The

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

an (

UEFA The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...

) zone of

qualification Qualification may refer to: Processes * Qualifications-Based Selection (QBS), a competitive contract procurement process established by the United States Congress * Process qualification, ensures that manufacturing and production processes can ...

for the

1990 FIFA World Cup The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event for a second ...

saw 32 teams competing for 13 places at the finals. UEFA members

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

qualified automatically as hosts of the finals. The qualification process started on 21 May 1988 and ended on 18 November 1989.

Format

Teams were drawn into seven groups, four groups of five teams and three of four teams. All seven group-winners qualified automatically, with the runners-up in the four groups containing five teams (Groups 3, 5, 6 and 7) also qualifying. The two best second-placed teams in the three groups containing only four teams also qualified (Groups 1, 2 and 4), and the second-placed team with the worst record was eliminated.

Draw

The draw for the qualifying groups took place in

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

on 12 December 1987. During the draw teams were drawn from the 5 pots into the 7 groups. The seedings below were announced ten days before the draw. Teams qualified to the final tournament are in bold. The Seeded teams were the 5 European sides who reached the 1986 Quarter Finals plus Soviet Union and Denmark though there were still security issues with England due to their fan issues in the form of hooliganism which was a factor with all 3 of their away games in the 1990 qualifying campaign being televised live by the BBC

Summary

Results

Group 1

Group 2

Group 3

Group 4

Group 5

Group 6

Group 7

Ranking of second-placed teams from groups of four

Goalscorers

;7 goals *

Marc Van Der Linden Marc Angéle Vanderlinden (born 4 February 1964) is a Belgium, Belgian former football (soccer), footballer. He began his career with his local side SC Merksem before moving to Royal Antwerp FC in 1982. After seven seasons with the club he moved ...

;6 goals *

Mo Johnston Maurice John Giblin Johnston (born 13 April 1963) is a Scottish former football player and coach. Johnston, who played as a forward, started his senior football career with Partick Thistle in 1981. He moved to Watford in 1983, where he scored ...

;5 goals * Toni Polster * Flemming Povlsen * Manolo * Míchel * Kubilay Türkyilmaz *

Tanju Çolak Tanju Çolak (born 10 November 1963) is a Turkish former professional footballer who played as a forward. Club career Born in Samsun, Çolak made his debut for Samsun Yolspor. From there he was transferred to Samsunspor in 1981 where he was top ...

;4 goals * Michal Bílek * Tomáš Skuhravý *

Andreas Thom Andreas Thom (born 7 September 1965) is a German former professional footballer who played as a forward for BFC Dynamo, Bayer Leverkusen, Celtic and Hertha BSC. He played 51 times for East Germany throughout the 1980s and played ten times for ...

* Rui Águas * Rudi Völler ;3 goals *

Marc Degryse Marc Gabriel Degryse (born 4 September 1965), nicknamed ''Le Lutin d'Ardooie'' ("The Lutin/ Imp of Ardooie") and ''The Little One'',

* Brian Laudrup * Carmel Busuttil *

Gøran Sørloth Gøran Sørloth (born 16 July 1962) is a Norwegian former Association football, footballer. He was one of the best Striker (association football), strikers in Norwegian football during the late eighties and early nineties. Club career In the El ...

* Hennadiy Lytovchenko *

Oleh Protasov Oleh Valeriyovych Protasov (; born 4 February 1964) is a Ukrainian and Soviet former footballer who played as a striker. He was a key member of the Soviet Union national team throughout the 1980s; his 28 goals for the Soviet Union are second ...

* Emilio Butragueño * Rıdvan Dilmen *

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;2 goals * Sokol Kushta * Andreas Herzog * Patrick Vervoort *

Christos Kolliandris Christos Koliantris (born 30 March 1964) is a retired Cypriot football midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defe ...

