Football World Cup 1978 / Qualification

Participant in qualifying for the 1978 World Cup

→ Main article : Football World Cup 1978

For the World Cup tournament in Argentina in 1978, a total of 106 associations had registered, including

• 32 teams from Europe,
• 26 teams from Africa (four withdrew),
• 19 teams from Asia (four withdrew),
• 10 teams from South America,
• 17 teams from North and Central America (withdrawal from Honduras) and
• 2 teams from Oceania.

Since defending champions Germany and host Argentina were directly qualified for the round of 16 and nine teams withdrew before qualification, 14 free final round places were available for the remaining 95 teams. These were distributed as follows:

8½ to Europe	Poland	Italy	Austria	Netherlands
	France	Sweden	Scotland	Spain	Hungary *
2½ to South America	Brazil	Peru
1 to North and Central America	Mexico
1 to Africa	Tunisia
1 to Asia and Oceania	Iran
Defending champion:	Germany		Host:	Argentina

* Hungary won the intercontinental play-off against the Bolivian team .

Although eight teams withdrew, a total of 95 national teams took part in the World Cup qualification, which was a new record.

European Zone / UEFA

31 teams played in four groups of four and five groups of three for 8 and 9 places in the final round. From groups 1–8, the first-placed person qualified for the World Cup finals, the winner of group 9 had to play two play-off games against the third in the South American qualification for the last free place in the finals. Federal Republic of Germany was automatically qualified as the defending champion.

Group 1

Closing table
Pl.	country	Gates	Pt.
1	Poland	17: 04	11: 01
2	Portugal	12: 06	09: 03
3	Denmark	14:12	04: 08
4th	Cyprus	03:24	00:12

Game results

05/23/1976	Limassol	Cyprus	-	Denmark	1: 5 (1: 3)
10/16/1976	postage	Portugal	-	Poland	0: 2 (0: 0)
10/27/1976	Copenhagen	Denmark	-	Cyprus	5: 0 (0: 0)
10/31/1976	Warsaw	Poland	-	Cyprus	5: 0 (3: 0)
11/17/1976	Lisbon	Portugal	-	Denmark	1: 0 (0: 0)
December 05, 1976	Limassol	Cyprus	-	Portugal	1: 2 (0: 1)
05/01/1977	Copenhagen	Denmark	-	Poland	1: 2 (0: 1)
05/15/1977	Limassol	Cyprus	-	Poland	1: 3 (1: 2)
09/21/1977	Chorzów	Poland	-	Denmark	4: 1 (2: 0)
10/09/1977	Copenhagen	Denmark	-	Portugal	2: 4 (1: 2)
October 29, 1977	Chorzów	Poland	-	Portugal	1: 1 (1: 0)
11/16/1977	Faro	Portugal	-	Cyprus	4: 0 (2: 0)

Group 2

Closing table
Pl.	country	Gates	Pt.
1	Italy	18: 04	10: 02
2	England	15: 04	10: 02
3	Finland	11:16	04: 08
4th	Luxembourg	02:22	00:12

Game results

06/13/1976	Helsinki	Finland	-	England	1: 4 (1: 2)
09/22/1976	Helsinki	Finland	-	Luxembourg	7: 1 (3: 0)
10/13/1976	London	England	-	Finland	2: 1 (1: 0)
10/16/1976	Luxembourg	Luxembourg	-	Italy	1: 4 (0: 2)
11/17/1976	Rome	Italy	-	England	2: 0 (1: 0)
03/30/1977	London	England	-	Luxembourg	5: 0 (1: 0)
05/26/1977	Luxembourg	Luxembourg	-	Finland	0: 1 (0: 1)
06/08/1977	Helsinki	Finland	-	Italy	0: 3 (0: 1)
10/12/1977	Luxembourg	Luxembourg	-	England	0: 2 (0: 1)
10/15/1977	Turin	Italy	-	Finland	6: 1 (3: 0)
11/16/1977	London	England	-	Italy	2: 0 (1: 0)
December 3rd, 1977	Rome	Italy	-	Luxembourg	3: 0 (2: 0)

