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.

Format

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.

Group play

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.

Summary

Group 1	Group 2	Group 3	Group 4	Group 5	Group 6	Group 7
Poland	West Germany	England	France	Hungary	Denmark	Spain
Belgium	Portugal	Northern Ireland	Bulgaria	Netherlands	Soviet Union	Scotland
Albania Greece	Sweden Czechoslovakia Malta	Romania Finland Turkey	East Germany Yugoslavia Luxembourg	Austria Cyprus	Switzerland Republic of Ireland Norway	Wales Iceland

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 -

UEFA play-off

16 October 1985	Belgium	1–0	Netherlands	Brussels, Belgium
	Vercauteren 20'	Report		Stadium: Constant Vanden Stock Stadium Attendance: 30,764 Referee: Pietro D'Elia (Italy)

20 November 1985	Netherlands	2–1 (2–2 agg.)	Belgium	Rotterdam, Netherlands
	Houtman 60' de Wit 72'	Report	Grün 85'	Stadium: de Kuip Attendance: 54,000 Referee: George Courtney (England)

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

Inter-confederation play-offs

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Scotland	2–0	Australia	2–0	0–0

Goalscorers

8 goals

6 goals

5 goals

4 goals

3 goals

2 goals

1 goal

1 own goal

External links

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