Listed below are the dates and results for the 1978 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds for the African zone (CAF). For an overview of the qualification rounds, see the article 1978 FIFA World Cup qualification.
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | April 1st 1976 - December 11th 1977 |
| Teams | 22[1] (from 1 confederation) |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 41 |
| Goals scored | 119 (2.9 per match) |
| Attendance | 1,197,425 (29,205 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) |  Mahmoud El Khatib (6 Goals) |
← 1974 1982 → | |
A total of 26 CAF teams entered the competition. The African Zone was allocated 1 place (out of 16) in the final tournament.
Format
editThere would be five rounds of play:
- Preliminary Round, First Round, Second Round and Third Round: In each of these rounds, the teams were paired up to play knockout matches on a home-and-away basis. The winners would advance to the next round, until there would be 3 teams left.
- Final Round: The 3 teams would play against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winner would qualify.
Preliminary round
edit| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Sierra Leone 
|
6–3 |  Niger
|
5–1 | 1–2 |
Upper Volta 
|
3–1 |  Mauritania
|
1–1 | 2–0 |
| Niger | 2 – 1 | Sierra Leone |
|---|---|---|
Seydou  36'Kanfideni 52' |
Sango 37' |
Sierra Leone won 6–3 on agg. and advanced to the first round.
| Upper Volta | 1 – 1 | Mauritania |
|---|---|---|
| Kaboré 44' |
Coulibaly 68' (pen.) |
| Mauritania | 0 – 2 | Upper Volta |
|---|---|---|
| Zoma 32' Ouattara 52' |
Upper Volta won 3–1 on agg. and advanced to the first round.
First round
edit| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg | 3rd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Algeria 
|
1–0 |  Libya
|
1–0 | 0–0 | |
Morocco 
|
2–2 (2–4 p) |  Tunisia
|
1–1 | 1–1 | |
Togo 
|
2–1 |  Senegal
|
1–0 | 1–1 | |
Ghana 
|
3–5 |  Guinea
|
2–1 | 1–2 | 0–2 |
| Sierra Leone
|
2–6 |  Nigeria
|
0–0 | 2–6 | |
Congo-Brazzaville 
|
4–2 |  Cameroon
|
2–2 | 2–0 | |
| Upper Volta
|
1–3 |  Ivory Coast
|
1–1 | 0–2 | |
| Egypt
|
5–1 |  Ethiopia
|
3–0 | 2–1 | |
Zambia 
|
5–0 |  Malawi
|
4–0 | 1–0 | |
Zaire 
|
w/o |  Central African Republic
|
— | — | |
Kenya 
|
w/o |  Sudan
|
— | — | |
Uganda 
|
w/o |  Tanzania
|
— | — |
Algeria won 1–0 on agg. and advanced to the second round.
The aggregate score was tied 2–2, but Tunisia won 4–2 on penalties in the second leg to advance to the second round. This was the first penalty shootout in a World Cup match.[2]
Togo won 2–1 on agg. and advanced to the second round.
The aggregate score was tied 3–3, and a play-off on neutral ground was played to decide who would advance to the second round.
| Ghana | 0 – 2 | Guinea |
|---|---|---|
| Papa Camara 3' S. Sylla 31' |
Guinea advanced to the second round, via the play-off.
| Sierra Leone | 0 – 0 | Nigeria |
|---|---|---|
| Nigeria | 6 – 2 | Sierra Leone |
|---|---|---|
| Odegbami 25' Atuegbu 31', 34'Usiyan 40'Emeteole 63'Awesu 77' |
Dyfan 74' Sama 88' (pen.) |
Nigeria won 6–2 on agg. and advanced to the second round.
Congo-Brazzaville won 4–2 on agg. and advanced to the second round.
| Upper Volta | 1 – 1 | Ivory Coast |
|---|---|---|
| Kaboré 70' |
Bawa 36' |
| Ivory Coast | 2 – 0 | Upper Volta |
|---|---|---|
| Kouame 17' Kouman 34' |
Côte d'Ivoire won 3–1 on agg. and advanced to the second round.
Egypt won 5–1 on agg. and advanced to the second round.
Zambia won 5–0 on agg. and advanced to the second round.
| Zaire | w/o | Central African Republic |
|---|---|---|
| Withdrew |
Central African Republic withdrew, so Zaire advanced to the second round automatically.
Sudan withdrew, so Kenya advanced to the second round automatically.
Tanzania withdrew, so Uganda advanced to the second round automatically.