Group 3

Closing table
Pl.	country	Gates	Pt.
1	Austria	14: 02	10: 02
2	GDR	15: 04	09: 03
3	Turkey	09: 05	05: 07
4th	Malta	00:27	00:12

Game results

10/31/1976	İzmir	Turkey	-	Malta	4: 0 (1: 0)
11/17/1976	Dresden	GDR	-	Turkey	1: 1 (1: 0)
December 05, 1976	Valletta	Malta	-	Austria	0: 1 (0: 0)
04/02/1977	Valletta	Malta	-	GDR	0: 1 (0: 0)
04/17/1977	Vienna	Austria	-	Turkey	1: 0 (1: 0)
04/30/1977	Salzburg	Austria	-	Malta	9: 0 (5: 0)
09/24/1977	Vienna	Austria	-	GDR	1: 1 (1: 1)
10/12/1977	Leipzig	GDR	-	Austria	1: 1 (0: 1)
October 29, 1977	Potsdam	GDR	-	Malta	9: 0 (3: 0)
10/30/1977	İzmir	Turkey	-	Austria	0: 1 (0: 0)
11/16/1977	İzmir	Turkey	-	GDR	1: 2 (0: 1)
11/27/1977	Valletta	Malta	-	Turkey	0: 3 (0: 2)

Group 4

Closing table
Pl.	country	Gates	Pt.
1	Netherlands	11: 03	11: 01
2	Belgium	07: 06	06: 06
3	Northern Ireland	07: 06	05: 07
4th	Iceland	02:12	02:10

Game results

05.09.1976	Reykjavík	Iceland	-	Belgium	0: 1 (0: 0)
09/08/1976	Reykjavík	Iceland	-	Netherlands	0: 1 (0: 1)
10/13/1976	Rotterdam	Netherlands	-	Northern Ireland	2: 2 (0: 1)
11/10/1976	Liege	Belgium	-	Northern Ireland	2: 0 (1: 0)
03/26/1977	Antwerp	Belgium	-	Netherlands	0: 2 (0: 1)
06/11/1977	Reykjavík	Iceland	-	Northern Ireland	1: 0 (1: 0)
08/31/1977	Nijmegen	Netherlands	-	Iceland	4: 1 (3: 0)
09/03/1977	Brussels	Belgium	-	Iceland	4: 0 (2: 0)
09/21/1977	Belfast	Northern Ireland	-	Iceland	2: 0 (0: 0)
10/12/1977	Belfast	Northern Ireland	-	Netherlands	0: 1 (0: 0)
10/26/1977	Amsterdam	Netherlands	-	Belgium	1: 0 (1: 0)
11/16/1977	Belfast	Northern Ireland	-	Belgium	3: 0 (1: 0)

Group 5

Closing table
Pl.	country	Gates	Pt.
1	France	7: 4	5: 3
2	Bulgaria	5: 6	4: 4
3	Ireland	2: 4	3: 5

Game results

09.10.1976	Sofia	Bulgaria	-	France	2: 2 (1: 2)
11/17/1976	Paris	France	-	Ireland	2: 0 (0: 0)
03/30/1977	Dublin	Ireland	-	France	1: 0 (1: 0)
06/01/1977	Sofia	Bulgaria	-	Ireland	2: 1 (1: 0)
10/12/1977	Dublin	Ireland	-	Bulgaria	0-0
11/16/1977	Paris	France	-	Bulgaria	3: 1 (1: 0)

Group 6

Closing table
Pl.	country	Gates	Pt.
1	Sweden	7: 4	6: 2
2	Norway	3: 4	4: 4
3	Switzerland	3: 5	2: 6

Game results

06/16/1976	Stockholm	Sweden	-	Norway	2: 0 (2: 0)
09/08/1976	Oslo	Norway	-	Switzerland	1: 0 (0: 0)
09.10.1976	Basel	Switzerland	-	Sweden	1: 2 (1: 1)
06/08/1977	Stockholm	Sweden	-	Switzerland	2: 1 (0: 0)
07.09.1977	Oslo	Norway	-	Sweden	2: 1 (1: 0)
10/30/1977	Bern	Switzerland	-	Norway	1: 0 (1: 0)

