Listed below are the dates and results for the 1978 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds for the African zone (CAF). For an overview of the qualification rounds, see the article 1978 FIFA World Cup qualification.
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | April 1st 1976 - December 11th 1977 |
| Teams | 22 (from 1 confederation) |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 41 |
| Goals scored | 119 (2.9 per match) |
| Attendance | 1,197,425 (29,205 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) |  Mahmoud El Khatib (6 Goals) |
A total of 26 CAF teams entered the competition. The African Zone was allocated 1 place (out of 16) in the final tournament.
Format
There would be five rounds of play:
- Preliminary Round, First Round, Second Round and Third Round: In each of these rounds, the teams were paired up to play knockout matches on a home-and-away basis. The winners would advance to the next round, until there would be 3 teams left.
- Final Round: The 3 teams would play against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winner would qualify.
Preliminary round
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sierra Leone | 6–3 | Niger | 5–1 | 1–2 |
| Upper Volta | 3–1 | Mauritania | 1–1 | 2–0 |
| Sierra Leone | 5 – 1 | Niger |
|---|---|---|
| Dumbuya 37', 68' Sounomu 57', 66' Tray 70' | Adamou 17' |
| Niger | 2 – 1 | Sierra Leone |
|---|---|---|
| Seydou 36' Kanfideni 52' | Sango 37' |
Sierra Leone won 6–3 on agg. and advanced to the first round.
| Upper Volta | 1 – 1 | Mauritania |
|---|---|---|
| Kaboré 44' | Coulibaly 68' (pen.) |
| Mauritania | 0 – 2 | Upper Volta |
|---|---|---|
| Zoma 32' Ouattara 52' |
Upper Volta won 3–1 on agg. and advanced to the first round.
First round
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg | 3rd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Algeria | 1–0 | Libya | 1–0 | 0–0 | |
| Morocco | 2–2 (2–4 p) | Tunisia | 1–1 | 1–1 | |
| Togo | 2–1 | Senegal | 1–0 | 1–1 | |
| Ghana | 3–5 | Guinea | 2–1 | 1–2 | 0–2 |
| Sierra Leone | 2–6 | Nigeria | 0–0 | 2–6 | |
| Congo-Brazzaville | 4–2 | Cameroon | 2–2 | 2–0 | |
| Upper Volta | 1–3 | Ivory Coast | 1–1 | 0–2 | |
| Egypt | 5–1 | Ethiopia | 3–0 | 2–1 | |
| Zambia | 5–0 | Malawi | 4–0 | 1–0 | |
| Zaire | w/o | Central African Republic | — | — | |
| Kenya | w/o | Sudan | — | — | |
| Uganda | w/o | Tanzania | — | — |
Algeria won 1–0 on agg. and advanced to the second round.
The aggregate score was tied 2–2, but Tunisia won 4–2 on penalties in the second leg to advance to the second round. This was the first penalty shootout in a World Cup match.
Togo won 2–1 on agg. and advanced to the second round.
The aggregate score was tied 3–3, and a play-off on neutral ground was played to decide who would advance to the second round.
| Ghana | 0 – 2 | Guinea |
|---|---|---|
| Papa Camara 3' S. Sylla 31' |
Guinea advanced to the second round, via the play-off.
| Sierra Leone | 0 – 0 | Nigeria |
|---|---|---|
| Nigeria | 6 – 2 | Sierra Leone |
|---|---|---|
| Odegbami 25' Atuegbu 31', 34' Usiyan 40' Emeteole 63' Awesu 77' | Dyfan 74' Sama 88' (pen.) |
Nigeria won 6–2 on agg. and advanced to the second round.
| Cameroon | 0 – 2 Awarded (1 – 2 82') | Congo-Brazzaville |
|---|---|---|
| Milla 7' | Ebomoa 19' N'Domba 52' |
Congo-Brazzaville won 4–2 on agg. and advanced to the second round.
| Upper Volta | 1 – 1 | Ivory Coast |
|---|---|---|
| Kaboré 70' | Bawa 36' |
| Ivory Coast | 2 – 0 | Upper Volta |
|---|---|---|
| Kouame 17' Kouman 34' |
Côte d'Ivoire won 3–1 on agg. and advanced to the second round.
Egypt won 5–1 on agg. and advanced to the second round.
Zambia won 5–0 on agg. and advanced to the second round.
| Zaire | w/o | Central African Republic |
|---|---|---|
| Withdrew |
Central African Republic withdrew, so Zaire advanced to the second round automatically.
Sudan withdrew, so Kenya advanced to the second round automatically.
Tanzania withdrew, so Uganda advanced to the second round automatically.
