Football World Cup 1978 Europe Qualification - 8 berths + West Germany as Reigning World Champion
Play-Off Group 9 Europe - 3rd Group 10 South America
HUN Hungary 9-2 Bolivia
datevenueteam 1scoreteam 2HT
Sat 29.10.77BudapestHUN Hungary6-0Bolivia5-0
1-0 Nilasi 12' 2-0 Torocsik 19' 3-0 Zombori 22' 4-0 Varadi 27' 5-0 Pinter 39' 6-0 Nagy 81' Referee: Barreto Ruiz, Uruguay.
Wed 30.11.77La PazBolivia2-3HUN Hungary1-2
0-1 Torocsik 36' 0-2 Halasz 43' 1-2 Aragones 45'pen. 1-3 Del Llano 84'OG 2-3 Aragones 90' Referee: Corver, Netherlands.

Argentina World Cup 1978

9 Groups - 10 Berths. 4 groups with 4 teams and 5 groups with 3 teams.
Only Albania from all UEFA members did not take part. Eliminated: Reigning European Champion from EC 1976 - Czechoslovakia.
Goal difference tie-break was introduced. Italy was ahead of England by this criteria.
From 1974 Austria, France, Spain and Hungary replaced East Germany, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia and Chile (from Play-off).
ChampionWest Germany
Group 1Poland, Portugal, Denmark, Cyprus
Group 2Italy, England, Finland, Luxembourg
Group 3Austria, East Germany, Turkey, Malta
Group 4Netherlands, Belgium, Northern Ireland, Iceland
Group 5France, Bulgaria, Ireland
Group 6Sweden, Norway, Switzerland
Group 7Scotland, Czechoslovakia, Wales
Group 8Spain, Romania, Yugoslavia
Group 9Hungary, Soviet Union, Greece
Play-OffHungary, Bolivia
Group 1pwdlgfgag+-
1. Poland1151017:4+13
2. Portugal941112:6+6
3. Denmark420414:12+2
4. Cyprus00063:24-21
TeamPolaPortDenmCypr
Poland--- 1:1 4:15:0
Portugal0:2---1:0 4:0
Denmark1:2 2:4--- 5:0
Cyprus 1:31:21:5---
Poland qualified to World 1978 and was eliminated in Second Groups Round.
Key match: 16.10.76 Portugal 0-2 Poland.
datevenueteam 1scoreteam 2HTatt.
Sun 23.05.76LimassolCyprus1-5DEN Denmark1-3
Sat 16.10.76PortoPOR Portugal0-2POL Poland0-0
Wed 27.10.76CopenhagenDEN Denmark5-0Cyprus0-0
Sun 31.10.76WarszawaPOL Poland5-0Cyprus3-0
Wed 17.11.76LisboaPOR Portugal1-0DEN Denmark0-0
Sun 05.12.76LimassolCyprus1-2POR Portugal0-1
Sun 01.05.77CopenhagenDEN Denmark1-2POL Poland0-1
Sun 15.05.77LimassolCyprus1-3POL Poland1-2
Wed 21.09.77ChorzowPOL Poland4-1DEN Denmark2-0
Sun 09.10.77CopenhagenDEN Denmark2-4POR Portugal1-2
Sat 29.10.77ChorzowPOL Poland1-1POR Portugal1-0
Wed 16.11.77FaroPOR Portugal4-0Cyprus2-0
Group 1Group 2Group 3Group 4Group 5Group 6Group 7Group 8Group 9Play-Off
Group 2pwdlgfgag+-
1. Italy1050118:4+14
2. England1050115:4+11
3. Finland420411:16-5
4. Luxembourg00062:22-20
TeamItalEnglFinlLuxe
Italy---2:0 6:1 3:0
England 2:0--- 2:15:0
Finland0:31:4---7:1
Luxembourg1:4 0:2 0:1---
Italy qualified to World 1978 and lost Third Place Match.
Italy won with better goal difference.
Key match: 15.10.77 Italy 6-1 Finland.
For second consecutive World Cup England did not qualify.
datevenueteam 1scoreteam 2HTatt.