Group 7

Closing table
Pl.	country	Gates	Pt.
1	Scotland	6: 3	6: 2
2	Czechoslovakia	4: 6	4: 4
3	Wales	3: 4	2: 6

Game results

10/13/1976	Prague	Czechoslovakia	-	Scotland	2: 0 (0: 0)
11/17/1976	Glasgow	Scotland	-	Wales	1: 0 (1: 0)
03/30/1977	Wrexham	Wales	-	Czechoslovakia	3: 0 (1: 0)
09/21/1977	Glasgow	Scotland	-	Czechoslovakia	3: 1 (2: 0)
10/12/1977	Liverpool	Wales	-	Scotland	0: 2 (0: 0)
11/16/1977	Prague	Czechoslovakia	-	Wales	1: 0 (1: 0)

Group 8

Closing table
Pl.	country	Gates	Pt.
1	Spain	4: 1	6: 2
2	Romania	7: 8	4: 4
3	Yugoslavia	6: 8	2: 6

Game results

10/10/1976	Seville	Spain	-	Yugoslavia	1: 0 (0: 0)
04/16/1977	Bucharest	Romania	-	Spain	1: 0 (1: 0)
05/08/1977	Zagreb	Yugoslavia	-	Romania	0: 2 (0: 2)
10/26/1977	Madrid	Spain	-	Romania	2: 0 (0: 0)
11/13/1977	Bucharest	Romania	-	Yugoslavia	4: 6 (3: 2)
11/30/1977	Belgrade	Yugoslavia	-	Spain	0: 1 (0: 0)

Group 9

Closing table
Pl.	country	Gates	Pt.
1	Hungary	6: 4	5: 3
2	Soviet Union	5: 3	4: 4
3	Greece	2: 6	3: 5

Game results

09.10.1976	Athens	Greece	-	Hungary	1: 1 (0: 0)
04/24/1977	Moscow	Soviet Union	-	Greece	2: 0 (1: 0)
04/30/1977	Budapest	Hungary	-	Soviet Union	2: 1 (1: 0)
05/10/1977	Thessaloniki	Greece	-	Soviet Union	1: 0 (0: 0)
05/18/1977	Tbilisi	Soviet Union	-	Hungary	2: 0 (2: 0)
05/28/1977	Budapest	Hungary	-	Greece	3: 0 (2: 0)

Hungary qualified for the play-off games against Bolivia.

South American Zone / CONMEBOL

In the first round, a total of nine teams play in three groups of three. In the second round, the three group winners played two World Cup starting places in another group of three. The bottom of the group still had the chance to qualify for the World Cup finals via a play-off against the winner of Europe Group 9. Host Argentina was automatically qualified for the World Cup.  

First round

Group 1

Closing table
Pl.	country	Gates	Pt.
1	Brazil	8: 1	6: 2
2	Paraguay	3: 3	4: 4
3	Colombia	1: 8	2: 6

Game results

02/20/1977	Bogotá	Colombia	-	Brazil	0-0
02/24/1977	Bogotá	Colombia	-	Paraguay	0: 1 (0: 1)
03/06/1977	Asunción	Paraguay	-	Colombia	1: 1 (0: 0)
03/09/1977	Rio de Janeiro	Brazil	-	Colombia	6: 0 (4: 0)
03/13/1977	Asunción	Paraguay	-	Brazil	0: 1 (0: 0)
03/20/1977	Rio de Janeiro	Brazil	-	Paraguay	1: 1 (1: 0)

Group 2

Closing table
Pl.	country	Gates	Pt.
1	Bolivia	8: 3	7: 1
2	Uruguay	5: 4	4: 4
3	Venezuela	2: 8	1: 7