* Pambos Pittas * Kent Nielsen *

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John Barnes John Charles Bryan Barnes (born 7 November 1963) is a former professional football player and manager. Often considered one of the greatest England players of all time and one of Liverpool's greatest ever players, Barnes currently works as an ...

Peter Beardsley Peter Andrew Beardsley (born 18 January 1961) is an English football coach and former footballer who played as a forward or midfielder. In 1987, he set a record transfer fee in the English game and represented his country 59 times between 1 ...

Gary Lineker Gary Winston Lineker ( ; born 30 November 1960) is an English Sports broadcasting, sports broadcaster and former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Striker (association football), striker. Lineker is the only player t ...

Mika Lipponen Mika Lipponen (born 9 May 1964) is a Finnish former association football, footballer. Playing career Lipponen played in Finland for Turun Palloseura, TPS, in Spain for RCD Mallorca, Real Mallorca, in the Netherlands for FC Twente and FC Emmen, B ...

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* Attila Pintér * István Vincze * Pétur Pétursson * John Aldridge *

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* John Bosman * Colin Clarke * Rune Bratseth * Jan Åge Fjørtoft * Kjetil Osvold * Ryszard Tarasiewicz *

Vítor Paneira Vítor Manuel da Costa Araújo (born 16 February 1966), known as Vítor Paneira, is a Portuguese former professional footballer who played as a right midfielder, currently a manager. He excelled in the late 80s and early 90s with Benfica, to ...

* Gavril Balint * Rodion Cămătaru * Dorin Mateuţ * Ioan Sabău *

Ally McCoist Alistair Murdoch McCoist (; born 24 September 1962) is a Scottish former association football, footballer who has since worked as a Manager (association football), manager and TV pundit. McCoist began his playing career with Scottish club St Jo ...

* Richard Gough * Igor Dobrovolski * Oleksiy Mykhaylychenko * Johnny Ekström *

Lothar Matthäus Lothar Herbert Matthäus (; born 21 March 1961) is a German association football, football pundit and former professional player and manager. He captained Germany national football team, West Germany to victory in the 1990 FIFA World Cup and was ...

Andreas Möller Andreas Möller (born 2 September 1967) is a German former professional Association football, footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. He is the head of the youth department at Eintracht Frankfurt. From 1985 to 2004 Möller played in ...

* Karl-Heinz Riedle *

Faruk Hadžibegić Faruk Hadžibegić (; born 7 October 1957) is a Bosnian professional football manager and former player. Club career During his career, Hadžibegić played for hometown club Sarajevo, Real Betis, Sochaux and Toulouse. He was an important member ...

* Srečko Katanec * Dragan Stojković *

Zlatko Vujović Zlatko Vujović (; born 26 August 1958) is a Croatian retired footballer who played as a striker. His twin brother, Zoran, was also a professional footballer. They were both Yugoslav internationals, and both spent a large part of their prof ...

;1 goal * Ylli Shehu * Heimo Pfeifenberger * Manfred Zsak * Jan Ceulemans * Bruno Versavel * Kalin Bankov * Bozhidar Iskrenov * Trifon Ivanov * Hristo Kolev * Anyo Sadkov *

Hristo Stoichkov Hristo Stoichkov Stoichkov (; born 8 February 1966) is a Bulgarian former professional Association football, footballer and current football commentator for TUDN. A prolific Forward (association football), forward, he is widely regarded as the g ...

* Yiannos Ioannou * Floros Nicolaou *

Jozef Chovanec Jozef Chovanec (born 7 March 1960) is a former professional footballer and manager. He took part in two major tournaments: the 1990 FIFA World Cup as a player for Czechoslovakia and UEFA Euro 2000 as manager of the Czech Republic. Career As a fo ...

* Stanislav Griga * Ivan Hašek * Milan Luhový * Ľubomír Moravčík * Henrik Andersen * Jan Bartram * Lars Elstrup *

Michael Laudrup Michael Laudrup (, born 15 June 1964) is a Danish professional Association football, football coach and former player. Renowned for his composure, passing, vision, technical skills, ball control, and dribbling ability, Laudrup is widely regarded ...

