| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 19 May 1968 - 7 December 1969 |
| Teams | 29 (from 1 confederation) |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Top scorer |  Gerd Müller (9 goals) |
←1966 1974 → | |
| UEFA European qualifiers |
|---|
TheEuropean (UEFA) zone ofqualification for the1970 FIFA World Cup saw 29 teams competing for eight places at the finals. UEFA membersEngland qualified automatically as the defending champions. The qualification process started on 19 May 1968 and ended on 7 December 1969.
FIFA rejected the entry ofAlbania, whileIceland andMalta did not enter. The remaining 29 teams were drawn into eight groups, five groups of four teams and three of three teams. All eight group-winners qualified automatically.
The draw for the qualifying groups took place in Casablanca on 1 February 1968. During the draw procedure, entrants were drawn into the 8 qualifying groups from the four pots of seeds.
| Rank | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Romania | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 6 | +1 | 8 | Qualify for theWorld Cup |
| 2 |  Greece | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 13 | 9 | +4 | 7 | |
| 3 |  Switzerland | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 8 | −3 | 5 | |
| 4 |  Portugal | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 10 | −2 | 4 |
| Rank | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1= |  Hungary | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 16 | 7 | +9 | 9 | |
| 1= |  Czechoslovakia | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 6 | +6 | 9 | |
| 3 |  Denmark | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 10 | −4 | 5 | |
| 4 |  Republic of Ireland | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 14 | −11 | 1 |
Czechoslovakia and Hungary finished level on points, and a play-off on neutral ground was played to decide who would qualify. Czechoslovakia won the play-off to qualify for the World Cup.
| Rank | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Italy | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 3 | +7 | 7 | Qualify for theWorld Cup |
| 2 |  East Germany | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 5 | |
| 3 |  Wales | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 10 | −7 | 0 |
| Rank | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Soviet Union | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 1 | +7 | 7 | Qualify for theWorld Cup |
| 2 |  Northern Ireland | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 3 | +4 | 5 | |
| 3 |  Turkey | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 13 | −11 | 0 |
| Rank | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Sweden | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 5 | +7 | 6 | Qualify for theWorld Cup |
| 2 |  France | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 4 | +2 | 4 | |
| 3 |  Norway | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 13 | −9 | 2 |
| Rank | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Belgium | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 14 | 8 | +6 | 9 | Qualify for theWorld Cup |
| 2 |  Yugoslavia | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 19 | 7 | +12 | 7 | |
| 3 |  Spain | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 6 | +4 | 6 | |
| 4 |  Finland | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 6 | 28 | −22 | 2 |
| Rank | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Germany | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 20 | 3 | +17 | 11 | Qualify for theWorld Cup |
| 2 |  Scotland | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 18 | 7 | +11 | 7 | |
| 3 |  Austria | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 12 | 7 | +5 | 6 | |
| 4 |  Cyprus | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 35 | −33 | 0 |
| Rank | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Bulgaria | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 7 | +5 | 9 | Qualify for theWorld Cup |
| 2 |  Poland | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 19 | 8 | +11 | 8 | |
| 3 |  Netherlands | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 5 | +4 | 7 | |
| 4 |  Luxembourg | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 4 | 24 | −20 | 0 |
Wilfried PuisDinko DermendzhievVladimír HagaraLadislav KunaAndrej KvašňákWolfram LöweEberhard VogelTommy LindholmJean-Claude BrasGiorgos DedesLajos KocsisDon GivensSandro MazzolaJohny LéonardTheo PahlplatzTerry HarkinJacinto SantosBobby MurdochKakhi AsatianiVolodymyr MuntyanGivi NodiaAmancio AmaroBo LarssonFritz KünzliGeorges VuilleumierHelmut HallerJosip BukalMetodije SpasovskiWilhelm KreuzHelmut SiberAugust StarekLéon SemmelingDimitar PenevDimitar Yakimov
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Bronisław BulaJerzy WilimJosé Augusto de AlmeidaJacinto JoãoFernando PeresEmerich DembrovschiNicolae DobrinFlavius DomideBilly BremnerTommy GemmellEddie GrayWillie HendersonJimmy JohnstoneDenis LawBilly McNeillAnatoliy ByshovetsVitaly KhmelnitskyJuan Manuel AsensiMiguel Ángel BustilloPirriJoaquín SierraManuel VelázquezLeif ErikssonOve GrahnRoland GripÖrjan PerssonRené-Pierre QuentinEnder KoncaOgün AltıparmakMike EnglandDavid PowellJohn ToshackKlaus FichtelSigfried HeldHorst-Dieter HöttgesReinhard LibudaMax LorenzRudolf BelinIvica OsimMiroslav PavlovićDenijal PirićEdin SprečoJohann Eigenstiller (playing againstWest Germany)José Augusto Torres (playing againstGreece)Bruno Michaud (playing againstRomania)