Listed below are the dates and results for the 1978 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds for the Asian and Oceanian zone (AFC and OFC). For an overview of the qualification rounds, see the article 1978 FIFA World Cup qualification.
A total of 20 teams entered the competition, representing the Asian Football Confederation, the Oceania Football Confederation, and IsraelIsrael left the AFC in 1974 . However, South Vietnam could not compete after being annexed by Vietnam. The Asian zone was allocated 1 place (out of 16) in the final tournament.
Format There would be two rounds of play: First Round: The 21 teams would be divided into 5 groups. The groups had different rules, as follows: Group 1 had 6 teams. The teams played against each other once in Singapore. The top 2 teams after the group matches played against each other in a single match. The winner would advance to the Final Round. Groups 2 and 3 had 4 teams each. The teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winners would qualify. Group 4 had 4 teams. The teams played against each other twice in Qatar. The group winner would qualify. Group 5 had 3 teams. The teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winner would qualify. Final Round: The 5 teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winner would qualify.
First round
Group 1
Play-off Hong Kong and Singapore finished in the top two places, and a play-off was played to decide who would advance to the Final Round.
Hong Kong advanced to the Final Round.
Group 2
Korea Republic advanced to the Final Round. North Korea withdrew prior to the tournament in protest of Israel's participation.
Group 3
Iran advanced to the Final Round.
Group 4
Kuwait advanced to the Final Round.
Group 5
Australia advanced to the Final Round.
Final round
Iran qualified.
Qualified teams The following team from AFC qualified for the final tournament.
Team Qualified as Qualified onPrevious appearances in FIFA World Cup1 0 (debut) 1 Bold indicates champions for that year. Italic indicates hosts for that year.
Goalscorers
7 goals
Keith Nelson
6 goals
John Kosmina Peter Ollerton Faisal Al-Dakhil
5 goals
Ghafour Jahani Cha Bum-kun
4 goals
Chung Chor Wai Hassan Roshan Abdulaziz Al-Anberi Jasem Yaqoub James Wong
3 goals
Attila Abonyi Jimmy Rooney Kwok Ka Ming Wun Chee Keung Fat'hi Kameel Fayaz Matar Marzouq Steve Sumner Park Sang-in Jesdaporn Naphatalung
2 goals
Fuad Abou Shaqr Lau Wing Yip Hossein Kazerani Gholam Hossein Mazloumi Oded Machnes Hamad Khalid Bo Hamad Isa Bakar Quah Kim Song Choi Jong-duk Kim Jae-han Lee Young-moo Vidthaya Laohakul Niwat Srisawat
1 goal
Murray Barnes Colin Bennett Ibrahim Al Farhan Ebrahim Zowayed Chan Fat Chi Fung Chi Ming Tang Hung Cheong Junaedi Abdillah Anjas Asmara Iswadi Idris Andi Lala Ronny Pattinasarany Risdianto Waskito Behtash Fariba Habib Khabiri Ali Parvin Habib Shareefi Mohsin Yousifi Haim Bar Uri Malmilian Itzhak Peretz Ibrahim Mohammed Al Duraihem Farouk Ibrahim Al Awadi Al Saleh Badr Abdul Hameed Bo Abbas Abdullah Yousuf Ma'yoof Bakri Ibni Clive Campbell Dave Taylor Kevin Weymouth Anbar Bashir Abubakr Hassan Myuter Saied Al Suwaidi Mansour Muftah Faraj Bekhit Samir Sultan Al Fahad Saoud Al Gassem Mohammed Bo Saeed Mohammed Abdul Ghani Mohammed Noh Hussein Dollah Kassim Suriamurthy Rajagopal Huh Jung-moo Kim Ho-kon Abdul Hamid Al Katbi Marwan Khalifa Khouri Chang Kuo Chi Cherdsak Chaiyabutr
1 own goal
Lo Chih Tsong (playing against New Zealand)
See also 1978 FIFA World Cup qualification 1978 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA) 1978 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONMEBOL) 1978 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONCACAF) 1978 FIFA World Cup qualification (CAF)
References