1986 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA)

Listed below are the dates and results for the 1986 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds for the European zone (UEFA). For an overview of the qualification rounds, see the article 1986 FIFA World Cup qualification.

UEFA was allocated thirteen qualifying berths for the 1986 FIFA World Cup, and one place in a play-off, however Italy were the defending champions and qualified automatically, leaving 12.5 spots open for competition between 32 teams.

Europe's automatic qualifying berths were taken by Poland, West Germany, Portugal, England, Northern Ireland, France, Bulgaria, Hungary, Denmark, Soviet Union and Spain. Belgium and Scotland qualified through the UEFA Play off and UEFA / OFC Intercontinental Play-off respectively.

Tournament Structure

The 32 teams were divided into 7 groups. The teams would play against each other on a home-and-away basis. The number of teams and spots for each group were as follows:

• Groups 2, 3, 4 and 6 had 5 teams each. The group winners and runners-up would qualify.
• Groups 1, 5 and 7 had 4 teams each. The group winners would qualify. The runners-up of Groups 1 and 5 would advance to the UEFA Play-offs, while the runner-up of Group 7 would advance to the UEFA / OFC Intercontinental Play-off.

In the Play-offs, the 2 teams would play against each other on a home-and-away basis, with the winner qualifying.

Key to colours in group tables
	Team qualifies for the World Cup
	Team advances to the play-off

Draw

The draw for the qualifying groups took place in Zürich, Switzerland on 7 December 1983. During the draw teams were drawn from the 5 pots into the 7 groups. The seedings below were announced ten days before the draw.

Pot A	Pot B	Pot C	Pot D	Pot E
West Germany  Poland  France  England  Soviet Union  Austria  Spain	Northern Ireland  Belgium  Hungary  Scotland  Yugoslavia  Czechoslovakia  Denmark	Republic of Ireland  Wales  Netherlands  Romania  Sweden  East Germany  Greece	Bulgaria  Portugal   Switzerland  Iceland  Albania  Turkey  Cyprus	Norway  Finland  Malta  Luxembourg

Group 1

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  Poland 6 3 2 1 10 6 +4 8  Belgium 6 3 2 1 7 3 +4 8  Albania 6 1 2 3 6 9 −3 4  Greece 6 1 2 3 5 10 −5 4

Albania – 2–0 1–1 0–1 Belgium 3–1 – 2–0 2–0 Greece 2–0 0–0 - 1–4 Poland 2–2 0–0 3–1 -

Group 2

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  West Germany 8 5 2 1 22 9 +13 12  Portugal 8 5 0 3 12 10 +2 10  Sweden 8 4 1 3 14 9 +5 9  Czechoslovakia 8 3 2 3 11 12 −1 8  Malta 8 0 1 7 6 25 −19 1

Czechoslovakia – 4–0 1–0 2–1 1–5 Malta 0–0 – 1–3 1–2 2–3 Portugal 2–1 3–2 - 1–3 1–2 Sweden 2–0 4–0 0–1 - 2–2 West Germany 2–2 6–0 0–1 2–0 -

Group 3

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  England 8 4 4 0 21 2 +19 12  Northern Ireland 8 4 2 2 8 5 +3 10  Romania 8 3 3 2 12 7 +5 9  Finland 8 3 2 3 7 12 −5 8  Turkey 8 0 1 7 2 24 −22 1

England – 5–0 0–0 1–1 5–0 Finland 1–1 – 1–0 1–1 1–0 Northern Ireland 0–1 2–1 - 3–2 2–0 Romania 0–0 2–0 0–1 - 3–0 Turkey 0–8 1–2 0–0 1–3 -

Group 4

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  France 8 5 1 2 15 4 +11 11  Bulgaria 8 5 1 2 13 5 +8 11  East Germany 8 5 0 3 16 9 +7 10  Yugoslavia 8 3 2 3 7 8 −1 8  Luxembourg 8 0 0 8 2 27 −25 0

Bulgaria – 1–0 2–0 4–0 2–1 East Germany 2–1 – 2–0 3–1 2–3 France 1–0 2–0 - 6–0 2–0 Luxembourg 1–3 0–5 0–4 - 0–1 Yugoslavia 0–0 1–2 0–0 1–0 -

Group 5

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  Hungary 6 5 0 1 12 4 +8 10  Netherlands 6 3 1 2 11 5 +6 7  Austria 6 3 1 2 9 8 +1 7  Cyprus 6 0 0 6 3 18 −15 0

Austria – 4–0 0–3 1–0 Cyprus 1–2 – 1–2 0–1 Hungary 3–1 2–0 - 0–1 Netherlands 1–1 7–1 1–2 -

Group 6

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  Denmark 8 5 1 2 17 6 +11 11  Soviet Union 8 4 2 2 13 8 +5 10   Switzerland 8 2 4 2 5 10 −5 8  Republic of Ireland 8 2 2 4 5 10 −5 6  Norway 8 1 3 4 4 10 −6 5

Denmark – 1–0 3–0 4–2 0–0 Norway 1–5 – 1–0 1–1 0–1 Republic of Ireland 1–4 0–0 - 1–0 3–0 Soviet Union 1–0 1–0 2–0 - 4–0 Switzerland 1–0 1–1 0–0 2–2 -

Group 7

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  Spain 6 4 0 2 9 8 +1 8  Scotland 6 3 1 2 8 4 +4 7  Wales 6 3 1 2 7 6 +1 7  Iceland 6 1 0 5 4 10 −6 2

Iceland – 0–1 1–2 1–0 Scotland 3–0 – 3–1 0–1 Spain 2–1 1–0 - 3–0 Wales 2–1 1–1 3–0 -

Play-offs

Belgium  v  Netherlands

16 October 1985

Belgium	1 – 0	Netherlands
Vercauteren  20'	Report

Constant Vanden Stock Stadium, Brussels Attendance: 30,764 Referee: Pietro D'Elia (Italy)

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Netherlands  v  Belgium

20 November 1985

Netherlands	2 – 1	Belgium
Houtman  60' de Wit  72'	Report	Grün  85'

de Kuip, Rotterdam Attendance: 54,000 Referee: George Courtney (England)

The aggregate score was tied at 2–2, therefore Belgium qualified on away goals.

See also

• 1986 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONMEBOL)
• 1986 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONCACAF)
• 1986 FIFA World Cup qualification (CAF)
• 1986 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC)
• 1986 FIFA World Cup qualification (OFC)

External links

• FIFA.com Reports
• RSSSF Page
• Results and scorers
• UEFA Qualifier results with full game box scores at Scoreshelf.com