* Kim Vilfort *

Thomas Doll Thomas Jens Uwe Doll (born 9 April 1966) is a German professional Association football, football manager and a former Association football, football player. As a player, he played as an attacking midfielder for F.C. Hansa Rostock, BFC Dynamo, Ha ...

* Rainer Ernst *

Ulf Kirsten Ulf Kirsten (born 4 December 1965) is a German former professional footballer who played as a striker. Nicknamed ''Der Schwatte'' (dialect for ''Der Schwarze'', 'The Black One'), he is the first player in history to reach a total 100 caps play ...

Paul Gascoigne Paul John Gascoigne (, born 27 May 1967), nicknamed Gazza, is an English former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. Regarded as one of the best playmakers of his generation and one of the best English footballers of ...

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Neil Webb Neil John Webb (born 30 July 1963) is an English football manager, former footballer and television pundit. He primarily played as a midfielder but also played as a defender between 1980 and 1997, notably in the top flight for Manchester Uni ...

* Mixu Paatelainen * Kari Ukkonen *

Laurent Blanc Laurent Robert Blanc (; born 19 November 1965) is a French professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who played as a centre-back and is the manager of Saudi Pro League club Al-Ittihad Club (J ...

* Eric Cantona * Jean-Philippe Durand * Christian Perez * Franck Sauzée * Daniel Xuereb * Kostas Mavridis * Tasos Mitropoulos * Nikos Nioplias * Imre Boda * György Bognár * József Kiprich * Kálmán Kovács * Atli Eðvaldsson * Sigurður Grétarsson * Ragnar Margeirsson * Guðmundur Torfason * Paul McGrath * Kevin Moran * Ronnie Whelan * Guy Hellers * Robby Langers *

Théo Malget Théo Malget (born 2 March 1961) is a Luxembourgish retired international association football, footballer who played club football for FC Wiltz 71 and FC Avenir Beggen, as a midfielder. He is, as of August 2021, an assistant coach at FC Etzella ...

Ruud Gullit Ruud Gullit (; born Rudi Dil; 1 September 1962) is a former Dutch Association football, footballer and subsequent manager. Regarded among the greatest footballers of all time, he was also noted for his Utility player#Association football, abili ...

Wim Kieft Willem Cornelis Nicolaas "Wim" Kieft (born 12 November 1962) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a centre forward. Kieft went into punditry in 2001, occasionally appearing on football talk show '' Voetbal Inside'' A prolific ...

* Erwin Koeman *

Ronald Koeman Ronald Koeman (; born 21 March 1963) is a Dutch professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who is the manager of the Netherlands national football team, Netherlands national team. Koeman scor ...

* Graeme Rutjes *

Marco van Basten Marcel "Marco" Van Basten (; born 31 October 1964) is a Dutch former football manager and player who played as a striker for Ajax and AC Milan, as well as the Netherlands national team. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all t ...

* Michael O'Neill * Steve Penney * Jimmy Quinn *

Norman Whiteside Norman Whiteside (born 7 May 1965) is a Northern Irish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder and striker. Whiteside began his career at Manchester United, signing professional forms in 1982 at the age of 17 and quickly be ...

* Erland Johnsen *

Krzysztof Warzycha Krzysztof Ireneusz Warzycha (, ; born 17 November 1964) is a Polish former professional footballer who played as a forward for Ruch Chorzów and for Greek club Panathinaikos. At international level, he played for the Poland national team, sc ...

Jacek Ziober Jacek Ziober (born 18 November 1965) is a Polish former professional footballer who played as a forward. In years 1989 to 1993, he was a key player of Poland national football team. In 1990, he won the ''Piłka Nożna'' Polish Footballer of t ...

