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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 –

Ranking of runners-up

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
West Germany	6	3	3	0	13	3	+10	9
England	6	3	3	0	10	0	+10	9
Denmark	6	3	2	1	15	6	+9	8

External links

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