| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 7 March 1976 – 11 December 1977 |
| Teams | 106 (not counted South Vietnam) (from 6 confederations) |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 252 |
| Goals scored | 723 (2.87 per match) |
| Top scorer |  Roberto Bettega (9 goals) |
← 1974 1982 → | |
A total of 106 (not counted South Vietnam) teams entered the 1978 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds, which began with the preliminary qualification draw on 20 November 1975 at Guatemala City. Argentina, as the hosts, and West Germany, as the defending champions, qualified automatically, leaving 14 spots open for competition.
Contents
- Confederation qualification
- AFC and OFC
- CAF
- CONCACAF
- CONMEBOL
- UEFA
- Inter-confederation play-offs: UEFA v CONMEBOL
- Qualified teams
- Top goalscorers
- Notes
- External links
The 16 places would be distributed among the continental zones as follows:
- Europe (UEFA): 9 or 10 places. One place went to automatic qualifier West Germany, while nine places were contested by 31 teams. The team coming ninth in qualifying would advance to the intercontinental play-offs against a team from CONMEBOL.
- South America (CONMEBOL): 3 or 4 places. One place automatically went to host nation Argentina, while the other three places were contested by 9 teams. The team coming third in qualifying would advance to the intercontinental play-offs (against a team from UEFA).
- North, Central America and Caribbean (CONCACAF): 1 place, contested by 17 teams.
- Africa (CAF): 1 place, contested by 26 teams.
- Asia (AFC) and Oceania (OFC): 1 place, contested by 21 teams (not counted South Vietnam).
From the remaining 104 teams, there were below withdrawals:
Central African Republic, Sudan, Tanzania, Zaire, Iraq, United Arab Emirates, Sri Lanka, North Korea, Honduras
A total of 95 teams played at least one qualifying match. A total of 252 qualifying matches were played, and 723 goals were scored (an average of 2.87 per match).
