| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 26 March 1980 – 10 January 1982 |
| Teams | 109 (from 6 confederations) |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 306 |
| Goals scored | 795 (2.6 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) |  Gary Cole  Steve Sumner Brian Turner  Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (9 goals each) |
← 1978 1986 → | |
A total of 109 teams entered the 1982 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds, which began with the preliminary qualification draw on 14 October 1979 at Zürich, competing for a total of 24 spots in the final tournament, an increase from 16 in the previous World Cups. Spain, as the hosts, and Argentina, as the defending champions, qualified automatically, leaving 22 spots open for competition.
Contents
- Qualified teams
- Confederation qualification
- AFC and OFC
- CAF
- CONCACAF
- CONMEBOL
- UEFA
- Top goalscorers
- Notes
- External links
The 24 spots available in the 1982 World Cup would be distributed among the continental zones as follows:
- Europe (UEFA): 14 places, one to automatic qualifier Spain, while the other 13 places were contested by 33 teams (including Israel).
- South America (CONMEBOL): 4 places, one to automatic qualifier Argentina, while the other 3 places were contested by 9 teams.
- North, Central America and Caribbean (CONCACAF): 2 places, contested by 15 teams.
- Africa (CAF): 2 places, contested by 29 teams.
- Asia and Oceania (AFC and OFC): 2 places, contested by 21 teams.
109 teams entered
Withdrawals: Ghana, Uganda, Iran
Excluded: Central African Republic
105 teams competed
Automatically qualified: Spain, Argentina
A total of 103 teams played at least one qualifying match. A total of 306 qualifying matches were played, and 795 goals were scored (an average of 2.60 per match).
This was the last FIFA World Cup qualification that ended in the same year of the tournament until the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification.
