1978 FIFA World Cup Netherlands and Brazil were the gold, silver and bronze medalists, respectively. Iran and Tunisia made their first appearances in the tournament. This was also the last World Cup tournament to use the original inclusion of 16 teams. Since the first World Cup in 1930, only 15 teams (plus the host, who automatically qualified) had been allowed to qualify (the reigning title holders also received automatic qualification from 1934 through 2002); but for the next World Cup, in Spain, FIFA expanded that tournament to 24 teams. The official match ball was the Adidas Tango. Argentina was chosen as the host nation
1978 FIFA World Cup squads 1978 FIFA World Cup squads Below are the squads for the 1978 FIFA World Cup final tournament in Argentina. Head coach: César Luis Menotti Note that this squad is numbered alphabetically by surname, unlike traditional numbering systems where the goalkeeper has shirt number 1 and so forth. Head coach: Michel Hidalgo Head coach: Lajos Baróti Head coach: Enzo Bearzot Head coach: José Antonio Roca Head coach: Jacek Gmoch Head coach: Abdelmajid Chetali Head coach: Helmut Schön Head coach: Helmut Senekowitsch Head coach: Cláudio Coutinho Head coach: Ladislao Kubala Head coach: Georg Ericson Head coach: Heshmat Mohajerani Head coach: Ernst Happel