1978 FIFA World Cup squads Jan Jongbloed wore number 8 because some of the players who had been in the Dutch squad at the 1974 FIFA World Cup, where the Netherlands used a purely alphabetical numbering system, were given the same numbers again in 1978. Hugo Hovenkamp withdrew from the squad before the tournament began, but after the deadline for naming replacement players had passed. The Netherlands thus went to the World Cup with only 21 players. Head coach: Marcos Calderón Manager: Ally MacLeod Each national team had to submit a squad of 22 players. All the teams included 3 goalkeepers, except Mexico who only
1978 FIFA World Cup deliberately sabotaging the Minella stadium's pitch to weaken Brazil's chances of success. For a list of all squads that appeared in the final tournament, see "1978 FIFA World Cup squads". With six goals, Mario Kempes is the top scorer in the tournament. In total, 102 goals were scored by 62 players, with three of them credited as own goals. In 1986, FIFA published a report that ranked all teams in each World Cup up to and including 1986, based on progress in the competition, overall results and quality of the opposition. The rankings for the 1978 tournament were as follows: