1978 FIFA World Cup Group A 1978 FIFA World Cup Group A Group A of the 1978 FIFA World Cup was one of two groups of nations competing for the De facto semifinals the 1978 FIFA World Cup. The group's first round of matches began on 14 June and its last matches were played on 21 June. All six group matches were played either at the Estadio Chateau Carreras in Córdoba, or the Estadio Monumental in the capital Buenos Aires. The group consisted of West Germany (the Defending Champions) as well as the Netherlands (the former runners up), Italy and Austria. The Netherlands advanced to the
National team appearances in the FIFA World Cup group stage. The first host ever to fail to advance past the first round was South Africa in 2010. † denotes the best result in the team's history, ‡ - the best result at the time of the competition (improved later). The defending World Cup champions were formerly granted an automatic spot in the Cup finals field. As of the 2006 tournament, this berth is no longer guaranteed. However, no defending World Cup champion has yet failed to qualify. Automatic berths have never been given for defending World Cup runners-up. Defending runners-up are 15-for-18 in qualification efforts for the following