Listed below are the dates and results for the qualification to the 1978 FIFA World Cup rounds for the European zone (UEFA) in association football. For an overview of the qualification rounds, see the article 1978 FIFA World Cup qualification.
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Teams | 31 (from 1 confederation) |
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.
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.
- Teams highlighted in blue advanced to the UEFA / CONMEBOL Intercontinental Play-off.
Groups
Group 1
| 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 |
Group 2
| 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 |
Group 3
| 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 |
Group 4
| 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 |
Group 5
| 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 |
Group 6
| 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 |
Group 7
| 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 |
Group 8
| 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 |
Group 9
| 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.
Inter-confederation play-offs
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hungary | 9–2 |  Bolivia | 6–0 | 3–2 |
Goalscorers
- 9 goals
- 7 goals
- 5 goals
- 4 goals
- 3 goals
- 2 goals
Josef Stering
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
- 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
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
- 1 own goal
- László Bálint (playing against the Soviet Union)
- Gregorio Benito (playing against Romania)
- Ian Evans (playing against Scotland)