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 (UEFA) 1978 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA) Listed below are the dates and results for the 1978 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds for the European zone (UEFA) in association football. For an overview of the qualification rounds, see the article "1978 FIFA World Cup qualification". A total of 32 UEFA teams entered the competition. The European zone was allocated 9.5 places (out of 16) in the final tournament. West Germany, the defending champions, qualified automatically, leaving 8.5 spots open for competition between 31 teams. The 31 teams were divided into 9 groups of 3 or 4 teams each (five groups with