1978 FIFA World Cup™ Preliminary

For the first time the number of entries passed the one-hundred mark (even if the actual total fell back to two figures after various withdrawals). Among the most prominent teams not to survive the qualifiers were Uruguay, who were eliminated in the South American preliminaries.

Brazil and Peru were the other two South American teams in addition to the hosts, Argentina; Bolivia went into an inter-continental play-off against a strong Hungarian side and lost both matches. The Hungarians had left the Soviet Union behind them in their group, and Czechoslovakia also failed to make it. England lost only once in their six matches, against Italy in Rome, but the Italians went through thanks to a better goal difference.

Mexico, as usual, had a long road to the final round. In the preliminary group they ended level on points without the USA and Canada, also only managing to qualify thanks to goal difference; at home they had won all five of their matches and scored 20 goals in the process.

After almost 50 games in the Africa zone and a 4-1 win over Egypt, Tunisia earned their tickets to Argentina.

They were probably the most fortunate of all, having overcome their very first opponent, Morocco, on penalties (4-2) after two drawn matches.

In the Asia/Oceania zone Iran set the tone this time; they won convincingly four times in the first phase, earned six wins in the final elimination round, plus two draws against Korea Republic, and were never in danger of being overtaken.

The qualifying tournament was kicked off in the National Stadium in Freetown, Sierra Leone, on 30 October 1975 when the hosts beat Niger 5-1.

Probably the most difficult qualifying tournament in the history of the FIFA World Cup - effectively 95 countries were competing for 14 slots. 1982 would see a welcome expansion to the number of participants, from 16 to 24.

On 9 January 1977, Tunisia played host to Morocco and won on penalties after extra time. Referee Walter Hungerbühler from Switzerland set a precedent by ordering the first World Cup preliminary penalty shoot-out.

Europe 32 Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, England, Finland, France, German DR, Germany FR, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland Republic, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Scotland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Soviet Union, Wales, Yugoslavia

South America 10 Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela

CONCACAF 17 Barbados, Canada, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Netherlands Antilles, Panama, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, USA

Asia/Oceania 21 + 1 Australia, Bahrain, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Japan, Korea DPR, Korea Republic, Kuwait, Malaysia, New Zealand, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Syria, Thailand, United Arab Emirates + Israel

Africa 26 Algeria, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo, Cote d’Ivoire, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Libya, Malawi, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Upper Volta, Zaire, Zambia

Number of Teams participating for the first time in the Preliminary Competition: 15 Bahrain, Barbados, Dominican Republic, Guyana, Malawi, Mauritania, Niger, Panama, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Suriname, Chinese Taipei, Uganda, Upper Volta

• Yugoslavia became Serbia and Montenegro in February 2003, and in 2006 the two became independent from each other and are now 2 separate member associations.

• Zaire withdrew from the second round, to which they had qualified after the Central African Republic (their opponent in the first round) withdrew.

• Syria withdrew after playing four matches, stating that their student-based team’s college commitments prevented them from entering a credible team.

• Sri Lanka withdrew in 1977 when its government refused permission to pay the entry fee to the qualifying games.

• Vietnam’s entry was not accepted in 1954. South Vietnam was re-annexed by the North on 30.4.1975. South Vietnam entered 1974 and 1978 independently.

• Chinese Taipei had already entered the 1954/58 qualifiers but withdrawn again without playing a match.

Preliminaries tournament statistics (without taking into account technical and annulled results)
Matches (neutral field)	251 (28)
Goals Scored	721
Host Goals Scored	416 (57,7%)
Guest Goals Scored	211 (29,26%)
Neutral Goals Scored	94 (13,04%)
Home win	121 (48,21%)
Draws	48 (19,12%)
Away win	54 (21,51%)
Goals Scored (average per match)	2,87
High score (more than 3 goals)	77 (30,68%)
No Score Draw	15 (5,98%)
Attendance (*incomplete data)	7 622 198
Average viewers per match (*incomplete data)	32 573
Penalties awarded (*incomplete data)	43
Penalty goals	43
% Successful Penalty kicks (*incomplete data)	100%
Own goals	10
Cautions (on average) (*incomplete data)	352 (1,4)
Sent off (aver.)	31 (0,12) - 29/2
Players participated (*incomplete data)	2013

Legend
NEWCOMERS TO FINALS in upper case italics
(C) Defending champions, qualified automatically
(H) Host country, qualified automatically