Game results

02/09/1977	Caracas	Venezuela	-	Uruguay	1: 1 (0: 1)
02/27/1977	La Paz	Bolivia	-	Uruguay	1: 0 (0: 0)
03/06/1977	Caracas	Venezuela	-	Bolivia	1: 3 (0: 1)
03/13/1977	La Paz	Bolivia	-	Venezuela	2: 0 (2: 0)
03/17/1977	Montevideo	Uruguay	-	Venezuela	2: 0 (1: 0)
03/27/1977	Montevideo	Uruguay	-	Bolivia	2: 2 (1: 1)

Group 3

Closing table
Pl.	country	Gates	Pt.
1	Peru	8: 2	6: 2
2	Chile	5: 3	5: 3
3	Ecuador	1: 9	1: 7

Game results

02/20/1977	Quito	Ecuador	-	Peru	1: 1 (0: 1)
02/27/1977	Guayaquil	Ecuador	-	Chile	0: 1 (0: 1)
03/06/1977	Santiago	Chile	-	Peru	1: 1 (1: 0)
03/12/1977	Lima	Peru	-	Ecuador	4: 0 (1: 0)
03/20/1977	Santiago	Chile	-	Ecuador	3: 0 (2: 0)
03/26/1977	Lima	Peru	-	Chile	2: 0 (0: 0)

Second round

Closing table
Pl.	country	Gates	Pt.
1	Brazil	9: 00	4-0
2	Peru	5: 01	2: 2
3	Bolivia	0:13	0: 4

Tournament in Cali , Colombia
match results

07/10/1977	Peru	-	Brazil	0: 1 (0: 0)
07/14/1977	Brazil	-	Bolivia	8: 0 (4: 0)
07/17/1977	Peru	-	Bolivia	5: 0 (2: 0)

Brazil and Peru qualified directly for the World Cup finals, Bolivia had to contest a play-off against Hungary.

North, Central American and Caribbean Zones / CONCACAF

A total of 16 teams took part in the qualification of the CONCACAF zone. Three teams from the North American Zone, four teams from the Central American Zone and nine teams from the Caribbean Zone initially identified two participants for the second round in the first round. This was played as a tournament in Mexico, the winner qualified for the finals of the 1978 World Cup in Argentina.

First round

North American Zone

Closing table
Pl.	country	Gates	Pt.
1	Mexico	3: 1	4: 4
2	Canada	2: 3	4: 4
3	United States	3: 4	4: 4

Game results

09/24/1976	Vancouver	Canada	-	United States	1: 1 (0: 1)
10/03/1976	los Angeles	United States	-	Mexico	0-0
10/10/1976	Vancouver	Canada	-	Mexico	1: 0 (1: 0)
10/15/1976	Puebla	Mexico	-	United States	3: 0 (2: 0)
10/20/1976	Seattle	United States	-	Canada	2: 0 (0: 0)
10/27/1976	Toluca	Mexico	-	Canada	0-0

Playoff

12/22/1976

Port-au-Prince

Canada

-

United States

3: 0 (1: 0)

Remarks:

1. ↑ The game took place on artificial turf
2. ↑ The game took place in a hall

Central American Zone

Closing table
Pl.	country	Gates	Pt.
1	Guatemala	15: 06	8: 4
2	El Salvador	10: 07	7: 5
3	Costa Rica	08: 06	6: 6
4th	Panama	07:21	3: 9
	Honduras waived

Game results

04/04/1976	Panama City	Panama	-	Costa Rica	3: 2 (0: 1)
05/02/1976	Panama City	Panama	-	El Salvador	1: 1 (0: 1)
07/11/1976	San Jose	Costa Rica	-	Panama	3: 0 (3: 0)
08/01/1976	San Salvador	El Salvador	-	Panama	4: 1 (2: 0)
09/17/1976	Panama	Panama	-	Guatemala	2: 4 (2: 0)
09/26/1976	Guatemala City	Guatemala	-	Panama	7: 0 (3: 0)
December 01, 1976	San Salvador	El Salvador	-	Costa Rica	1: 1 (1: 0)
December 05, 1976	San Jose	Costa Rica	-	Guatemala	0-0
December 8, 1976	Guatemala City	Guatemala	-	El Salvador	3: 1 (2: 1)
12/12/1976	Guatemala City	Guatemala	-	Costa Rica	1: 1 (0: 0)
December 15, 1976	San Jose	Costa Rica	-	El Salvador	1: 1 (1: 0)
December 19, 1976	San Salvador	El Salvador	-	Guatemala	2: 0 (2: 0)

