Editing 1982 FIFA World Cup (section)

==Qualification==

{{Main|1982 FIFA World Cup qualification}}

For the first time, the World Cup finals expanded from 16 to 24 teams. This allowed more countries to participate from Africa and Asia.

Teams absent from the finals were [[1974 FIFA World Cup|1974]] and [[1978 FIFA World Cup|1978]] runners-up [[Netherlands national football team|Netherlands]] (eliminated by [[Belgium national football team|Belgium]] and [[France national football team|France]]), [[Mexico national football team|Mexico]] (eliminated by [[Honduras national football team|Honduras]] and [[El Salvador national football team|El Salvador]]), and the three times 1970s participants [[Sweden men's national football team|Sweden]] (eliminated by [[Scotland national football team|Scotland]] and [[Northern Ireland national football team|Northern Ireland]]). Northern Ireland qualified for the first time since 1958. Belgium, [[Czechoslovakia national football team|Czechoslovakia]], [[El Salvador national football team|El Salvador]], [[England national football team|England]] and the [[Soviet Union national football team|Soviet Union]] were all back in the finals after 12-year absences. England had its first successful World Cup qualifying campaign in 20 years,<ref name="falklands">{{Cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20856004 |title=World Cup withdrawal considered amid Falklands War |work=BBC Sport  |date=28 December 2012 |access-date=28 December 2012}}</ref> having qualified automatically as hosts in 1966 and as defending champions in 1970, then failing to qualify in 1974 and 1978. [[Yugoslavia national football team|Yugoslavia]] and [[Chile national football team|Chile]] were also back after missing the 1978 tournament.

[[Algeria national football team|Algeria]], [[Cameroon national football team|Cameroon]], [[Honduras national football team|Honduras]], [[Kuwait national football team|Kuwait]], and [[New Zealand men's national football team|New Zealand]] all participated in the World Cup for the first time. As of 2022, this was the last time that [[El Salvador national football team|El Salvador]] and [[Kuwait national football team|Kuwait]] qualified for a FIFA World Cup finals, as well as the last time that [[South Korea national football team|South Korea]] failed to qualify. This is also the last time that Mexico participated in the qualifiers and failed to qualify (they were [[Cachirules|banned]] from the [[1990 FIFA World Cup qualification]]). 

This was the first time that all six confederations ([[Asian Football Confederation|AFC]], [[Confederation of African Football|CAF]], [[CONCACAF]], [[CONMEBOL]], [[Oceania Football Confederation|OFC]] and [[UEFA]]) sent representative teams to the tournament, which would happen again in [[2006 FIFA World Cup|2006]] and [[2010 FIFA World Cup|2010]], and will be happening in [[2026 FIFA World Cup|2026]]: [[Australia men's national soccer team|Australia]] would also participate in the [[2010 FIFA World Cup|2010]]-[[2022 FIFA World Cup|2022]] tournaments, but as a representative of the AFC.

There was some consideration given as to whether England, Northern Ireland, and Scotland would withdraw from the tournament because of the [[Falklands War]] between Argentina and the United Kingdom.<ref name="falklands" /> A directive issued by the British sports minister [[Neil Macfarlane (politician)|Neil Macfarlane]] in April, at the start of the conflict, suggested that there should be no contact between British representative teams and Argentina.<ref name="falklands" /> This directive was not rescinded until August, following the end of the tournament and of the hostilities.<ref name="falklands" /> Macfarlane reported to [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|Prime Minister]] [[Margaret Thatcher]] that some players and officials were uneasy about participating because of the casualties suffered by British forces, and the strong diplomatic ties between Argentina and Spain.<ref name="falklands" /> FIFA later advised the British Government that there was no prospect that [[Argentina national football team|Argentina]] (the defending champions) would be asked to withdraw, <ref name="falklands" /> and it also became apparent that no other countries would withdraw from the tournament.<ref name="falklands" /> It was decided by [[Cabinet Secretary (United Kingdom)|Cabinet Secretary]] [[Robert Armstrong, Baron Armstrong of Ilminster|Robert Armstrong]] to allow the British national teams to participate so that Argentina could not use their absence for propaganda purposes, reversing the intended effect of applying political pressure onto Argentina.<ref name="falklands" /> 

===List of qualified teams===

The following 24 teams qualified for the final tournament.
{{col begin}}
{{col-4}}
;[[1982 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC and OFC)|AFC]] (1)
* {{fb|KUW}} (debut)
;[[1982 FIFA World Cup qualification (CAF)|CAF]] (2)
* {{fb|ALG}} (debut)
* {{fb|CMR}} (debut)
;[[1982 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC and OFC)|OFC]] (1)
* {{fb|NZL}} (debut)
{{col-4}}
;[[1982 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONCACAF)|CONCACAF]] (2)
* {{fb|HON|1949}} (debut)
* {{fb|SLV}}
;[[1982 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONMEBOL)|CONMEBOL]] (4)
* {{fb|ARG|1861}} (holders)
* {{fb|BRA|1968}}
* {{fb|CHI}}
* {{fb|PER}}
{{col-4}}
;[[1982 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA)|UEFA]] (14)
* {{fb|AUT}}
* {{fb|BEL}}
* {{fb|TCH}}
* {{fb|ENG}}
* {{fb|FRA|1974}}
* {{fb|HUN}}
* {{fb|ITA|1946}}
* {{fb|NIR}}
* {{fb|POL}}
* {{fb|SCO}}
* {{fb|SOV}}
* {{fb|ESP}}&nbsp;(hosts)
* {{fb|FRG}}
* {{fb|YUG}}
{{col-4}}
[[File:1982 world cup qualification.png|thumb|305px|{{legend|#000cff|Countries qualified for World Cup}} {{legend|#ffb400|Country did not qualify}} {{legend|black|Countries that did not enter World Cup}} {{legend|#ababab|Country not a FIFA member}}]]
{{col end}}