Group 1 consisted of four of the 32 teams entered into the European zone: Cyprus, Denmark, Poland, and Portugal. These four teams competed on a home-and-away basis for one of the 8.5 spots in the final tournament allocated to the European zone. The spot would be assigned to the group's winner.
Standings
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Poland
|
6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 17 | 4 | +13 | 11 |
| 2 |  Portugal
|
6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 6 | +6 | 9 |
| 3 |  Denmark
|
6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 14 | 12 | +2 | 4 |
| 4 |  Cyprus
|
6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 24 | −21 | 0 |
Matches
| Cyprus | 1 – 5 | Denmark |
|---|---|---|
Michael  10' |
Report | Simonsen 14' Tune-Hansen 19'Rasmussen 21'Bastrup 51', 76' |
| Portugal | 0 – 2 | Poland |
|---|---|---|
| Report | Lato 49', 77' |
| Denmark | 5 – 0 | Cyprus |
|---|---|---|
| B. Nielsen 54' H.M. Jensen 60' (pen.), 64'Røntved 68' (pen.)Kristensen 75' |
Report |
| Poland | 5 – 0 | Cyprus |
|---|---|---|
| Deyna 24' (pen.), 40' Szarmach 25'Boniek 58'Terlecki 76' |
Report |
| Portugal | 1 – 0 | Denmark |
|---|---|---|
| M. Fernandes 69' |
Report |
| Cyprus | 1 – 2 | Portugal |
|---|---|---|
| Stylianou 74' (pen.) |
Report | Chalana 36' Nené 76' |
| Denmark | 1 – 2 | Poland |
|---|---|---|
| Simonsen 50' |
Report | Lubański 7', 55' |
| Cyprus | 1 – 3 | Poland |
|---|---|---|
| Antoniou 13' |
Report | Lato 26' Terlecki 40'Mazur 82' |
| Poland | 4 – 1 | Denmark |
|---|---|---|
| Masztaler 27' Lato 38'Deyna 62'Szarmach 81' |
Report | Nygaard 66' (pen.) |
| Denmark | 2 – 4 | Portugal |
|---|---|---|
| Røntved 45' (pen.) A. Hansen 88' |
Report | Jordão 15' Nené 35'M. Fernandes 61'Machado 79' |
| Poland | 1 – 1 | Portugal |
|---|---|---|
| Deyna 36' |
Report | M. Fernandes 61' |
| Portugal | 4 – 0 | Cyprus |
|---|---|---|
| Seninho 11' Chalana 35'Vital 58'M. Fernandes 71' |
Report |
Notes
- Only 31 of the entered teams actually competed in the qualification tournament: West Germany qualified for the World Cup automatically as defending champions.
The Goals given to Henning Munk Jensen in the 5-0 defeat of Cyprus were in fact scored my Henning Jensen a different player.
External links
| 1978 FIFA World Cup qualification | |
|---|---|
| « 1974 1982 » | |
| AFC/OFC | |
| CAF | |
| CONCACAF | |
| CONMEBOL | |
| UEFA | |
| Play-offs | |