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) in association 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.