page_title: 1978 FIFA World Cup
section_title: Qualification
hierarchical_section_title: 1978 FIFA World Cup / Qualification
caption_attribution_description: Status of countries with respect to 1978 FIFA World Cup: &#160;&#160; Qualified for World Cup finals &#160;&#160; Failed to qualify for World Cup finals &#160;&#160; Did not enter World Cup &#160;&#160; Not an associate member of FIFA
context_page_description: The 1978 FIFA World Cup, the 11th staging of the FIFA World Cup, quadrennial international football world championship tournament, was held in Argentina between 1 and 25 June.
  The Cup was won by the host nation, Argentina, who defeated the Netherlands 3–1 in the final, after extra time. The final was held at River Plate's home stadium, Estadio Monumental, in the Argentine capital of Buenos Aires. This win was the first World Cup title for Argentina, who became the fifth team to be both hosts and world champions. Argentina, the Netherlands and Brazil were the gold, silver and bronze medalists, respectively. Iran and Tunisia made their first appearances in the tournament. This was also the last World Cup tournament to use the original inclusion of 16 teams. Since the first World Cup in 1930, only 15 teams had been allowed to qualify; but for the next World Cup, in Spain, FIFA expanded that tournament to 24 teams.
  The official match ball was the Adidas Tango.
context_section_description: England, Belgium, Czechoslovakia (the European champions) and the Soviet Union failed to qualify for the second World Cup in succession, losing out to Italy, the Netherlands, Scotland and Hungary respectively. 1974 Quarter-finalists East Germany and Yugoslavia were eliminated by Austria and Spain and thus also failed to qualify for the finals, along with Bulgaria which failed to qualify for the first time since 1958 after losing to France. Bolivia's win meant Uruguay failed to qualify for the first time since 1958. Newcomers to the finals were Iran and Tunisia; Austria qualified for the first time since 1958, while France, Spain and Hungary were back for the first time since 1966. Peru and Mexico returned after missing the previous tournament. For the first time, more than 100 nations entered the competition.
caption:   Countries that qualified for World Cup   Countries that failed to qualify   Countries that did not enter   Non-FIFA members
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