| Tournament details | |
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| Teams | 31 (from 1 confederation) |
← 1974 1982 → | |
| UEFA European Qualifiers |
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Listed below are the dates and results for the qualification to the 1978 FIFA World Cup rounds for the European zone (UEFA)inassociation football. 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, the defending champions, qualified automatically, leaving 8.5 spots open for competition between 31 teams. Albania 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.
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:
| Pos | Team
|
Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Poland
|
6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 17 | 4 | +13 | 11 |
| 2 |  Portugal
|
6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 6 | +6 | 9 |
| 3 |  Denmark
|
6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 14 | 12 | +2 | 4 |
| 4 |  Cyprus
|
6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 24 | −21 | 0 |
| Pos | Team
|
Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Italy
|
6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 18 | 4 | +14 | 10 |
| 2 |  England
|
6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 15 | 4 | +11 | 10 |
| 3 |  Finland
|
6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 11 | 16 | −5 | 4 |
| 4 |  Luxembourg
|
6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 22 | −20 | 0 |
| Pos | Team
|
Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Austria
|
6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 14 | 2 | +12 | 10 |
| 2 |  East Germany
|
6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 15 | 4 | +11 | 9 |
| 3 |  Turkey
|
6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 5 | +4 | 5 |
| 4 |  Malta
|
6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 27 | −27 | 0 |
| Pos | Team
|
Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Netherlands
|
6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 3 | +8 | 11 |
| 2 |  Belgium
|
6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 6 | +1 | 6 |
| 3 |  Northern Ireland
|
6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 6 | +1 | 5 |
| 4 |  Iceland
|
6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 12 | −10 | 2 |
| Pos | Team
|
Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  France
|
4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 4 | +3 | 5 |
| 2 |  Bulgaria
|
4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 6 | −1 | 4 |
| 3 |  Republic of Ireland
|
4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 | −2 | 3 |
| Pos | Team
|
Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Sweden
|
4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 4 | +3 | 6 |
| 2 |  Norway
|
4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 4 | −1 | 4 |
| 3 |  Switzerland
|
4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 5 | −2 | 2 |
| Pos | Team
|
Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Scotland
|
4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 3 | +3 | 6 |
| 2 |  Czechoslovakia
|
4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 6 | −2 | 4 |
| 3 |  Wales
|
4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 4 | −1 | 2 |
| Pos | Team
|
Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Spain
|
4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1 | +3 | 6 |
| 2 |  Romania
|
4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 8 | −1 | 4 |
| 3 |  Yugoslavia
|
4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 8 | −2 | 2 |
| Pos | Team
|
Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Hungary
|
4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 4 | +2 | 5 |
| 2 |  Soviet Union
|
4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 3 | +2 | 4 |
| 3 |  Greece
|
4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 6 | −4 | 3 |
Hungary advanced to the UEFA–CONMEBOL play-off.
| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hungary
|
9–2 |  Bolivia
|
6–0 | 3–2 |
Cemil Turan Kevin Keegan
Kazimierz Deyna Grzegorz Lato Manuel Fernandes Thomas Sjöberg Michel Platini Tibor Nyilasi Francesco Graziani Ruud Geels Chris McGrath Safet Sušić Raoul Lambert Pavel Panov Lars Bastrup Henning Munk Jensen Per Røntved Allan Simonsen Hartmut Schade Ray Kennedy Aki Heiskanen Esa Heiskanen Olavi Rissanen
Mimis Papaioannou Zoltán Kereki András Törőcsik Giancarlo Antognoni Johan Cruyff Johnny Rep Gerry Armstrong Andrzej Szarmach Stanisław Terlecki Fernando Chalana Nené Dudu Georgescu Anghel Iordănescu Kenny Dalglish David Kipiani Rubén Cano Bo Börjesson Sedat Özden Leighton James 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
Takis Antoniou Stefanis Michael Stavros Stylianou Miroslav Gajdůšek Zdeněk Nehoda Antonín Panenka Ladislav Petráš Allan Hansen Jørgen Kristensen Benny Nielsen Kristen Nygaard Ole Rasmussen Niels Tune-Hansen Peter Kotte Wolfram Löwe Jürgen Sparwasser Gert Weber Trevor Brooking Trevor Francis Paul Mariner 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 László Nagy Sándor Pintér László Pusztai 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 René Van de Kerkhof Willy Van de Kerkhof Sammy McIlroy Derek Spence Odd Iversen Tom Lund Rune Ottesen Zbigniew Boniek Bohdan Masztaler Włodzimierz Mazur Rui Jordão Octávio Machado Seninho Francisco Vital László Bölöni Iosif Vigu Asa Hartford Joe Jordan Don Masson Leonid Burjak Anatoliy Konkov Eugenio Leal Pirri Björn Andersson Peter Risi Claudio Sulser Serge Trinchero Mehmet Özgül Volkan Yayim Nick Deacy Zoran Filipović Dražen Mužinić Aleksandar Trifunović László Bálint (playing against the Soviet Union) Gregorio Benito (playing against Romania) Ian Evans (playing against Scotland)
