| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Teams | 32 (from 1 confederation) |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Top scorer(s) |  Marc Van Der Linden (7 goals) |
← 1986 1994 → | |
| UEFA European Qualifiers |
|---|
The European (UEFA) zone of qualification for the 1990 FIFA World Cup saw 32 teams competing for 13 places at the finals. UEFA members Italy qualified automatically as hosts of the finals. The qualification process started on 21 May 1988 and ended on 18 November 1989.
Teams were drawn into seven groups, four groups of five teams and three of four teams. All seven group-winners qualified automatically, with the runners-up in the four groups containing five teams (Groups 3, 5, 6 and 7) also qualifying. The two best second-placed teams in the three groups containing only four teams also qualified (Groups 1, 2 and 4), and the second-placed team with the worst record was eliminated.
The draw for the qualifying groups took place in Zürich, Switzerland on 12 December 1987. During the draw teams were drawn from the 5 pots into the 7 groups. The seedings below were announced ten days before the draw. Teams qualified to the final tournament are in bold. The Seeded teams were the 5 European sides who reached the 1986 Quarter Finals plus Soviet Union and Denmark though there were still security issues with England due to their fan issues in the form of hooliganism which was a factor with all 3 of their away games in the 1990 qualifying campaign being televised live by the BBC
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |  |  |  |  | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Romania | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 5 | +5 | 9 | Qualification to 1990 FIFA World Cup | — | 3–1 | 3–0 | 1–0 | |
| 2 | Denmark | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 15 | 6 | +9 | 8 | 3–0 | — | 7–1 | 1–1 | ||
| 3 | Greece | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 15 | −12 | 4 | 0–0 | 1–1 | — | 1–0 | ||
| 4 | Bulgaria | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 8 | −2 | 3 | 1–3 | 0–2 | 4–0 | — |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |  |  |  |  | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sweden | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 3 | +6 | 10 | Qualification to 1990 FIFA World Cup | — | 0–0 | 2–1 | 3–1 | |
| 2 | England | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 10 | 0 | +10 | 9 | 0–0 | — | 3–0 | 5–0 | ||
| 3 | Poland | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 8 | −4 | 5 | 0–2 | 0–0 | — | 1–0 | ||
| 4 | Albania | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 15 | −12 | 0 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 1–2 | — |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |  |  |  |  |  | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Soviet Union | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 11 | 4 | +7 | 11 | Qualification to 1990 FIFA World Cup | — | 2–0 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 1–1 | |
| 2 | Austria | 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 9 | 0–0 | — | 3–2 | 3–0 | 2–1 | ||
| 3 | Turkey | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 12 | 10 | +2 | 7 | 0–1 | 3–0 | — | 3–1 | 1–1 | ||
| 4 | East Germany | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 13 | −4 | 7 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | — | 2–0 | ||
| 5 | Iceland | 8 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 11 | −5 | 6 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 0–3 | — |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |  |  |  |  | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Netherlands | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 2 | +6 | 10 | Qualification to 1990 FIFA World Cup | — | 1–1 | 3–0 | 1–0 | |
| 2 | West Germany | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 13 | 3 | +10 | 9 | 0–0 | — | 6–1 | 2–1 | ||
| 3 | Finland | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 16 | −12 | 3 | 0–1 | 0–4 | — | 1–0 | ||
| 4 | Wales | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 8 | −4 | 2 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 2–2 | — |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |  |  |  |  |  | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yugoslavia | 8 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 16 | 6 | +10 | 14 | Qualification to 1990 FIFA World Cup | — | 3–1 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 4–0 | |
| 2 | Scotland | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 12 | 12 | 0 | 10 | 1–1 | — | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | ||