Caribbean zone

Group A

1 round

07/04/1976	Georgetown	Guyana	-	Suriname	2: 0 (1: 0)
08/29/1976	Paramaribo	Suriname	-	Guyana	3: 0 (2: 0)
08/15/1976	Bridgetown	Barbados	-	Trinidad and Tobago	2: 1 (0: 0)
08/31/1976	Port of Spain	Trinidad and Tobago	-	Barbados	1: 0 (1: 0)
09/14/1976	Bridgetown	Barbados	-	Trinidad and Tobago	1: 3 (1: 1)

2nd round

11/14/1976	Paramaribo	Suriname	-	Trinidad and Tobago	1: 1 (1: 1)
11/28/1976	Port of Spain	Trinidad and Tobago	-	Suriname	2: 2 (1: 1)
December 18, 1976	Cayenne	Suriname	-	Trinidad and Tobago	3: 2 n.V. (2: 2, 0: 0)

Group B

Preliminary round

04/02/1976	Santo Domingo	Dominican Republic	-	Haiti	0: 3 (0: 3)
04/17/1976	Port-au-Prince	Haiti	-	Dominican Republic	3: 0 (2: 0)

1 round

07/30/1976	Oranjestad	Netherlands Antilles	-	Haiti	1: 2 (0: 2)
08/14/1976	Port-au-Prince	Haiti	-	Netherlands Antilles	7: 0 (4: 0)
08/15/1976	Kingston	Jamaica	-	Cuba	1: 3 (0: 1)
08/29/1976	Havana	Cuba	-	Jamaica	2: 0 (1: 0)

2nd round

11/28/1976	Havana	Cuba	-	Haiti	1: 1 (1: 0)
December 11, 1976	Port-au-Prince	Haiti	-	Cuba	1: 1 (0: 0)
December 29, 1976	Panama City	Cuba	-	Haiti	0: 2 (0: 0)

Second round

Closing table
Pl.	country	Gates	Pt.
1	Mexico	20: 05	10: 00
2	Haiti	06: 06	07: 03
3	El Salvador	08: 09	05: 05
4th	Canada	07: 08	05: 05
5	Guatemala	08:10	03: 07
6th	Suriname	06:17	00:10

Game results

10/08/1977	Monterrey	Guatemala	-	Suriname	3: 2 (2: 1)
10/08/1977	Monterrey	El Salvador	-	Canada	2: 1 (1: 0)
10/09/1977	Mexico city	Mexico	-	Haiti	4: 1 (1: 0)
10/12/1977	Mexico city	Mexico	-	El Salvador	3: 1 (1: 0)
10/12/1977	Mexico city	Canada	-	Suriname	2: 1 (1: 1)
10/12/1977	Monterrey	Guatemala	-	Haiti	1: 2 (0: 2)
10/15/1977	Monterrey	Mexico	-	Suriname	8: 1 (3: 1)
10/16/1977	Mexico city	El Salvador	-	Haiti	0: 1 (0: 1)
10/16/1977	Mexico city	Canada	-	Guatemala	2: 1 (2: 0)
October 19, 1977	Mexico city	Mexico	-	Guatemala	2: 1 (1: 1)
10/20/1977	Monterrey	El Salvador	-	Suriname	3: 2 (1: 0)
10/20/1977	Monterrey	Canada	-	Haiti	1: 1 (0: 0)
10/22/1977	Monterrey	Mexico	-	Canada	3: 1 (2: 1)
10/23/1977	Mexico city	Haiti	-	Suriname	1: 0 (1: 0)
10/23/1977	Mexico city	Guatemala	-	El Salvador	2: 2 (0: 1)

Asian Zone / AFC and Oceanic Zone / OFC

In the first round, 17 teams from Asia and Oceania played in five groups, including one group with five teams and four groups with three teams. The five group winners qualified for the second round, which was held in a group. The winner of the finals qualified for the World Cup finals in Argentina.

