The European (UEFA) zone of qualification for the 1990 FIFA World Cup saw 32 teams competing for 13 places at the finals.
UEFA members Italy qualified automatically as hosts of the finals.
The draw for the qualifying groups took place in Zürich, Switzerland on 12 December 1987.
Teams qualified to the final tournament are in bold.
The Seeded teams were the 5 European sides who reached the 1986 Quarter Finals plus Soviet Union and Denmark though there were still security issues with England due to their fan issues in the form of hooliganism which was a factor with all 3 of their away games in the 1990 qualifying campaign being televised live by the BBC West Germany England Spain Soviet Union Denmark Belgium France Bulgaria Netherlands Poland East Germany Portugal Scotland Hungary Romania Sweden Wales Northern Ireland Austria Czechoslovakia Yugoslavia Republic of Ireland Greece Switzerland Finland Iceland Norway Albania Turkey Malta Luxembourg Cyprus