Liedjes Voetbal Steekspel 1986

This was the tenth Liedjes Voetbal Steekspel to be held. It took place exactly four years after the previous World Cup in 1982.

European Qualifiers were decided by the format of the Euro 1984 tournament. There are 16 qualifying spots up for grabs in this tournament. Other qualification rounds would be interlocked. Asia and Africa would hold similar style but smaller tournaments where the top 4 of the final stage had a chance at going through to the World Cup. The top 3 automatically qualify from each, but the fourth placers would compete in a playoff to decide the 7th spot in the World Cup. The North American and South American tournaments reflected this qualification method. North America was guaranteed 2 spots, with South America guaranteed 5 spots. The 3rd and 6th spots respectively would play in a playoff to decide the final 8th share spot between them. The final qualifier to the World Cup is the host nation, in this situation being Australia.

Many protested Europe's hugely disproportionate number of spots. Despite them previously having much more, and not hosting this time, the 16 spots were seen as too many and could exclude many talented teams on other continents that rarely get to shine on the international stage. Zaire is an example. They consistently do well in the African qualifiers but only debuted in the previous World Cup. These teams are disadvantaged without experience in playing other teams. This lobbying changed nothing, but five nations boycotted the event in protest: Macau, Tuvalu, Fiji, Hong Kong, and Canada.

won the hosting rights to the 1986 contest in the 1983 vote. The final would be held in the capital city, Canberra (as opposed to previous bids were this was Sydney or Melbourne). Other bids included:

Notable changes in this World Cup include huge sweeping reforms to many powerful teams. This made some teams stronger while others weaker. France, high on momentum from great results, would result tragic news as the manager that brought them greatness (1977-1985) had died in a car crash. This resulted in a massive panic, many short serving and ineffective managers, and many players refusing to play out of frustration. During this period, lost 7-2 against mid-tier power  in a friendly match, and lost 9-2 against. However, coming off the back of a World Cup victory, a World Cup third place, and a Euro victory the previous year, the French began training to regain their lost power once again. was humiliated after not qualifying for the 1980 World Cup, and they replaced their manager in 1982 with a hard line manager, who had managed previously many high profile clubs. After bouts of terrible defeats to their rivals: (1983) 0 - 2, again in (1984) 0 - 3  and then (1984) 1 - 4 , the Germans then delivered promising victories against other rivals: (1985) 2 - 1 , and (1986) 0 - 0  during penalties.
 * , with the final in Buenos Aires
 * , with the final in Beijing
 * , with the final in Paris
 * , with the final in Tokyo
 * , with the final in Mexico City
 * , with the final in Moscow
 * , with the final in Stockholm

Another massive reform was the Norwegian team. They brought on many new players, such as Swedes, and built on previous successes like their victory over Germany during the Euro 1980. They won every game in the group stage of the Euro 1984, then only won or drew in the second stage. They lost drastically (1984) 1 - 4 following an unlucky match, two red cards, and an injury to their best player. The Norwegian manager promised a World Cup to remember for Norway's people. For other improved nations,, and  saw drastically improvements, while some teams such as  and  saw dips in their popularity and playability. For instance, Hungary dipped outside of the top 10 list for the first time since 1964 (a whole 22 years ago). A major difference this tournament is that similar to the Soviet Union, United Kingdom and Yugoslavia partitions, Czechoslovakia would take part as Czechia and Slovakia. However, Slovakia had no time to play in the Euros and qualify, so the Czechoslovak team would continue to play under the banner of Czechia. Following this, and a recent slow decline, and new leadership and some new players, Czechia also dipped out of top 10 for the first time since 1967 (so 19 years ago).

As for outside of Europe, the team saw new management eager to do well on home soil. The team is a solid team and often qualify, but the Australians were looking for a good result in the late knockouts. had never taken part in any World Cup before, only participating in small local leagues in West Africa. They were constantly destroyed by other teams such as Nigeria or Ghana but new management by a French-Senegalese former footballer has led them to perform greatly in local games. also improved their line up significantly.

European Championships / Euro 1984 (1984) - 16 countries
see here: Euro 1984

Asian Cup and Qualifiers (1985) - 3.5 countries
42 countries took part in the Asian Qualifiers, the same as in 1981. They are separated into 6 groups of 6 or 7 countries. The top two of each group go into a final group of 12. The top three qualify for the World Cup. The fourth place will go into a tiebreaker with the African Qualifier fourth place. The new countries included all 5 of the members competing in the 1981 Asian B League, as well as two new debutants: Bahrain and Sri Lanka. Australia didn't take part as they gained a place in the World Cup automatically through hosting the event. Several other nations also caught the attention of the organisers such as Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Palestine, Northern Cyprus, Turkey (who takes part in the European Qualifiers) and several pacific island nations. These did not appear in the final roster.

Final Round
, and  qualify for the World Cup. This is Kuwait's first World Cup. goes into the tiebreaker round with the African fourth place. Shocking non qualifiers include and a the new great terms of  and.

African Qualifiers (1985) - 3.5 countries
18 countries took part in the African Qualifiers. There are 3 groups of 6 countries, with the top two countries from each group qualifying for a final round. The top 3 of this round robin group qualify for the World Cup while the fourth place goes into a tiebreaker match to determine a 7th combined qualifier between the two continents.

The majority of matches took place in, with some matches taking place in , outside of Africa.

Final Group
, and  qualify for the World Cup. This will be a debut for Senegal. goes into the tiebreaker round with the Asian fourth place. shocks everybody by performing terribly with their best result being a single draw, earning them a single point.

African-Asian Tiebreaker Match (1986) - 1 country
has beaten in the tiebreaker match and has therefore won the opportunity to qualify for the World Cup. This denies Indonesia a debut slot and flips the result from the 1982 tiebreaker where an Asian country won.

North American Qualifiers (1985) - 2.5 countries
Due to time constraints, major conflict of interest in national tournaments, and a lack of interest, only five countries took part. Canada boycotted the World Cup and therefore the qualifiers. and qualified for the World Cup with an incredibly tight race between the Central American countries. This showed a reinterest from Salvadorans where many played for the Guatemalan team because their own team did not play, and their intense rivalry with Honduras. shocked everybody with an incredibly poor performance which caused a massive wave of disinterest in Americans and a cut to funding.

South American Qualifiers (1986) - 5.5 countries
The South American Qualifiers would be run as a 12 country round robin with the top 5 countries making it through to the World Cup.

Group A
6 countries participated in this group. The top two qualify for the World Cup. The third place will go into a tiebreaker match with the third place of Group B. and  qualified for the World Cup. qualified for the tiebreaker.

Group B
6 countries participated in this group. The top two qualify for the World Cup. The third place will go into a tiebreaker match with the third place of Group A. and  qualified for the World Cup. qualified for the tiebreaker.

South American World Cup Tiebreaker Playoff
and played a tiebreaker game for a position in the World Cup. The host was a neutral venue in Brasilia, Brazil. qualified for the World Cup.

North-South American Tiebreaker Match (1986)
and met in a neutral venue in the  to decide the 8th combined spot for North and South America. Each confederation sent their borderline qualifier to compete and the winner would go to the World Cup as an extra team to make 32 countries there. qualifies for the World Cup.

World Cup 1986
Matchday 1 are on the following dates: 23rd June 1986, 30th June 1986, and 7th July 1986.

Matchday 2 are on the following dates: 25th June 1986, 2nd July 1986, and 9th July 1986.

Matchday 3 are on the following dates: 27th June 1986, 4th July 1986, and 11th July 1986.

Group H
Tiebreaker match between and.