* Rui Barros * Paulo Futre * Fernando Gomes * João Pinto *

Frederico Rosa Frederico Nobre Rosa (6 April 1957 – 17 February 2019), known simply as Frederico, was a Portuguese professional footballer who played as a central defender. Club career Frederico was born in Castro Verde, Baixo Alentejo. During his club ...

Gheorghe Hagi Gheorghe Hagi (; born 5 February 1965) is a Romanian professional football manager and former player, who is currently the owner of Liga I club Farul Constanța. Deployed as an attacking midfielder, Hagi was considered one of the best players in ...

* Gheorghe Popescu * Gordon Durie * Paul McStay *

Oleksandr Zavarov Oleksandr Anatoliyovych Zavarov (; born 26 April 1961) is a Ukrainian former footballer and the former head coach of FC Arsenal Kyiv. He became first among Soviets footballers who got transferred to West European world class club when he was pi ...

* Genar Andrinúa * Txiki Begiristain *

Fernando Fernando is a Spanish and Portuguese given name and a surname common in Spain, Portugal, Italy, France, Switzerland, and former Spanish or Portuguese colonies in Latin America, Africa and Asia (like the Philippines, India, and Sri Lanka). It is e ...

Juanito Juanito is a given name or nickname, meaning "Little Juan" or Johnny. Notable people with the name include: Professional footballers * Juan Ignacio Gomez Taleb (born 1985), Argentinian forward * Juan Díaz Sánchez (1948–2013), Spanish forw ...

* Julio Salinas * Leif Engqvist * Hans Holmqvist * Klas Ingesson *

Niclas Larsson Niclas may refer to: Given name *Niclas Alexandersson (born 1971), retired Swedish football midfielder * Niclas Andersén (born 1988), Swedish ice hockey player *Niclas Bendixen, Danish actor, dancer and choreographer * Niclas Edman (born 1991), ...

* Peter Larsson * Roger Ljung * Mats Magnusson *

Christophe Bonvin Christophe Bonvin (born 14 July 1965) is a former Swiss Association football, footballer who played as a midfielder. He mostly played for FC Sion, but also for Servette FC, Servette and Neuchâtel Xamax. For Switzerland national football team h ...

* Adrian Knup * Alain Sutter * Beat Sutter * Dario Zuffi * Oğuz Çetin * Malcolm Allen * Mark Bowen * Dean Saunders *

Thomas Häßler Thomas Jürgen "Icke" Häßler (; born 30 May 1966) is a German former professional footballer. He played as a midfielder throughout his career. At club level, he made a century of appearances for four teams: 1. FC Köln, Karlsruher SC and 186 ...

Jürgen Klinsmann Jürgen Klinsmann (; born 30 July 1964) is a German professional Association football, football manager and former player. He played for several prominent clubs in Europe including VfB Stuttgart, Inter Milan, AS Monaco FC, Monaco, Tottenham Hot ...

Pierre Littbarski Pierre Michael Littbarski (; born 16 April 1960) is a German professional football manager and former player of 1. FC Köln and the West Germany national team. Known for his dribbling abilities, he was mainly used as an attacking midfielder ...

* Darko Pančev * Predrag Spasić * Vujadin Stanojković *

Safet Sušić Safet "Pape" Sušić (; born 13 April 1955) is a Bosnian professional football manager and former player. He was a gifted midfielder known for his dribbling skills and technical ability, and is strongly reputed to have been one of the finest Eur ...

;1 own goal * Alan McDonald (playing against

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

) * Anton Rogan (playing against

) * Gary Gillespie (playing against

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

) * Míchel (playing against

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

) * Alain Geiger (playing against

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

)

External links

European Zone
at FIFA.com
UEFA Qualifier results with full game box scores
at Scoreshelf.com {{DEFAULTSORT:1990 Fifa World Cup Qualification (Uefa)

FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA)

FIFA World Cup qualification The FIFA World Cup qualification is a set of competitive matches that a national association football team plays in order to qualify for one of the available berths at the final tournament of the men's FIFA World Cup. Qualifying tournaments ar ...