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 qualification 1978 FIFA World Cup qualification A total of 107 teams entered the 1978 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds, which began with the preliminary qualification draw on 20 November 1975 at Guatemala City, competing for a total of 16 spots in the final tournament. Argentina, as the hosts, and West Germany, as the defending champions, qualified automatically, leaving 14 spots open for competition. The 16 spots available in the 1978 World Cup would be distributed among the continental zones as follows: A total of 95 teams played at least one qualifying match. A total of 252 qualifying matches were played, and