1978 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group 4

Group 4 consisted of four of the 32 teams entered into the European zone:[1] Belgium, Iceland, Netherlands, and Northern Ireland. These four teams competed on a home-and-away basis for one of the 8.5 spots in the final tournament allocated to the European zone. The spot would be assigned to the group's winner.

Standings

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PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPts
1  Netherlands6510113+811
2  Belgium630376+16
3  Northern Ireland621376+15
4  Iceland6105212−102
Source: [citation needed]

Matches

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Iceland  0 – 1  Belgium
ReportVan Der Elst 73'
Referee: Carpenter (Republic of Ireland)

Iceland  0 – 1  Netherlands
ReportGeels 42'
Referee: Mulhall (Republic of Ireland)

Netherlands  2 – 2  Northern Ireland
Krol 64'
Cruyff 66'
ReportMcGrath 4'
Spence 88'
Referee: Martinez (Spain)

Belgium  2 – 0  Northern Ireland
Van Gool 29'
Lambert 52'
Report
Referee: Prokop (East Germany)

Belgium  0 – 2  Netherlands
ReportRep 19'
Cruyff 65'
Referee: Gonella (Italy)

Iceland  1 – 0  Northern Ireland
Albertsson 33'Report

Netherlands  4 – 1  Iceland
Van Hanegem 15'
Geels 18', 89' (pen.)
Rep 35'
ReportSigurvinsson 68'
Referee: Hirviniemi (Finland)

Belgium  4 – 0  Iceland
Van Binst 15'
Martens 20'
Courant 60'
Lambert 65'
Report
Referee: Thime (Norway)

Northern Ireland  2 – 0  Iceland
McGrath 67'
McIlroy 76'
Report

Northern Ireland  0 – 1  Netherlands
ReportW. van de Kerkhof 76'
Referee: Garrido (Portugal)

Netherlands  1 – 0  Belgium
R. van de Kerkhof 4'Report
Referee: Partridge (England)

Northern Ireland  3 – 0  Belgium
Armstrong 42', 74'
McGrath 58'
Report
Referee: Konrath (France)

Notes

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  1. ^ Only 31 of the entered teams actually competed in the qualification tournament: West Germany qualified for the World Cup automatically as defending champions.
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