1978 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group 5

Group 5 consisted of three of the 32 teams entered into the European zone:^[a] Bulgaria, France, and Republic of Ireland. These three 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

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	France	4	2	1	1	7	4	+3	5
2	Bulgaria	4	1	2	1	5	6	−1	4
3	Republic of Ireland	4	1	1	2	2	4	−2	3

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Matches

9 October 1976

Bulgaria	2 – 2	France
Bonev 45' Panov 68'	Report	Platini 37' Lacombe 40'

Referee: Foote (Scotland)

17 November 1976

France	2 – 0	Republic of Ireland
Platini 47' Bathenay 88'	Report

Referee: Maksimovic (Yugoslavia)

30 March 1977

Republic of Ireland	1 – 0	France
Brady 11'	Report

Referee: Linemayr (Austria)

1 June 1977

Bulgaria	2 – 1	Republic of Ireland
Panov 14' Zhelyazkov 76'	Report	Givens 47'

Referee: Zlatanos (Greece)

12 October 1977

Republic of Ireland	0 – 0	Bulgaria
	Report

Referee: Gonella (Italy)

16 November 1977

France	3 – 1	Bulgaria
Rocheteau 38' Platini 63' Dalger 89'	Report	Tsvetkov 85'

Referee: Corver (Netherlands)

Notes

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