Second round
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tunisia | 3–1 | Algeria | 2–0 | 1–1 |
| Togo | 1–4 | Guinea | 0–2 | 1–2 |
| Ivory Coast | 6–3 | Congo-Brazzaville | 3–2 | 3–1 |
| Kenya | 0–1 | Egypt | 0–0 | 0–1 |
| Uganda | 3–4 | Zambia | 1–0 | 2–4 (aet) |
| Nigeria | w/o | Zaire | — | — |
Tunisia won 3–1 on agg. and advanced to the third round.
| Togo | 0 – 2 | Guinea |
|---|---|---|
| Bangoura 15' Souleymane 84' |
| Guinea | 2 – 1 | Togo |
|---|---|---|
| Papa Camara 36' Tollo 40' (pen.) | Ametepé 55' |
Guinea won 4–1 on agg. and advanced to the third round.
| Ivory Coast | 3 – 2 | Congo-Brazzaville |
|---|---|---|
| G'Bize 10' Mamahou 20' Kouman 81' | Bahamboula 36' N'Domba 89' |
| Congo-Brazzaville | 1 – 3 | Ivory Coast |
|---|---|---|
| Lingongo 23' | Kouman 10' Miézan 38' G'Bize 82' |
Ivory Coast won 6–3 on agg. and advanced to the third round.
Egypt won 1–0 on agg. and advanced to the third round.
Zambia won 4–3 on agg. and advanced to the third round.
Zaire withdrew, so Nigeria advanced to the third round automatically.
Third round
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Guinea | 2–3 | Tunisia | 1–0 | 1–3 |
| Nigeria | 6–2 | Ivory Coast | 4–0 | 2–2 |
| Egypt | 2–0 | Zambia | 2–0 | 0–0 |
Tunisia won 3–2 on agg. and advanced to the Final Round.
| Ivory Coast | 2 – 2 | Nigeria |
|---|---|---|
| Mamahou 37', 58' | Odegbami 74' Amiesimaka 89' |
Nigeria won 6–2 on agg. and advanced to the Final Round.
Egypt won 2–0 on agg. and advanced to the Final Round.
Final round
| Rank | Team | Pts | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tunisia | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 4 | +3 |
| 2 | Egypt | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 11 | −4 |
| 3 | Nigeria | 4 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 4 | +1 |
Tunisia qualified.
Qualified teams
| Team | Qualified as | Qualified on | Previous appearances in FIFA World Cup1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tunisia | Final Round winners | 11 December 1977 | 0 (debut) |
- 1 Bold indicates champions for that year. Italic indicates hosts for that year.
Goalscorers
- 6 goals
- 4 goals
- 3 goals
- Kobenan Kouman
- Jérôme Lèbre Mamahou
- Mostafa Abdou
- Papa Camara
- Thompson Usiyan
- Mohamed Akid
- 2 goals
- Roger Milla
- Jean-Jacques N'Doumba
- Leon Goua G'Bize
- Farouk Gaafar
- Alloysius Atuegbu
- Godwin Iwelumo
- Kama Dumbuya
- Wasieu Sounomu
- Abderraouf Ben Aziza
- Khemais Labidi
- Témime Lahzami
- Joseph Kaboré
- Bernard Chanda
- Godfrey Chitalu
- Willie Phiri
- 1 goal
- Omar Betrouni
- Mahmoud Guendouz
- Jean Manga Onguéné
- Jonas Bahamboula
- Daniel Ebomoa
- Pierre Lingongo
- Joseph Mounoudzi
- Joseph Wamba
- Gaston Bawa
- Lucien Kouassi Kouame
- Pascal Miézan
- Ahmed Abdel Baki
- Maher Hammam
- Ossama Khalil
- Mokhtar Mokhtar
- Tekalinge Kassahun
- Opoku Afriyle
- Ofei Ansah
- Ibrahim Kassum
- Ousmane Badara Bangoura
- Youssuf Camara
- Mamadou Aliou Keita
- Chérif Souleymane
- Ali Sylla
- Ismael Sylla
- Seydouba Sylla
- Ousmane Thiam Tollo
- Gagny Coulibaly
- Abdelghani Lakhal
- Mustapha Tahir
- Boukari Adamou
- Moussa Kanfideni
- Sanda Seydou
- Adokie Amiesimaka
- Kunle Awesu
- Christian Chukwu
- Kelechi Emeteole
- Johnny N'Wadioha
- Samuel Ojebode
- Abdoulaye Ba
- Ismail Dyfan
- Mohammed Sama
- William Sango
- Samuel Tray
- Anani Afanou
- Tabania Ametepé
- Alirou Rachidou
- Tarak Dhiab
- Amor Jebali
- Néjib Liman
- Ali Kaabi
- Moncef Khouini
- Abdulla Nasur
- Denis Obua
- Polly Ouma
- Joseph Ouattara
- Kouligo Zoma
- Alex Chola
- Obby Kapita
- 1 own goal
- Jack Chamangwana (playing against Zambia)
- Godwin Odiye (playing against Tunisia)