Sun 13.06.76HelsinkiFIN Finland1-4ENG England1-2
Wed 22.09.76HelsinkiFIN Finland7-1Luxembourg3-0
Wed 13.10.76LondonENG England2-1FIN Finland1-0
Sat 16.10.76LuxembourgLuxembourg1-4ITA Italy0-2
Wed 17.11.76RomaITA Italy2-0ENG England1-0
Wed 30.03.77LondonENG England5-0Luxembourg1-0
Thu 26.05.77LuxembourgLuxembourg0-1FIN Finland0-1
Wed 08.06.77HelsinkiFIN Finland0-3ITA Italy0-1
Wed 12.10.77LuxembourgLuxembourg0-2ENG England0-1
Sat 15.10.77TorinoITA Italy6-1FIN Finland3-0
Wed 16.11.77LondonENG England2-0ITA Italy1-0
Sat 03.12.77RomaITA Italy3-0Luxembourg2-0
Group 1Group 2Group 3Group 4Group 5Group 6Group 7Group 8Group 9Play-Off
Group 3pwdlgfgag+-
1. Austria1042014:2+12
2. East Germany933015:4+11
3. Turkey52139:5+4
4. Malta00060:27-27
TeamAustEaGeTurkMalt
Austria---1:11:0 9:0
East Germany 1:1---1:1 9:0
Turkey 0:1 1:2---4:0
Malta0:10:1 0:3---
Austria qualified to World 1978 and was eliminated in Second Groups Round.
Key match: 12.10.77 East Germany 1-1 Austria.
datevenueteam 1scoreteam 2HTatt.
Sun 31.10.76IzmirTUR Turkey4-0MTA Malta1-0
Wed 17.11.76DresdenGDR East Germany1-1TUR Turkey1-0
1-0 Kotte 3'pen. 1-1 Cemil 31'pen. Referee: Partridge, England.
Sun 05.12.76La VallettaMTA Malta0-1AUT Austria0-0
Sat 02.04.77La VallettaMTA Malta0-1GDR East Germany0-0
Sun 17.04.77WienAUT Austria1-0TUR Turkey1-0
Sat 30.04.77SalzburgAUT Austria9-0MTA Malta5-0
Sat 24.09.77WienAUT Austria1-1GDR East Germany1-1
Wed 12.10.77LeipzigGDR East Germany1-1AUT Austria0-1
0-1 Hattenberger 43' 1-1 Lowe 50'. Referee: Foote, Scotland.
Sat 29.10.77PotsdamGDR East Germany9-0MTA Malta3-0
Sun 30.10.77IzmirTUR Turkey0-1AUT Austria0-0
Wed 16.11.77IzmirTUR Turkey1-2GDR East Germany0-1
Sun 27.11.77La VallettaMTA Malta0-3TUR Turkey0-2
Group 1Group 2Group 3Group 4Group 5Group 6Group 7Group 8Group 9Play-Off
Group 4pwdlgfgag+-
1. Netherlands1151011:3+8
2. Belgium63037:6+1
3. Northern Ireland52137:6+1
4. Iceland21052:12-10
TeamNethBelgNoIrIcel
Netherlands--- 1:02:2 4:1
Belgium0:2---2:0 4:0
Northern Ireland 0:1 3:0--- 2:0
Iceland0:10:11:0---
Netherlands qualified to World 1978 and lost the Final against host - Argentina.
Key matches: 26.03.77 Belgium 0-2 Netherlands and 26.10.77 Netherlands 1-0 Belgium.
datevenueteam 1scoreteam 2HTatt.
Sun 05.09.76ReykjavikISL Iceland0-1BEL Belgium0-0
0-1 Van der elst 73' Referee: Carpenter, Ireland.
Wed 08.09.76ReykjavikISL Iceland0-1NED Netherlands0-1
0-1 Geels. Referee: Mulhall, Ireland.
Wed 13.10.76RotterdamNED Netherlands2-2Northern Ireland0-156,000
0-1 Chris McGrath 4' 1-1 Ruud Krol 64' 2-1 Johan Cruyff 66' 2-2 Derek Spence 88' Referee: Franco Martinez, Spain.
Wed 10.11.76LiegeBEL Belgium2-0Northern Ireland1-0
1-0 Van Gool 29' 2-0 Lambert 52' Referee: Prokop, East Germany.