Second round
edit| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tunisia
|
3–1 | Algeria
|
2–0 | 1–1 |
| Togo
|
1–4 | Guinea
|
0–2 | 1–2 |
| Ivory Coast
|
6–3 | Congo-Brazzaville
|
3–2 | 3–1 |
| Kenya
|
0–1 | Egypt
|
0–0 | 0–1 |
| Uganda
|
3–4 | Zambia
|
1–0 | 2–4 (aet) |
| Nigeria
|
w/o | Zaire
|
— | — |
Tunisia won 3–1 on agg. and advanced to the third round.
| Togo | 0 – 2 | Guinea |
|---|---|---|
| Bangoura 15' Souleymane 84' |
Guinea won 4–1 on agg. and advanced to the third round.
| Ivory Coast | 3 – 2 | Congo-Brazzaville |
|---|---|---|
| G'Bize 10' Mamahou 20'Kouman 81' |
Bahamboula 36' N'Domba 89' |
| Congo-Brazzaville | 1 – 3 | Ivory Coast |
|---|---|---|
| Lingongo 23' |
Kouman 10' Miézan 38'G'Bize 82' |
Ivory Coast won 6–3 on agg. and advanced to the third round.
Egypt won 1–0 on agg. and advanced to the third round.
Zambia won 4–3 on agg. and advanced to the third round.
Zaire withdrew, so Nigeria advanced to the third round automatically.
Third round
edit| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Guinea
|
2–3 | Tunisia
|
1–0 | 1–3 |
| Nigeria
|
6–2 | Ivory Coast
|
4–0 | 2–2 |
| Egypt
|
2–0 | Zambia
|
2–0 | 0–0 |
Tunisia won 3–2 on agg. and advanced to the Final Round.
| Ivory Coast | 2 – 2 | Nigeria |
|---|---|---|
| Mamahou 37', 58' |
Odegbami 74' Amiesimaka 89' |
Nigeria won 6–2 on agg. and advanced to the Final Round.
Egypt won 2–0 on agg. and advanced to the Final Round.
Final round
edit| Rank | Team | Pts | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tunisia
|
5 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 4 | +3 |
| 2 | Egypt
|
4 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 11 | −4 |
| 3 | Nigeria
|
3 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 4 | +1 |
Tunisia qualified.
Qualified teams
edit| Team | Qualified as | Qualified on | Previous appearances in FIFA World Cup1 |
|---|---|---|---|
 Tunisia |
Final Round winners | 11 December 1977 | 0 (debut) |
- 1 Bold indicates champions for that year. Italic indicates hosts for that year.
Goalscorers
edit- 6 goals
- 4 goals
- 3 goals
- 2 goals
- 1 goal
Omar Betrouni- Mahmoud Guendouz
Jean Manga Onguéné
Jonas Bahamboula- Daniel Ebomoa
- Pierre Lingongo
- Joseph Mounoudzi
- Joseph Wamba
Gaston Bawa- Lucien Kouassi Kouame
- Pascal Miézan
Ahmed Abdel Baki- Maher Hammam
- Ossama Khalil
- Mokhtar Mokhtar
Tekalinge Kassahun
Opoku Afriyle- Ofei Ansah
- Ibrahim Kassum
Ousmane Badara Bangoura- Youssuf Camara
- Mamadou Aliou Keita
- Chérif Souleymane
- Ali Sylla
- Ismael Sylla
- Seydouba Sylla
- Ousmane Thiam Tollo
Gagny Coulibaly
Abdelghani Lakhal- Mustapha Tahir
Boukari Adamou- Moussa Kanfideni
- Sanda Seydou
Adokie Amiesimaka- Kunle Awesu
- Christian Chukwu
- Kelechi Emeteole
- Johnny N'Wadioha
- Samuel Ojebode
Abdoulaye Ba
Ismail Dyfan- Mohammed Sama
- William Sango
- Samuel Tray
Anani Afanou- Tabania Ametepé
- Alirou Rachidou
Tarak Dhiab- Amor Jebali
- Néjib Liman
- Ali Kaabi
- Moncef Khouini
Abdulla Nasur- Denis Obua
- Polly Ouma
Joseph Ouattara- Kouligo Zoma
Alex Chola- Obby Kapita
- 1 own goal
Jack Chamangwana (playing against Zambia)- Godwin Odiye (playing against Tunisia)
See also
editNotes
edit- ^ Central African Republic, Sudan, Tanzania, and Zaire withdrew without playing a single match.
- ^ Communications Division (27 July 2007). "History of the FIFA World Cup Preliminary Competition (by year)" (PDF). Good to Know. FIFA. p. 22. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 June 2010. Retrieved 5 May 2009.
- ^ The second leg was abandoned in the 82nd minute due to riots, and subsequently FIFA awarded a 2–0 victory to Congo.