| 1 | – | United States |  USA | 38.96 (1 h4) | 38.54 (1 h1) | 38.19 (1) | Gold | WR | |
| | Larry Black • Robert Taylor • Gerald Tinker • Eddie Hart • Larry Burton (DNS) • Rey Robinson (DNS) |
| 2 | – | Soviet Union |  URS | 39.15 (1 h1) | 39.00 (2 h2) | 38.50 (2) | Silver | | |
| | Aleksandr Kornelyuk • Vladimir Lovetsky • Juris Silovs • Valery Borzov • Vladimir Atamas (DNS) • Viktor Myasnikov (DNS) |
| 3 | – | West Germany |  FRG | 39.17 (2 h1) | 38.86 (2 h1) | 38.79 (3) | Bronze | | |
| | Jobst Hirscht • Karlheinz Klotz • Gerhard Wucherer • Klaus Ehl • Klaus Bieler (DNS) • Manfred Ommer (DNS) |
| 4 | – | Czechoslovakia |  TCH | 39.31 (2 h2) | 39.01 (4 h1) | 38.82 (4) | | | |
| | Jaroslav Matoušek • Juraj Demeč • Jiří Kynos • Luděk Bohman • Ladislav Kříž (DNS) • Petr Utekal (DNS) |
| 5 | – | East Germany |  GDR | 39.17 (3 h1) | 39.06 (3 h2) | 38.90 (5) | | | |
| | Manfred Kokot • Bernd Borth • Hans-Jürgen Bombach • Siegfried Schenke • Harald Eggers (DNS) • Hans-Joachim Zenk (DNS) |
| 6 | – | Poland |  POL | 39.11 (1 h3) | 38.90 (3 h1) | 39.03 (6) | | | |
| | Stanisław Wagner • Tadeusz Cuch • Jerzy Czerbniak • Zenon Nowosz • Ryszard Tulkis (DNS) |
| 7 | – | France |  FRA | 39.01 (1 h2) | 39.00 (1 h2) | 39.14 (7) | | | |
| | Patrick Bourbeillon • Jean-Pierre Grès • Gérard Fenouil • Bruno Cherrier • René Metz • André Byrame (DNS) |
| 8 | – | Italy |  ITA | 39.29 (2 h4) | 39.21 (4 h2) | 39.14 (8) | | | |
| | Vincenzo Guerini • Ennio Preatoni • Luigi Benedetti • Pietro Mennea • Pasqualino Abeti (DNS) • Franco Ossola (DNS) |
| 5 h1 r2/3 | – | Cuba |  CUB | 39.65 (4 h3) | 39.04 (5 h1) | – | | | |
| | José Triana • Juan Morales • Hermes Ramírez • Pablo Montes • Pablo Bandomo (DNS) • Alejandro Casañas (DNS) |
| 5 h2 r2/3 | – | Finland |  FIN | 39.54 (3 h3) | 39.30 (5 h2) | – | | | |
| | Antti Rajamäki • Raimo Vilén • Erik Gustafsson • Markku Juhola • Juhani Jaakkola (DNS) • Markku Perttula (DNS) |
| 6 h1 r2/3 | – | Nigeria |  NGR | 39.66 (3 h2) | 39.73 (6 h1) | – | | | |
| | Kola Abdulai • Rex Bazunu • James Olakunle • Timon Oyebami • Benedict Majekodunmi • Robert Ojo (DNS) |
| 6 h2 r2/3 | – | Great Britain |  GBR | 39.63 (3 h4) | 39.47 (6 h2) | – | | | |
| | Les Piggot • Don Halliday • Dave Dear • Brian Green • Berwyn Price • Roger Walters (DNS) |
| 7 h1 r2/3 | – | Ghana |  GHA | 39.46 (2 h3) | 39.99 (7 h1) | – | | | |
| | Ohene Karikari • James Addy • Sandy Osei-Agyemang • George Daniels • Mike Ahey (DNS) |
| 7 h2 r2/3 | – | Venezuela |  VEN | 39.74 (4 h2) | 39.74 (7 h2) | – | | | |
| | Humberto Galea • Félix Mata • Alberto Marchán • Jesús Rico • Orlando Cubillán (DNS) • Eric Phillips (DNS) |
| 8 h2 r2/3 | – | Congo |  CGO | 39.86 (4 h4) | 39.97 (8 h2) | – | | | |
| | Antoine Nkounkou • Louis Nkanza • Jean-Pierre Basségéla • Théophile Nkounkou |