Sat 26.03.77AntwerpenBEL Belgium0-2NED Netherlands0-1
0-1 Rep 19' 0-2 Johan Cruyff 65' Referee: Gonella, Italy.
Sat 11.06.77ReykjavikISL Iceland1-0Northern Ireland1-0
1-0 Albertsson. Referee: Glockner, East Germany.
Wed 31.08.77NijmegenNED Netherlands4-1ISL Iceland3-0
1-0 Van Hanegem 15' 2-0 Geels 18' 3-0 Rep 35' 3-1 Sigurvinsson 68' 4-1 Geels 89' Referee: Hirviniemi, Finland.
Sat 03.09.77BrusslesBEL Belgium4-0ISL Iceland2-0
1-0 Van Binst 15' Martins 20' Courant 60' 4-0 Lambert 65' Referee: Thime, Norway.
Wed 21.09.77BelfastNorthern Ireland2-0ISL Iceland0-0
1-0 Chris McGrath 67' 2-0 Sammy Mcllroy 76' Referee: Lund-Sorensen, Denmark.
Wed 12.10.77BelfastNorthern Ireland0-1NED Netherlands0-0
0-1 Willy van de Kerkhof 76' Referee: Garrido, Portugal.
Wed 26.10.77AmsterdamNED Netherlands1-0BEL Belgium1-0
1-0 Rene van de Kerkhof 4' Referee: Partridge, England.
Wed 16.11.77BelfastNorthern Ireland3-0BEL Belgium1-0
1-0 Armstrong 42' 2-0 Chris McGrath 58' 3-0 Armstrong 74' Referee: Konrath, France.
Group 1Group 2Group 3Group 4Group 5Group 6Group 7Group 8Group 9Play-Off
Group 5pwdlgfgag+-
1. France52117:4+3
2. Bulgaria41215:6-1
3. Ireland31122:4-2
TeamFranBulgIrel
France--- 3:12:0
Bulgaria2:2---2:1
Ireland 1:0 0:0---
France qualified to World 1978 and was eliminated in First Groups Round.
Key match: 16.11.77 France 3-1 Bulgaria.
Key moment: Penalty miss of Hristo Bonev after 83' in match - 09.10.76 Bulgaria 2-2 France.
datevenueteam 1scoreteam 2HTatt.
Sat 09.10.76SofiaBUL Bulgaria2-2FRA France1-2
start at 16:00. 0-1 Michel Platini 37' 0-2 Bernard Lacombe 40' 1-2 Hristo Bonev 45' 2-2 Pavel Panov 68'. pen. miss: Hristo Bonev (Bul) 83' Referee: Foote, Scotland.
Wed 17.11.76ParisFRA France2-0IRL Ireland0-0
1-0 Michel Platini 47' 2-0 Bathenay 88' Referee: Maksimivic, Yugoslavia.
Wed 30.03.77DublinIRL Ireland1-0FRA France1-0
1-0 Liam Brady 11' Referee: Linemayr, Austria.
Wed 01.06.77SofiaBUL Bulgaria2-1IRL Ireland1-0
Referee: 1-0 Pavel Panov 14' 1-1 Givens 47' 2-1 Andrey Zhelyazkov 76' Referee: Zlatanos, Greece.
Wed 12.10.77DublinIRL Ireland0-0BUL Bulgaria0-0
Referee: Gonella, Italy.
Wed 16.11.77ParisFRA France3-1BUL Bulgaria1-0
1-0 Rocheteau 38' 2-0 Michel Platini 63' 2-1 Chavdar Tsvetkov 85' 3-1 Dalger 89' Referee: Corver, Netherlands.
Group 1Group 2Group 3Group 4Group 5Group 6Group 7Group 8Group 9Play-Off
Group 6pwdlgfgag+-
1. Sweden63017:4+3
2. Norway42023:4-1
3. Switzerland21033:5-2
TeamSwedNorwSwit
Sweden---2:0 2:1
Norway 2:1---1:0
Switzerland1:2 1:0---
Sweden qualified to World 1978 and was eliminated in First Groups Round.
Key match: 09.10.76 Switzerland 1-2 Sweden.
datevenueteam 1scoreteam 2HTatt.
