Group 2 consisted of four of the 32 teams entered into the European zone: England, Finland, Italy, and Luxembourg. 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, with the group's winner claiming the spot.
Standings
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Italy
|
6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 18 | 4 | +14 | 10 |
| 2 |  England
|
6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 15 | 4 | +11 | 10 |
| 3 |  Finland
|
6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 11 | 16 | −5 | 4 |
| 4 |  Luxembourg
|
6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 22 | −20 | 0 |
Matches
| Finland | 1 – 4 | England |
|---|---|---|
Paatelainen  27' |
Report | Pearson 14' Keegan 30', 60'Channon 56' |
| Finland | 7 – 1 | Luxembourg |
|---|---|---|
| A. Heiskanen 15' E. Heiskanen 22', 27'Rissanen 51', 61'Heikkinen 54'Mäkynen 82' (pen.) |
Report | G. Zender 52' |
| England | 2 – 1 | Finland |
|---|---|---|
| Tueart 4' Royle 51' |
Report | Nieminen 48' |
| Luxembourg | 1 – 4 | Italy |
|---|---|---|
| Braun 86' |
Report | Graziani 24' Bettega 44', 81'Antognoni 50' |
| Italy | 2 – 0 | England |
|---|---|---|
| Antognoni 36' Bettega 77' |
Report |
| England | 5 – 0 | Luxembourg |
|---|---|---|
| Keegan 9' T. Francis 58'Kennedy 65'Channon 68', 79' (pen.) |
Report |
| Luxembourg | 0 – 1 | Finland |
|---|---|---|
| Report | A. Heiskanen 57' |
| Finland | 0 – 3 | Italy |
|---|---|---|
| Report | Gentile 8' Bettega 56'Benetti 81' |
| Luxembourg | 0 – 2 | England |
|---|---|---|
| Report | Kennedy 31' Mariner 90' |
| Italy | 6 – 1 | Finland |
|---|---|---|
| Bettega 29', 38', 59', 62' Graziani 45'Zaccarelli 71' |
Report | Haaskivi 67' |
| England | 2 – 0 | Italy |
|---|---|---|
| Keegan 11' Brooking 80' |
Report |
| Italy | 3 – 0 | Luxembourg |
|---|---|---|
| Bettega 4' Graziani 11'Causio 56' |
Report |
Notes
- Only 31 of the entered teams actually competed in the qualification tournament: West Germany qualified for the World Cup automatically as defending champions.
External links
| 1978 FIFA World Cup qualification | |
|---|---|
| « 1974 1982 » | |
| AFC/OFC | |
| CAF | |
| CONCACAF | |
| CONMEBOL | |
| UEFA | |
| Play-offs | |