First round

Group 1 / Southeast Asia

All games took place in Singapore .

Closing table
Pl.	country	Gates	Pt.
1	Hong Kong	9: 05	6: 2
2	Singapore	5: 06	5: 3
3	Malaysia	7: 06	4: 4
4th	Indonesia	7: 07	3: 5
5	Thailand	8:12	2: 6

Game results

02/27/1977	Singapore	-	Thailand	2: 0 (0: 0)
02/28/1977	Hong Kong	-	Indonesia	4: 1 (0: 1)
03/01/1977	Malaysia	-	Thailand	6: 4 (4: 1)
03/02/1977	Hong Kong	-	Singapore	2: 2 (1: 1)
03/03/1977	Indonesia	-	Malaysia	0-0
05.03.1977	Thailand	-	Hong Kong	1: 2 (0: 1)
03/06/1977	Singapore	-	Malaysia	1: 0 (1: 0)
07.03.1977	Thailand	-	Indonesia	3: 2 (3: 1)
03/08/1977	Malaysia	-	Hong Kong	1: 1 (1: 1)
03/09/1977	Indonesia	-	Singapore	4: 0 (3: 0)

 Sri Lanka waived

Playoff

03/12/1977

Singapore

Singapore

-

Hong Kong

0: 1 (0: 1)

Group 2 / East Asia

Closing table
Pl.	country	Gates	Pt.
1	South Korea	4: 1	6: 2
2	Israel	5: 3	5: 3
3	Japan	0: 5	1: 7

Game results

02/27/1977	Ramat Gan	Israel	-	South Korea	0-0
03/06/1977	Ramat Gan	Israel	-	Japan	2: 0 (1: 0)
03/10/1977	Ramat Gan	Japan	-	Israel	0: 2 (0: 1)
03/20/1977	Seoul	South Korea	-	Israel	3: 1 (1: 0)
03/26/1977	Tokyo	Japan	-	South Korea	0-0
04/03/1977	Seoul	South Korea	-	Japan	1: 0 (0: 0)

Israel played in the East Asia group for political reasons. North Korea waived
 

Group 3 / Middle East

Closing table
Pl.	country	Gates	Pt.
1	Iran	8-0	8-0
2	Saudi Arabia	3: 7	2: 6
3	Syria	2: 6	2: 6

Game results

11/12/1976	Jeddah	Saudi Arabia	-	Syria	2: 0 (1: 0)
11/26/1976	Damascus	Syria	-	Saudi Arabia	2: 1 (1: 1)
07/01/1977	Riad	Saudi Arabia	-	Iran	0: 3 (0: 1)
01/28/1977	Damascus	Syria	-	Iran	0: 1 (0: 1)
04/04/1977		Iran	-	Syria	2: 0 1
04/22/1977	Shiraz	Iran	-	Saudi Arabia	2: 0 (1: 0)

¹ Syria did not compete in Iran for political reasons. FIFA scored the game 2-0 for Iran. Iraq renounced
 

Group 4 / Arabia

All games took place in Doha , Qatar .

Closing table
Pl.	country	Gates	Pt.
1	Kuwait	10: 2	8-0
2	Bahrain	04: 6	2: 6
3	Qatar	03: 9	2: 6

Game results

03/11/1977	Kuwait	-	Bahrain	2: 0 (2: 0)
03/13/1977	Qatar	-	Bahrain	2: 0 (1: 0)
03/15/1977	Qatar	-	Kuwait	0: 2 (0: 1)
03/17/1977	Kuwait	-	Bahrain	2: 1 (1: 0)
03/19/1977	Qatar	-	Bahrain	0: 3 (0: 1)
03/21/1977	Qatar	-	Kuwait	1: 4 (0: 3)

 United Arab Emirates waived

Group 5 / Oceania

Closing table
Pl.	country	Gates	Pt.
1	Australia	09: 03	7: 1
2	New Zealand	14: 04	5: 3
3	Chinese Taipei	01:17	0: 8

