As expected, the group turned to be a two-horse race between the old arch-rivals the Netherlands and West Germany. Despite difficulties in midstream, it would be the Netherlands who finished at the top of the group, qualifying directly for the 1990 World Cup. The reigning European Champions were perhaps not always fulfilling their expectations, and Libregts admittedly had some trouble in making his team gel. His biggest worry stemmed from Gullit’s injury plagues, and the inability to find an appropriate replacement in the attacking midfield role. Much of his experiments in this position was arguably not a success. The Netherlands left it late in many of their matches, only finding the decisive goals toward the end of the 90 minutes.

Based on their double encounter and the overall performances, it would not be correct to claim that much separated the two teams in quality. In fact, some of the most exciting football in these qualifiers were delivered by West Germany, as Beckenbauer was fostering a new and more fluid-looking side, driven forward by the engine of Matthäus and the guile and skill of newcomers like Häßler and Littbarski. Beckenbauer still had some excogitation to do regarding the composition of his defence, as he changed between a defensive line of four and five players, and had he toward the end returned to Augenthaler as his regular libero instead of Fach? Despite some exciting football, West Germany only barely scraped through to Italia’90, much due to the draconic qualification system which in the end condemned Denmark to watch the tournament as bystanders.

Wales and Finland were never really in contention, although Wales almost got their point in the first match against Netherlands away. A fatal draw in the following match, against Finland at home, meant that they stood little chance. Much expected from the world stars of the Welsh team, but Hughes and in particular Rush made few contributions to this qualification, experiencing a veritable goal drought. Instead, the team was lifted by the lively Saunders and the always reliable Southall.The most exciting aspect of this campaign was perhaps Yorath’s conversion to a 3-4-3 formation in midstream, initially thought to facilitate the three forwards Rush, Hughes and Saunders, but which he would maintain also in their absence. In theory, this would be a team in two parts, with a hard-working rear end allowing much freedom to the trio upfront.