1990 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA)

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.

Format

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). One second-placed team was therefore eliminated.

Draw

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.

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

Results

Group 1

Main article: 1990 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group 1

Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Romania 6 4 1 1 10 5 +5 9 Denmark 6 3 2 1 15 6 +9 8 Greece 6 1 2 3 3 15 −12 4 Bulgaria 6 1 1 4 6 8 −2 3

Bulgaria – 0 – 2 4 – 0 1 – 3 Denmark 1 – 1 – 7 – 1 3 – 0 Greece 1 – 0 1 – 1 – 0 – 0 Romania 1 – 0 3 – 1 3 – 0 –

Group 2

Main article: 1990 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group 2

Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Sweden 6 4 2 0 9 3 +6 10 England 6 3 3 0 10 0 +10 9 Poland 6 2 1 3 4 8 −4 5 Albania 6 0 0 6 3 15 −12 0

Albania – 0 – 2 1 – 2 1 – 2 England 5 – 0 – 3 – 0 0 – 0 Poland 1 – 0 0 – 0 – 0 – 2 Sweden 3 – 1 0 – 0 2 – 1 –

Group 3

Main article: 1990 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group 3

Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Soviet Union 8 4 3 1 11 4 +7 11 Austria 8 3 3 2 9 9 0 9 Turkey 8 3 1 4 12 10 +2 7 East Germany 8 3 1 4 9 13 −4 7 Iceland 8 1 4 3 6 11 −5 6

Austria – 3 – 0 2 – 1 0 – 0 3 – 2 East Germany 1 – 1 – 2 – 0 2 – 1 0 – 2 Iceland 0 – 0 0 – 3 – 1 – 1 2 – 1 Soviet Union 2 – 0 2 – 1 1 – 1 – 2 – 0 Turkey 3 – 0 3 – 1 1 – 1 0 – 1 –

Group 4

Main article: 1990 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group 4

Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Netherlands 6 4 2 0 8 2 +6 10 West Germany 6 3 3 0 13 3 +10 9 Finland 6 1 1 4 4 16 −12 3 Wales 6 0 2 4 4 8 −4 2

Finland – 0 – 1 1 – 0 0 – 4 Netherlands 3 – 0 – 1 – 0 1 – 1 Wales 2 – 2 1 – 2 – 0 – 0 West Germany 6 – 1 0 – 0 2 – 1 –

Group 5

Main article: 1990 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group 5

Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Yugoslavia 8 6 2 0 16 6 +10 14 Scotland 8 4 2 2 12 12 0 10 France 8 3 3 2 10 7 +3 9 Norway 8 2 2 4 10 9 +1 6 Cyprus 8 0 1 7 6 20 −14 1

Cyprus – 1 – 1 0 – 3 2 – 3 1 – 2 France 2 – 0 – 1 – 0 3 – 0 0 – 0 Norway 3 – 1 1 – 1 – 1 – 2 1 – 2 Scotland 2 – 1 2 – 0 1 – 1 – 1 – 1 Yugoslavia 4 – 0 3 – 2 1 – 0 3 – 1 –

Group 6

Main article: 1990 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group 6

Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Spain 8 6 1 1 20 3 +17 13 Republic of Ireland 8 5 2 1 10 2 +8 12 Hungary 8 2 4 2 8 12 −4 8 Northern Ireland 8 2 1 5 6 12 −6 5 Malta 8 0 2 6 3 18 −15 2

Hungary – 1 – 1 1 – 0 2 – 2 0 – 0 Malta 2 – 2 – 0 – 2 0 – 2 0 – 2 Northern Ireland 1 – 2 3 – 0 – 0 – 2 0 – 0 Spain 4 – 0 4 – 0 4 – 0 – 2 – 0 Republic of Ireland 2 – 0 2 – 0 3 – 0 1 – 0 –

Group 7

Main article: 1990 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group 7

Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Belgium 8 4 4 0 15 5 +10 12 Czechoslovakia 8 5 2 1 13 3 +10 12 Portugal 8 4 2 2 11 8 +3 10 Switzerland 8 2 1 5 10 14 −4 5 Luxembourg 8 0 1 7 3 22 −19 1

Belgium – 2 – 1 1 – 1 3 – 0 1 – 0 Czechoslovakia 0 – 0 – 4 – 0 2 – 1 3 – 0 Luxembourg 0 – 5 0 – 2 – 0 – 3 1 – 4 Portugal 1 – 1 0 – 0 1 – 0 – 3 – 1 Switzerland 2 – 2 0 – 1 2 – 1 1 – 2 –

External links

• European Zone at FIFA.com
• UEFA Qualifier results with full game box scores at Scoreshelf.com