1978 FIFA World Cup

The 1978 FIFA World Cup was the 11th edition of the men's FIFA World Cup. It was hosted by Argentina, and the last World Cup to be hosted by a South American country until the 2014 FIFA World Cup. This was the final World Cup with 16 countries; starting with the 1982 tournament, this was extended to 24 teams.

The defending world champions were West Germany. The West Germans failed to advance from the second round in an all UEFA group containing of the Netherlands, Austria and Italy. Under three points for a win, West Germany would finish last in their round two group.

The host country Argentina won the World Cup, defeating the Netherlands 3-1 after extra time in the final.

Qualified countries
Two countries qualified for the first time, Iran and Tunisia. Both teams would not return to a World Cup until the extension to 32 teams in 1998.

England failed to qualify for a second consecutive World Cup; losing to Italy in the qualifying. Uruguay and Bulgaria failed to qualify for the first time since 1958. Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia also failed to qualify for the finals.

Spain, France, and Hungary were back for the first time since 1966, while Austria qualified for the first time since 1958.


 * 🇦🇷 argentina
 * 🇦🇹 austria
 * 🇧🇷 brazil
 * 🇫🇷 france
 * 🇭🇺 hungary
 * 🇮🇷 iran
 * 🇮🇹 italy
 * 🇲🇽 mexico


 * 🇵🇪 peru
 * 🇵🇱 poland
 * 🇪🇸 spain
 * 🇸🇪 sweden
 * 🇹🇳 tunisia
 * 🇸🇪 sweden
 * 🇹🇳 tunisia