| AC h1 r2/3 | – | Austria |  AUT | 40.49 (4 h1) | – (DQ h1) | – | | | |
| | Georg Regner • Axel Nepraunik • Günther Würfel • Helmut Lang • Gert Nöster |
| 5 h1 r1/3 | – | Puerto Rico |  PUR | 41.34 (5 h1) | – | – | | | |
| | Luis Alers • Guillermo González • Pedro Ferrer • Jorge Vizcarrondo • Arnaldo Bristol (DNS) |
| 5 h2 r1/3 | – | Côte d'Ivoire |  CIV | 39.81 (5 h2) | – | – | | | |
| | Kouakou Komenan • Amadou Méité • Kouami N'Dri • Gaoussou Koné • Koffi Attoungbre (DNS) • Kouassi Gnamien (DNS) |
| 5 h3 r1/3 | – | Senegal |  SEN | 40.95 (5 h3) | – | – | | | |
| | Malang Mané • Christian Dorosario • Momar N'Dao • Barka Sy • Bassirou Doumbia (DNS) |
| 5 h4 r1/3 | – | The Bahamas |  BAH | 40.48 (5 h4) | – | – | | | |
| | Danny Smith • Harry Lockhart • Walter Callander • Mike Sands • Kevin Johnson (DNS) |
| 6 h1 r1/3 | – | Kingdom of Saudi Arabia |  KSA | 43.35 (6 h1) | – | – | | | |
| | Mohamed Jaman Al-Dosari • Mansour Al-Juaid • Bilal Said Al-Azma • Said Khalil Al-Dosari • Marzouk Al-Faisal (DNS) |
| 6 h2 r1/3 | – | Madagascar |  MAD | 40.58 (6 h2) | – | – | | | |
| | Jean-Louis Ravelomanantsoa • Alfred Rabenja • André Ralainasolo • Henri Rafaralahy • Augustin Miadana (DNS) • Jean-Aimé Randrianalijaona (DNS) |
| 6 h3 r1/3 | – | Thailand |  THA | 41.04 (6 h3) | – | – | | | |
| | Somsak Boontud • Surapong Ariyamongkol • Panus Ariyamongkol • Anat Ratanapol • Kanoksakdi Chatasanond (DNS) |
| 6 h4 r1/3 | – | United Republic of Tanzania |  TAN | 41.07 (6 h4) | – | – | | | |
| | Obedi Mwanga • Norman Chihota • Claver Kamanya • Hamad Ndee • Tumanne Chobanga (DNS) |
| 7 h2 r1/3 | – | Republic of China |  TPE | 41.78 (7 h2) | – | – | | | |
| | Lee Chung-Ping • Su Wen-Ho • Chen Chin-Long • Chen Ming-Chi |
| AC h4 r1/3 | – | Spain |  ESP | – (DNF h4) | – | – | | | |
| | José Luis Sánchez • Manuel Carballo • Francisco García • Luis Sarría • Pedro Carda (DNS) |
| AC h4 r1/3 | – | Ethiopia |  ETH | – (DNF h4) | – | – | | | |
| | Sisaye Feleke • Solomon Belaye • Kebede Bedasso • Egzi Gebre-Gebre • Fekadu Arega (DNS) |
| DNS | – | Jamaica |  JAM | – | – | – | | | |
| | Horace Levy • Mike Fray • Lennox Miller • Don Quarrie • Carl Lawson • Errol Stewart |
| DNS | – | Kuwait |  KUW | – | – | – | | | |
| | Malik Sultan • Abdul Aziz Abdul Kareem • Mohamed Saad • Younis Abdallah |
| DNS | – | Liberia |  LBR | – | – | – | | | |
| | Thomas Howe • Thomas N'Ma • Dominic Saidu • Andrew Sartee • Dennis Freeman |
| DNS | – | Pakistan |  PAK | – | – | – | | | |
| | Norman Brinkworth • Nusrat Iqbal Sahi • Muhammad Siddique • Muhammad Younis • Muhammad Ahmed Bashir |
| DNS | – | Trinidad and Tobago |  TTO | – | – | – | | | |
| | Bertram Lovell • Ainsley Armstrong • Hasely Crawford • Rudy Reid • Charles Joseph • Edwin Roberts |