Game results

03/13/1977	Suva	Australia	-	Chinese Taipei	3: 0 (2: 0)
March 16, 1977	Suva	Chinese Taipei	-	Australia	1: 2 (1: 1)
03/20/1977	Auckland	New Zealand	-	Chinese Taipei	6: 0 (4: 0)
07/23/1977	Auckland	Chinese Taipei	-	New Zealand	0: 6 (0: 2)
03/27/1977	Sydney	Australia	-	New Zealand	3: 1 (0: 1)
03/30/1977	Auckland	New Zealand	-	Australia	1: 1 (1: 1)

Second round

Closing table
Pl.	country	Gates	Pt.
1	Iran	12: 03	14: 02
2	South Korea	12: 08	10: 06
3	Kuwait	13: 08	09: 07
4th	Australia	11: 08	07: 09
5	Hong Kong	05:26	00:16

Game results

06/19/1977	Hong Kong	Hong Kong	-	Iran	0: 2 (0: 1)
06/26/1977	Hong Kong	Hong Kong	-	South Korea	0: 1 (0: 0)
07/03/1977	Busan	South Korea	-	Iran	0-0
07/10/1977	Adelaide	Australia	-	Hong Kong	3: 0 (1: 0)
08/14/1977	Melbourne	Australia	-	Iran	0: 1 (0: 0)
08/27/1977	Sydney	Australia	-	South Korea	2: 1 (0: 1)
10/02/1977	Hong Kong	Hong Kong	-	Kuwait	1: 3 (1: 1)
10/09/1977	Seoul	South Korea	-	Kuwait	1: 0 (0: 0)
10/16/1977	Sydney	Australia	-	Kuwait	1: 2 (0: 1)
10/23/1977	Seoul	South Korea	-	Australia	0-0
10/28/1977	Tehran	Iran	-	Kuwait	1: 0 (0: 0)
10/30/1977	Hong Kong	Hong Kong	-	Australia	2: 5 (0: 3)
05/11/1977	Kuwait City	Kuwait	-	South Korea	2: 2 (0: 1)
11/11/1977	Tehran	Iran	-	South Korea	2: 2 (0: 1)
11/12/1977	Kuwait City	Kuwait	-	Hong Kong	4: 0 (3: 0)
11/18/1977	Tehran	Iran	-	Hong Kong	3: 0 (3: 0)
11/19/1977	Kuwait City	Kuwait	-	Australia	1: 0 (0: 0)
11/25/1977	Tehran	Iran	-	Australia	1: 0 (0: 0)
December 3rd, 1977	Kuwait City	Kuwait	-	Iran	1: 2 (1: 0)
December 4th, 1977	Seoul	South Korea	-	Hong Kong	5: 2 (2: 0)

African Zone / CAF

26 teams took part in the African World Cup qualification. The qualification was initially played in three rounds and three groups in the knockout system , then the three remaining teams played the World Cup participants in one group in two-legged matches. The group winners of the fourth round qualified for the World Cup finals in Argentina.

Preliminary round

07.03.1976	Freetown	Sierra Leone	-	Niger	5: 1 (1: 1)
03/21/1976	Niamey	Niger	-	Sierra Leone	2: 1 (1: 1)
03/13/1976	Ouagadougou	Upper Volta	-	Mauritania	1: 1 (0: 0)
03/28/1976	Nouakchott	Mauritania	-	Upper Volta	0: 2 (0: 1)

First round

Group A

10/17/1976	Lomé	Togo	-	Senegal	1: 0 (0: 0)
10/31/1976	Dakar	Senegal	-	Togo	1: 1 (0: 0)
10/10/1976	Accra	Ghana	-	Guinea	2: 1 (0: 0)
10/31/1976	Conakry	Guinea	-	Ghana	2: 1 (0: 0)
January 16, 1977	Lomé	Guinea	-	Ghana	2: 0 (2: 0)
12/12/1976	Casablanca	Morocco	-	Tunisia	1: 1 (1: 0)
01/09/1977	Tunis	Tunisia	-	Morocco	4: 2 i. E. (1: 1 n.V., 1: 0)
04/01/1976	Algiers	Algeria	-	Libya	1: 0 (0: 0)
04/16/1976	Tripoli	Libya	-	Algeria	0-0

