The 1982 FIFA World Cup was the twelfth FIFA World Cup and was held in Spain between 13 June and 11 July 1982. The tournament was won by Italy, who claimed their third title defeating West Germany 3–1 in the final in the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, Madrid.
The hosting rights for the 1974, 1978 and 1982 FIFA World Cup tournaments were awarded at the FIFA Congress in London, England on 6 July 1966.
Italy, Spain and West Germany expressed an interest to bid for the 1982 FIFA World Cup, but following the withdrawl of Italy, West Germany agreed a deal with Spain by which Spain would support West Germany for the 1974 tournament, and in return West Germany would allow Spain to bid for the 1982 World Cup unopposed.
At the 41st FIFA Congress held in Buenos Aires prior to the 1978 FIFA World Cup it was decided to expand the 1982 FIFA World Cup from 16 to 24 teams.
One hundred and nine1 countries entered the qualifying competition.
The hosts, Spain, and the defending champions, West Germany, qualified automatically. Of the remaining 22 places, 13 were allocated to Europe (UEFA), three to South America (CONMEBOL), two to the North and Central American and Caribbean (CONCACAF), two to Africa (CAF) and two place to the Asian (AFC) and Oceania (OFC) qualifiers.
Thirty three European teams entered the 1982 FIFA World Cup with hosts, Spain, qualifying automatically. The remaining 32 teams as well as Israel from the Asian Football Confederation were drawn into 7 groups. Groups 1 to 6 had 5 teams each whereby the group winners and runners-up would qualify. Group 7 had 3 teams where the group winner would qualify.
Wales were drawn in Group 3 alongside the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia, Iceland and Turkey. This would be Wales' first meeting with Iceland.
Uefa qualifying Group 3
| no. | date | score | scorers (wales) | venue | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 357 | 02/06/1980 | Iceland 0-4 Wales | Walsh (2), Giles, Flynn (pen) | Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavik | WCQ |
| 03/09/1980 | Iceland 1-2 USSR | Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavik | WCQ | ||
| 24/09/1980 | Turkey 1-3 Iceland | Ízmir Atatürk Stadyumu, Ízmir | WCQ | ||
| 15/10/1980 | USSR 5-0 Iceland | Central Lenin Stadium, Moscow | WCQ | ||
| 358 | 15/10/1980 | Wales 4-0 Turkey | Flynn, L James (2), Walsh | Ninian Park, Cardiff | WCQ |
| 359 | 19/11/1980 | Wales 1-0 Czechoslovakia | Giles | Ninian Park, Cardiff | WCQ |
| 03/12/1980 | Czechoslovakia 2-0 Turkey | Stadion Evžena Rošického, Prague | WCQ | ||
| 361 | 25/03/1981 | Turkey 0-1 Wales | Harris | Mayıs Stadı, Ankara | WCQ |
| 15/04/1981 | Turkey 0-3 Czechoslovakia | Ali Sami Yen Stadı, Istanbul | WCQ | ||
| 27/05/1981 | Czechoslovakia 6-1 Iceland | Tehelné pole, Bratislava | WCQ | ||
| 364 | 30/05/1981 | Wales 0-0 USSR | Racecourse Ground, Wrexham | WCQ | |
| 09/09/1981 | Iceland 2-1 Turkey | Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavik | WCQ | ||
| 365 | 09/09/1981 | Czechoslovakia 2-0 Wales | Stadion Evžena Rošického, Prague | WCQ | |
| 23/09/1981 | USSR 4-0 Turkey | Central Lenin Stadium, Moscow | WCQ | ||
| 23/09/1981 | Iceland 1-1 Czechoslovakia | Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavik | WCQ | ||
| 07/10/1981 | Turkey 0-3 USSR | Ali Sami Yen Stadı, Istanbul | WCQ | ||
| 366 | 14/10/1981 | Wales 2-2 Iceland | R James, Curtis | Vetch Field, Swansea | WCQ |
| 18/11/1981 | USSR 2-0 Czechoslovakia | Dinamo Stadium, Tbilisi | WCQ | ||
| 367 | 18/11/1981 | USSR 3-0 Wales | Dinamo Stadium, Tbilisi | WCQ | |
| 29/11/1981 | Czechoslovakia 1-1 USSR | Tehelné pole, Bratislava | WCQ |
Group standings
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts2 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | USSR | 8 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 20 | 2 | 14 |
| 2. | Czechoslovakia | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 15 | 6 | 10 |
| 3. | Wales | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 12 | 7 | 10 |
| 4. | Iceland | 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 10 | 21 | 4 |
| 5. | Turkey | 8 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 22 | 0 |
Wales, playing their first World Cup qualifying campaign under Mike England, started the 1982 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign with two successive 4-0 victories against Iceland and Turkey. The third game saw England give debuts to Kevin Ratcliffe of Everton and Swansea City's Jeremy Charles as Wales ran out 1-0 winners against Czechoslovakia before a 1-0 win over Turkey in Ankara left Wales top of Group 3 at the half way stage.