| 3 | France | 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 10 | 7 | +3 | 9 | 0–0 | 3–0 | — | 1–0 | 2–0 | ||
| 4 | Norway | 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 10 | 9 | +1 | 6 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 1–1 | — | 3–1 | ||
| 5 | Cyprus | 8 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 6 | 20 | −14 | 1 | 1–2 | 2–3 | 1–1 | 0–3 | — |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |  |  |  |  |  | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Spain | 8 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 20 | 3 | +17 | 13 | Qualification to 1990 FIFA World Cup | — | 2–0 | 4–0 | 4–0 | 4–0 | |
| 2 | Republic of Ireland | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 2 | +8 | 12 | 1–0 | — | 2–0 | 3–0 | 2–0 | ||
| 3 | Hungary | 8 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 8 | 12 | −4 | 8 | 2–2 | 0–0 | — | 1–0 | 1–1 | ||
| 4 | Northern Ireland | 8 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 12 | −6 | 5 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 1–2 | — | 3–0 | ||
| 5 | Malta | 8 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 18 | −15 | 2 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 2–2 | 0–2 | — |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | |  |  |  |  | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Belgium | 8 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 15 | 5 | +10 | 12 | Qualification to 1990 FIFA World Cup | — | 2–1 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | |
| 2 | Czechoslovakia | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 13 | 3 | +10 | 12 | 0–0 | — | 2–1 | 3–0 | 4–0 | ||
| 3 | Portugal | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 11 | 8 | +3 | 10 | 1–1 | 0–0 | — | 3–1 | 1–0 | ||
| 4 | Switzerland | 8 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 10 | 14 | −4 | 5 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 1–2 | — | 2–1 | ||
| 5 | Luxembourg | 8 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 3 | 22 | −19 | 1 | 0–5 | 0–2 | 0–3 | 1–4 | — |
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Germany | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 13 | 3 | +10 | 9 |
| England | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 10 | 0 | +10 | 9 |
| Denmark | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 15 | 6 | +9 | 8 |
Sokol Kushta Andreas Herzog Patrick Vervoort Christos Kolliandris Pambos Pittas Kent Nielsen Matthias Sammer John Barnes Peter Beardsley Gary Lineker Mika Lipponen Didier Deschamps Jean-Pierre Papin Attila Pintér István Vincze Pétur Pétursson John Aldridge Tony Cascarino Ray Houghton John Bosman Colin Clarke Rune Bratseth Jan Åge Fjørtoft Kjetil Osvold Ryszard Tarasiewicz Vítor Paneira Gavril Balint Rodion Cămătaru Dorin Mateuţ Ioan Sabău Ally McCoist Richard Gough Igor Dobrovolski Oleksiy Mykhaylychenko Johnny Ekström Lothar Matthäus Andreas Möller Karl-Heinz Riedle Faruk Hadžibegić Srečko Katanec Dragan Stojković Zlatko Vujović Ylli Shehu Heimo Pfeifenberger Manfred Zsak Jan Ceulemans Bruno Versavel Kalin Bankov Bozhidar Iskrenov Trifon Ivanov Hristo Kolev Anyo Sadkov Hristo Stoichkov Yiannos Ioannou Floros Nicolaou Jozef Chovanec Stanislav Griga Ivan Hašek Milan Luhový Ľubomír Moravčík Henrik Andersen Jan Bartram Lars Elstrup Michael Laudrup Kim Vilfort Thomas Doll Rainer Ernst Ulf Kirsten Paul Gascoigne Bryan Robson Chris Waddle Neil Webb Mixu Paatelainen Kari Ukkonen Laurent Blanc Eric Cantona Jean-Philippe Durand Christian Perez Franck Sauzée Daniel Xuereb Kostas Mavridis Tasos Mitropoulos Nikos Nioplias Imre Boda György Bognár József Kiprich Kálmán Kovács Atli Eðvaldsson Sigurður Grétarsson Ragnar Margeirsson Guðmundur Torfason Paul McGrath Kevin Moran Ronnie Whelan Guy Hellers Robby Langers Théo Malget Ruud Gullit Wim Kieft Erwin Koeman Ronald Koeman Graeme Rutjes Marco van Basten Michael O'Neill Steve Penney Jimmy Quinn Norman Whiteside Erland Johnsen Krzysztof Warzycha Jacek Ziober Rui Barros Paulo Futre Fernando Gomes João Pinto Frederico Rosa Gheorghe Hagi Gheorghe Popescu Gordon Durie Paul McStay Oleksandr Zavarov Genar Andrinúa Txiki Begiristain Fernando Juanito Julio Salinas Leif Engqvist Hans Holmqvist Klas Ingesson Niclas Larsson Peter Larsson Roger Ljung Mats Magnusson Christophe Bonvin Adrian Knup Alain Sutter Beat Sutter Dario Zuffi Oğuz Çetin Malcolm Allen Mark Bowen Dean Saunders Thomas Häßler Jürgen Klinsmann Pierre Littbarski Darko Pančev Predrag Spasić Vujadin Stanojković Safet Sušić Alan McDonald (playing against Spain) Anton Rogan (playing against Spain) Gary Gillespie (playing against Yugoslavia) Míchel (playing against Ireland) Alain Geiger (playing against Belgium)