Group B

10/16/1976	Freetown	Sierra Leone	-	Nigeria	0-0
10/30/1976	Lagos	Nigeria	-	Sierra Leone	6: 2 (4: 0)
		Zaire	-	Central African Republic	Central Africa renounced
09/04/1976	Ouagadougou	Upper Volta	-	Ivory Coast	1: 1 (0: 1)
09/26/1976	Abidjan	Ivory Coast	-	Upper Volta	2: 0 (2: 0)
10/17/1976	Brazzaville	Congo	-	Cameroon	2: 2 (0: 2)
10/31/1976	Yaoundé	Cameroon	-	Congo	1: 2 (1: 1)

Group C

		Kenya	-	Sudan	Sudan renounced
October 29, 1976	Cairo	Egypt	-	Ethiopia	3: 0 (2: 0)
11/14/1976	Addis Ababa	Ethiopia	-	Egypt	1: 2 (1: 1)
		Uganda	-	Tanzania	Tanzania waived
05/09/1976	Lusaka	Zambia	-	Malawi	4: 0 (2: 0)
05/30/1976	Blantyre	Malawi	-	Zambia	0: 1 (0: 0)

Second round

Group A

02/13/1977	Lomé	Togo	-	Guinea	0: 2 (0: 1)
02/27/1977	Conakry	Guinea	-	Togo	2: 1 (2: 0)
02/06/1977	Tunis	Tunisia	-	Algeria	2: 0 (0: 0)
02/28/1977	Algiers	Algeria	-	Tunisia	1: 1 (1: 0)

Group B

		Nigeria	-	Zaire	Zaire renounced
02/13/1977	Bouaké	Ivory Coast	-	Congo	3: 2 (2: 1)
02/27/1977	Brazzaville	Congo	-	Ivory Coast	1: 3 (1: 2)

Group C

02/06/1977	Nairobi	Kenya	-	Egypt	0-0
02/27/1977	Cairo	Egypt	-	Kenya	1: 0 (1: 0)
02/13/1977	Kampala	Uganda	-	Zambia	1: 0 (0: 0)
02/27/1977	Ndola	Zambia	-	Uganda	4: 2 n.V. (3: 2, 2: 1)

Third round

Group A

06/05/1977	Conakry	Guinea	-	Tunisia	1: 0 (0: 0)
06/19/1977	Tunis	Tunisia	-	Guinea	3: 1 (1: 1)

Group B

07/10/1977	Lagos	Nigeria	-	Ivory Coast	4: 0 (3: 0)
07/25/1977	Bouaké	Ivory Coast	-	Nigeria	2: 2 (1: 0)

Group C

07/15/1977	Cairo	Egypt	-	Zambia	2: 0 (1: 0)
07/31/1977	Lusaka	Zambia	-	Egypt	0-0

Fourth round

Closing table
Pl.	country	Gates	Pt.
1	Tunisia	7: 04	5: 3
2	Egypt	7:11	4: 4
3	Nigeria	5: 04	3: 5

Game results

09/25/1977	Tunis	Tunisia	-	Nigeria	0-0
10/08/1977	Lagos	Nigeria	-	Egypt	4: 0 (1: 0)
10/21/1977	Cairo	Egypt	-	Nigeria	3: 1 (2: 0)
11/12/1977	Lagos	Nigeria	-	Tunisia	0: 1 (0: 0)
11/25/1977	Cairo	Egypt	-	Tunisia	3: 2 (1: 0)
December 11, 1977	Tunis	Tunisia	-	Egypt	4: 1 (2: 0)

Intercontinental play-off Europe - South America

October 29, 1977	Budapest	Hungary	-	Bolivia	6-0
11/30/1977	La Paz	Bolivia	-	Hungary	2: 3

Web links

• FIFA.com - Argentina 1978
• RSSSF - Qualification for the Football World Cup 1978