Although Wales top of the group, the Soviet Union, the group's top seeds, had two games in hand on Wales and a goalless draw against the USSR at The Racecourse kept Wales' hopes alive. Despite being captain in the opening five matches, the game against the Soviet Union proved to be the last of Terry Yorath's 59 caps for Wales.
A loss away in Czechoslovakia which saw Dai Davies concede for the first time in 457 minutes of football in the group, followed by a disastrous 2-2 draw at home to Iceland in a game which was held up for 43 minutes because of floodlight failure at Swansea City's Vetch Field, meant Wales' hopes of qualifying for the 1982 FIFA World Cup was out of their own hands.
Wales' final game was a comprehensive 3-0 defeat in Tblisi against the table topping Soviet Union, but despite the loss Wales could still qualify for the finals if the Soviet Union beat Czechoslovakia in the final match of the group in Bratislava. However a 1-1 draw saw Wales miss out on the 1982 FIFA World Cup on goal difference.
Players used during qualifying
Wales used a total of 21 players during the qualifying campaign with Dai Davies and Peter Nicholas being the only two players to play every minte of every game.
Kevin Ratcliffe and Jeremy Charles made their debut in the match against Czechoslovakia at the Racecourse, Wrexham. Despite being captain in the opening five matches, the game against the Soviet Union proved to be the last of Terry Yorath's 59 caps for Wales.
| Player | ISL | TUR | CZE | TUR | USR | CZE | ISL | USR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jeremy Charles | 90 | 32 | 20 | 90 | ||||
| Alan Curtis | 90 | 90 | 90 | |||||
| Dai Davies | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 |
| Gordon Davies | 80 | |||||||
| Brian Flynn | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | |
| David Giles | 90 | 90 | 90 | 15 | 15 | |||
| Carl Harris | 10 | 90 | 41 | 75 | 75 | 90 | 67 | |
| Leighton James | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | ||
| Robbie James | 28 | 90 | ||||||
| Joey Jones | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 85 | |
| Steve Lovell | 15 | |||||||
| John Mahoney | 90 | 45 | ||||||
| Peter Nicholas | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 |
| Leighton Phillips | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 73 | 90 | |
| Paul Price | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | ||
| Kevin Ratcliffe | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 | ||
| Ian Rush | 23 | 90 | ||||||
| Byron Stevenson | 15 | 90 | ||||||
| Mickey Thomas | 90 | 90 | 62 | 45 | ||||
| Ian Walsh | 90 | 90 | 49 | 58 | 70 | 17 | 90 | |
| Terry Yorath | 75 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 90 |
1Of the 109 countries who entered Ghana, Iran and Uganda withdrew whilst the Central African Republic were excluded for not paying their entry fee.
22 pts for a win / 1 pt for a draw
