1986 FIFA World Cup qualification explained

Tourney Name:	1986 FIFA World Cup qualification
Num Teams:	121
Confederations:	6
Matches:	308
Goals:	801
Top Scorer:	Preben Elkjær (8 goals)
Prevseason:	1982
Nextseason:	1990

121 teams entered the 1986 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds, competing for 24 places in the final tournament. Mexico, as the hosts, and Italy, as the defending champions, qualified automatically, leaving 22 spots open for competition. The draw took place on 7 December 1983 in Zürich, Switzerland.

The 24 spots available in the 1986 World Cup would be distributed among the continental zones as follows:

Europe (UEFA): 13.5 places, 1 of them went to automatic qualifier Italy, while the other 12.5 places were contested by 32 teams. The winner of the 0.5 place would advance to the intercontinental play-offs (against a team from OFC).
South America (CONMEBOL): 4 places, contested by 10 teams.
North, Central America, and Caribbean (CONCACAF): 2 places, 1 of them went to automatic qualifier Mexico, while the other place was contested by 17 teams.
Africa (CAF): 2 places, contested by 29 teams.
Asia (AFC): 2 places, contested by 27 teams.
Oceania (OFC): 0.5 place, contested by 4 teams (including Israel and Chinese Taipei). The winner of the 0.5 place would advance to the intercontinental play-offs (against a team from UEFA).

A total of 110 teams played at least one qualifying match. A total of 308 qualifying matches were played, and 801 goals were scored (an average of 2.60 per match).

Confederation qualification

AFC

See main article: 1986 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC).

Iraq and Korea Republic qualified.

CAF

See main article: 1986 FIFA World Cup qualification (CAF).

Algeria and Morocco qualified.

CONCACAF

See main article: 1985 CONCACAF Championship.

Canada qualified.

CONMEBOL

See main article: 1986 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONMEBOL).

Group 1 – Argentina qualified. Peru and Colombia advanced to the CONMEBOL play-offs.

Group 2 – Uruguay qualified. Chile advanced to the CONMEBOL play-offs.

Group 3 – Brazil qualified. Paraguay advanced to the CONMEBOL play-offs.

Play-offs – Paraguay qualified over Chile, Colombia and Peru.

OFC

See main article: 1986 FIFA World Cup qualification (OFC).

Australia advanced to the UEFA–OFC intercontinental play-off

UEFA

See main article: 1986 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA).

Group 1 – Poland qualified. Belgium advanced to the UEFA play-offs.

Group 2 – West Germany and Portugal qualified.

Group 3 – England and Northern Ireland qualified.

Group 4 – France and Bulgaria qualified.

Group 5 – Hungary qualified. Netherlands advanced to the UEFA play-offs.

Group 6 – Denmark and USSR qualified.

Group 7 – Spain qualified. Scotland advanced to the UEFA–OFC intercontinental play-off.

Play-offs – Belgium qualified over Netherlands.

Inter-confederation play-offs: UEFA v OFC

See main article: article and 1986 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA–OFC play-off).

The two teams would play against each other on a home-and-away basis. The winner qualified for the 1986 FIFA World Cup.

Qualified teams

The following 24 teams qualified for the 1986 FIFA World Cup:

width=200	Team	width=120	Date of qualification	width=80	Finals appearance	width=50	Streak	width=80	Last appearance
	18 October 1985	2nd	2	1982
	30 June 1985	9th	4	1982
	20 November 1985	7th	2	1982
	23 June 1985	13th	13	1982
	28 September 1985	5th	1	1974
	14 September 1985	1st	1	—
	13 November 1985	1st	1	—
	16 October 1985	8th	2	1982
	16 November 1985	9th	3	1982
	17 April 1985	9th	3	1982
	29 November 1985	1st	1	—
(defending champions)	11 July 1982	11th	7	1982
	3 November 1985	2nd	1	1954
(hosts)	20 May 1983	9th	1	1978
	18 October 1985	2nd	1	1970
	13 November 1985	3rd	2	1982
	17 November 1985	4th	1	1958
	11 September 1985	5th	4	1982
	16 October 1985	2nd	1	1966
	4 December 1985	6th	4	1982
	25 September 1985	7th	3	1982
	7 April 1985	8th	1	1974
	30 October 1985	6th	2	1982
	25 September 1985	11th	9	1982

(h) – qualified automatically as hosts

Top goalscorers

8 goals

Preben Elkjær

7 goals

Jorge Orlando Aravena Plaza
Lau Wing-Yip

6 goals

5 goals

Notes

West Germany lost a World Cup qualifying match for the first time on 16 October 1985, when they were defeated 0–1 by Portugal in Stuttgart, in what was their 37th World Cup qualifier (including games played by Germany before World War II). The other two losses that the (now-reunified) German team suffered in the competition also took place on home soil: 1–5 to England in Munich in 2001, and 1–2 to North Macedonia in Duisburg in 2021. With only three losses in over 100 games, Germany remains the team with by far the lowest loss ratio in the FIFA World Cup qualification.
Scotland manager Jock Stein died during their qualifier at Wales, suffering a heart attack immediately after the Scots scored a late equaliser.
Iraq qualified to their only World Cup up to date.