1978 FIFA WORLD CUP QUALIFICATION

A total of 107 teams entered the '1978 FIFA World Cup qualification' rounds, competing for a total of 16 spots in the final tournament. , as the hosts, and , as the defending champions, qualified automatically, leaving 14 spots open for competition.
The 16 spots available in the 1978 World Cup would be distributed among the continental zones as follows:

★ Europe (UEFA): ''9.5 places'', 1 of them went to automatic qualifier Germany, while the other 8.5 places were contested by 31 teams. The winner of the 0.5 place would advance to the Intercontinental Play-offs (against a team from CONMEBOL).

★ South America (CONMEBOL): ''3.5 places'', 1 of them went to automatic qualifier Argentina, while the other 2.5 places were contested by 9 teams. The winner of the 0.5 place 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).

Contents

Continental Zones

Intercontinental Play-offs

UEFA / CONMEBOL Intercontinental Play-off

Qualified teams

Notes

External links

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, Central America and Caribbean (CONCACAF)
:'Mexico' qualified.

★ Africa (CAF)
:'Tunisia' qualified.

★ Asia (AFC) and Oceania (OFC)
:'Iran' qualified.

Intercontinental Play-offs

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

UEFA / CONMEBOL Intercontinental Play-off

October 29, 1977, Budapest, Hungary - '6 - 0'
November 30, 1977, La Paz, Bolivia - '2 - 3'
'Hungary' qualified by the aggregate score of 9-2.

Qualified teams

Team	Finals Appearance	Streak	Last Appearance
(h)	7th	2	1974
	4th	1	1958
	11th	11	1974
	7th	1	1966
	7th	1	1966
	1st	1	-
	9th	5	1974
	8th	1	1970
	4th	2	1974
	3rd	1	1970
	3rd	2	1974
	4th	2	1974
	5th	1	1966
	7th	3	1974
	1st	1	-
(c)	9th	7	1974

(h) - qualified automatically as hosts
(c) - qualified automatically as defending champions

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. Not counting the two automatic places and teams who withdrew before playing, 95 teams competed for 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.

External links

★ FIFA World Cup Official Site - 1978 World Cup Qualification

★ RSSSF - 1978 World Cup Qualification