1986 FIFA World Cup qualification
Overview
1986 FIFA World Cup
The 1986 FIFA World Cup, the 13th FIFA World Cup, was held in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-team format. Colombia had been originally chosen to host the competition by FIFA but, largely due to economic reasons, was not able to do so and officially...
qualification
FIFA World Cup qualification
The FIFA World Cup qualification is the process that a national association football team goes through to qualify for the FIFA World Cup Finals. The FIFA World Cup is a global event, so qualification is required to reduce the large field of participants from about 200 to 32.Qualifying tournaments...
rounds, competing for a total of 24 spots in the final tournament. Mexico
Federación Mexicana de Fútbol Asociación
The Mexican Federation of Football is the governing body of association football in Mexico. It administers the Mexican national team, the Mexican league and all affiliated amateur sectors, and is in charge of promoting, organizing, directing, spreading, and supervising competitive football in Mexico...
, as the hosts, and Italy, as the defending champions, qualified automatically, leaving 22 spots open for competition. The draw took place on 7 December 1983 at Zürich
Zürich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
, Switzerland.
The 24 spots available in the 1986 World Cup would be distributed among the continental zones as follows:
- Europe (UEFAUEFAThe Union of European Football Associations , almost always referred to by its acronym UEFA is the administrative and controlling body for European association football, futsal and beach soccer....
): 13.5 places, 1 of them went to automatic qualifier Italy, while the other 12.5 places were contested by 32 teams. The winner of the 0.5 place would advance to the Intercontinental Play-offs (against a team from OFC). - South America (CONMEBOLCONMEBOLThe South American Football Confederation , commonly known as CONMEBOL , is the continental governing body of association football in South America and it is one of FIFA's six continental confederations...
): 4 places, contested by 10 teams. - North, Central America and Caribbean (CONCACAFCONCACAFThe Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football is the continental governing body for association football in North America, Central America and the Caribbean...
): 2 places, 1 of them went to automatic qualifier MexicoFederación Mexicana de Fútbol AsociaciónThe Mexican Federation of Football is the governing body of association football in Mexico. It administers the Mexican national team, the Mexican league and all affiliated amateur sectors, and is in charge of promoting, organizing, directing, spreading, and supervising competitive football in Mexico...
, while the other 1 place was contested by 17 teams. - Africa (CAFConfederation of African FootballThe Confederation of African Football is the administrative and controlling body for African association football.CAF represents the national football associations of Africa, runs continental, national, and club competitions, and controls the prize money, regulations and media rights to those...
): 2 places, contested by 29 teams. - Asia (AFCAsian Football ConfederationThe Asian Football Confederation is the governing body of association football in Asia. It has 46 member countries, mostly located on the Asian continent. However, due to the disputed boundary of Europe and Asia, nations such as Russia and Turkey which are located mostly in geographic Asia are...
): 2 places, contested by 27 teams. - OceaniaOceaniaOceania is a region centered on the islands of the tropical Pacific Ocean. Conceptions of what constitutes Oceania range from the coral atolls and volcanic islands of the South Pacific to the entire insular region between Asia and the Americas, including Australasia and the Malay Archipelago...
(OFCOceania Football ConfederationThe Oceania Football Confederation is one of the six continental confederations of international association football, consisting of Papua New Guinea, New Zealand and island nations such as Tonga, Fiji and other Pacific Island countries...
): 0.5 place, contested by 4 teams (including IsraelIsrael Football AssociationThe Israel Football Association , also known as IFA, is the governing body of football in Israel. It organizes the football leagues, Israeli Premier League, Israeli State Cup, Toto Cup and the Israeli national football team. The association is based in Ramat Gan...
and Chinese TaipeiChinese Taipei Football AssociationChinese Taipei Football Association is the governing body of football in the Republic of China. Its official name in Chinese is the Football Association of the Republic of China, but it is billed as the Chinese Taipei FA abroad and uses the English initials on its badge .- History :* 1936:...
).
