1986 FIFA World Cup qualification
Tournament details
Teams121 (from 6 confederations)
Tournament statistics
Matches played308
Goals scored801 (2.6 per match)
Top scorer(s)Denmark Preben Elkjær (8 goals)

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

Iraq and Korea Republic qualified.

CAF

Algeria and Morocco qualified.

CONCACAF

Canada qualified.

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

Australia advanced to the UEFA–OFC intercontinental play-off

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

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

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Scotland  2–0  Australia 2–0 0–0

Qualified teams

Final qualification status
  Country qualified for World Cup
  Country failed to qualify
  Country did not enter World Cup
  Country not a FIFA member

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

Team Date of qualification Finals appearance Streak Last appearance
 Algeria 18 October 19852nd21982
 Argentina 30 June 19859th41982
 Belgium 20 November 19857th21982
 Brazil 23 June 198513th131982
 Bulgaria 28 September 19855th11974
 Canada 14 September 19851st1–
 Denmark 13 November 19851st1–
 England 16 October 19858th21982
 France 16 November 19859th31982
 Hungary 17 April 19859th31982
 Iraq 29 November 19851st1–
 Italy (Defending champions) 11 July 198211th71982
 South Korea 3 November 19852nd11954
 Mexico (Hosts) 20 May 19839th11978
 Morocco 18 October 19852nd11970
 Northern Ireland 13 November 19853rd21982
 Paraguay 17 November 19854th11958
 Poland 11 September 19855th41982
 Portugal 16 October 19852nd11966
 Scotland 4 December 19856th41982
 Spain 25 September 19857th31982
 Uruguay 7 April 19858th11974
 Soviet Union 30 October 19856th21982
 West Germany 25 September 198511th91982

(h) – qualified automatically as hosts

(c) – qualified automatically as defending champions

Top goalscorers

8 goals
7 goals
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.
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