Trifunović ;1 own goal * László Bálint (playing against the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

) * Gregorio Benito (playing against

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

) * Ian Evans (playing against

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1978 Fifa World Cup Qualification (Uefa)

FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA)

FIFA World Cup qualification The FIFA World Cup qualification is a set of competitive matches that a national association football team plays in order to qualify for one of the available berths at the final tournament of the men's FIFA World Cup. Qualifying tournaments ar ...