1982 FIFA World Cup qualification


A total of 109 teams entered the 1982 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds, which began with the preliminary qualification draw on 14 October 1979 at Zürich, competing for a total of 24 spots in the final tournament, an increase from 16 in the previous World Cups. Spain, as the hosts, and Argentina, as the defending champions, qualified automatically, leaving 22 spots open for competition.
The 24 spots available in the 1982 World Cup would be distributed among the continental zones as follows:
A total of 103 teams played at least one qualifying match. A total of 306 qualifying matches were played, and 797 goals were scored.

Qualified teams

The following 24 teams qualified for the 1982 FIFA World Cup:
TeamMethod of
qualification		Date of
qualification		Finals
appearance		Last
appearance		Consecutive
finals
appearances		Previous best
performance
Host6 July 19666th19782Fourth place
1978 FIFA World Cup Winners25 June 19788th19783Winners
CONMEBOL Group 1 Winners22 March 198112th197812Winners
CONMEBOL Group 3 Winners14 June 19816th19741Third place
CONMEBOL Group 2 Winners6 September 19814th19782Quarter-finals, Second round
UEFA Group 2 Winners9 September 19816th19701First round
UEFA Group 7 Winners10 October 19814th19783Third place
UEFA Group 6 Winners14 October 19815th19783First round
UEFA Group 1 Winners14 October 198110th19788Winners
CAF Final round Winners30 October 19811st—1—
UEFA Group 4 Winners31 October 19818th19782Runners-up
UEFA Group 5 Runners-up14 November 198110th19786Winners
1981 CONCACAF Championship Champions16 November 19811st—1—
UEFA Group 4 Runners-up18 November 19817th19701Winners
UEFA Group 6 Runners-up18 November 19812nd19581Quarter-finals
UEFA Group 3 Winners18 November 19815th19701Fourth place
UEFA Group 5 Winners21 November 19817th19741Fourth place
UEFA Group 1 Runners-up22 November 19815th19782Third place
1981 CONCACAF Championship Runners-up22 November 19812nd19701First round
CAF Final round Winners29 November 19811st—1—
UEFA Group 3 Runners-up29 November 19817th19701Runners-up
UEFA Group 2 Runners-up5 December 19818th19782Third place
AFC and OFC Final round Winners14 December 19811st—1—
AFC and OFC Final round play-off Winners10 January 19821st—1—

10 of the 24 teams subsequently failed to qualify for the 1986 finals: Austria, Cameroon, Chile, Czechoslovakia, El Salvador, Honduras, Kuwait, New Zealand, Peru and Yugoslavia.

Continental zones

To see the dates and results of the qualification rounds for each continental zone, click on the following articles:
;9 goals
;8 goals
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