Wed 16.06.76StockholmSWE Sweden2-0NOR Norway2-0
Wed 08.09.76OsloNOR Norway1-0SUI Switzerland0-0
Sat 09.10.76BaselSUI Switzerland1-2SWE Sweden1-1
Wed 08.06.77StockholmSWE Sweden2-1SUI Switzerland0-0
Wed 07.09.77OsloNOR Norway2-1SWE Sweden1-0
Sun 30.10.77BerneSUI Switzerland1-0NOR Norway1-0
Group 1Group 2Group 3Group 4Group 5Group 6Group 7Group 8Group 9Play-Off
Group 7pwdlgfgag+-
1. Scotland63016:3+3
2. Czechoslovakia42024:6-2
3. Wales21033:4-1
TeamScotCzecWale
Scotland--- 3:11:0
Czechoslovakia2:0--- 1:0
Wales 0:23:0---
Scotland qualified to World 1978 and was eliminated in First Groups Round.
Key match: 12.10.77 Wales 0-2 Scotland.
European champion Czechoslovakia was eliminated.
datevenueteam 1scoreteam 2HTatt.
Wed 13.10.76PragueTCH Czechoslovakia2-0SCO Scotland0-0
Wed 17.11.76GlasgowSCO Scotland1-0WAL Wales1-0
Wed 30.03.77WrexhamWAL Wales3-0TCH Czechoslovakia1-0
Wed 21.09.77GlasgowSCO Scotland3-1TCH Czechoslovakia2-0
Wed 12.10.77Liverpool(ENG)WAL Wales0-2SCO Scotland0-0
Wed 16.11.77PragueTCH Czechoslovakia1-0WAL Wales1-0
Group 1Group 2Group 3Group 4Group 5Group 6Group 7Group 8Group 9Play-Off
Group 8pwdlgfgag+-
1. Spain63014:1+3
2. Romania42027:8-1
3. Yugoslavia21036:8-2
TeamSpaiRomaYugo
Spain--- 2:01:0
Romania1:0--- 4:6
Yugoslavia 0:10:2---
Spain qualified to World 1978 and was eliminated in First Groups Round.
Key matches: 13.11.77 Romania 4-6 Yugoslavia and 30.11.77 Yugoslavia 0-1 Spain.
In 1 match were scored 10 goals. In all other 5 the goals were only 7.
datevenueteam 1scoreteam 2HTatt.
Sun 10.10.76SevillaESP Spain1-0YUG Yugoslavia0-0
Sat 16.04.77BucurestiROU Romania1-0ESP Spain1-0
Sun 08.05.77ZagrebYUG Yugoslavia0-2ROU Romania0-2
Wed 26.10.77MadridESP Spain2-0ROU Romania0-0
Sun 13.11.77BucurestiROU Romania4-6YUG Yugoslavia3-2
Wed 30.11.77BeogradYUG Yugoslavia0-1ESP Spain0-0
Group 1Group 2Group 3Group 4Group 5Group 6Group 7Group 8Group 9Play-Off
Group 9pwdlgfgag+-
1. Hungary52116:4+2
2. Soviet Union42025:3+2
3. Greece31122:6-4
TeamHungSoviGree
Hungary---2:1 3:0
Soviet Union 2:0---2:0
Greece1:1 1:0---
Winner of this Group required a Play-Off against a South American team.
Hungary qualified to World 1978 and was eliminated in First Groups Round.
Key match: 09.10.76 Greece 1-1 Hungary.
Even Group and the only away draw was decisive.
For second consecutive World Cup Soviet Union did not qualify.
datevenueteam 1scoreteam 2HTatt.
Sat 09.10.76AthensGRE Greece1-1HUN Hungary0-0
Sun 24.04.77MoskvaURS Soviet Union2-0GRE Greece1-0
Sat 30.04.77BudapestHUN Hungary2-1URS Soviet Union1-0
Tue 10.05.77ThessalonikiGRE Greece1-0URS Soviet Union0-0
Wed 18.05.77TbilisiURS Soviet Union2-0HUN Hungary2-0
Sat 28.05.77BudapestHUN Hungary3-0GRE Greece2-0
Group 1Group 2Group 3Group 4Group 5Group 6Group 7Group 8Group 9Play-Off
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todor1966@yahoo.com
Last updated: 1 Jul 2025
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