1978 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC and OFC)

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 22 AFC and OFC teams entered the competition. 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.

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

Rank	Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
1	Hong Kong	6	4	2	2	0	9	5	+4
2	Singapore	5	4	2	1	1	5	6	−1
3	Malaysia	4	4	1	2	1	7	6	+1
4	India	3	4	1	1	2	7	7	0
5	Thailand	2	4	1	0	3	8	12	−4
—	Sri Lanka	withdrew

27 February 1977	Singapore	2 – 0	Thailand	Singapore
	Kin Song S. Rajagopol			Referee: Boskovic (Australia)

28 February 1977	Hong Kong	4 – 1	India	Singapore
				Referee: Namdar (Iran)

1 March 1977	Malaysia	6 – 4	Thailand	Singapore
	Wong Baker		Jesdapong Niwat Widthaya	Referee: Vaz (India)

2 March 1977	Singapore	2 – 2	Hong Kong	Singapore
				Referee: Harries (New Zealand)

3 March 1977	India	0 – 0	Malaysia	Singapore
				Referee: Asami (Japan)

5 March 1977	Hong Kong	2 – 1	Thailand	Singapore
				Referee: Kim Joo-Won (Korea Republic)

6 March 1977	Singapore	1 – 0	Malaysia	Singapore
				Referee: Asami (Japan)

7 March 1977	Thailand	3 – 2	India	Singapore
				Referee: Vaz (India)

8 March 1977	Malaysia	1 – 1	Hong Kong	Singapore
				Referee: Harries (New Zealand)

9 March 1977	Singapore	0 – 4	India	Singapore
	Asmara Faisal Iswadi Iswanto			Referee: Kim Joo-Won (Korea Republic)

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.

12 March 1977	Singapore	0 – 1	Hong Kong	Singapore
				Referee: Boskovic (Australia)

Hong Kong advanced to the Final Round.

Group 2

Rank	Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
1	South Korea	6	4	2	2	0	4	1	+3
2	Israel	5	4	2	1	1	5	3	+2
3	Japan	1	4	0	1	3	0	5	−5
—	North Korea	withdrew

27 February 1977	Israel	0 – 0	South Korea	Tel-Aviv, Israel
				Referee: McGinlay (Scotland)

6 March 1977	Israel	2 – 0	Japan	Tel-Aviv, Israel
				Referee: Kitabdjian (France)

10 March 1977	Japan	0 – 2	Israel	Tel-Aviv, Israel^[1]
				Referee: Verbeke (France)

20 March 1977	South Korea	3 – 1	Israel	Seoul, Korea Republic
	Cha Bun-Keun 23' Park Sang-In 86' Choi Chong-Dock 88'		Malmillian 76'

26 March 1977	Japan	0 – 0	South Korea	Tokyo, Japan
				Referee: Kathiravalc (Malaysia)

3 April 1977	South Korea	1 – 0	Japan	Seoul, Korea Republic
	Cha Bun-Keun			Referee: Zainal Abidin (Malaysia)

Korea Republic advanced to the Final Round.

Group 3

Rank	Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
1	Iran	8	4	4	0	0	8	0	+8
2	Saudi Arabia	2	4	1	0	3	3	7	−4
3	Syria	2	4	1	0	3	2	6	−4
—	Iraq	withdrew

12 November 1976	Saudi Arabia	2 – 0	Syria	Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
				Referee: Dörflinger (Switzerland)

26 November 1976	Syria	2 – 1	Saudi Arabia	Damascus, Syria
				Referee: Babaçan (Turkey)

7 January 1977	Saudi Arabia	0 – 3	Iran	Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
			Mazloomi 16', 78' Rowshan 62'	Referee: Linemayr (Austria)

28 January 1977	Syria	0 – 1	Iran	Damascus, Syria
			Parvin	Referee: Fratz (France)

6 April 1977	Iran	2 – 0 (w/o)	Syria	Shiraz, Iran
			Forfeited

22 April 1977	Iran	2 – 0	Saudi Arabia	Shiraz, Iran
	Yousifi 10' Shareefi 84'			Referee: Dörflinger (Switzerland)

Iran advanced to the Final Round.

Group 4

Rank	Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
1	Kuwait	8	4	4	0	0	10	2	+8
2	Bahrain	2	4	1	0	3	4	6	−2
3	Qatar	2	4	1	0	3	3	9	−6
—	United Arab Emirates	withdrew

11 March 1977	Bahrain	0 – 2	Kuwait	Doha, Qatar
			Al-Anbari Y. Yacoub	Referee: Partridge (England)

13 March 1977	Qatar	2 – 0	Bahrain	Doha, Qatar
				Referee: Hungerbühler (Switzerland)

15 March 1977	Qatar	0 – 2	Kuwait	Doha, Qatar
				Referee: Ohmsen (West Germany)

17 March 1977	Bahrain	1 – 2	Kuwait	Doha, Qatar
	Shagr 73'		Al-Anbari 33' Durhayen 56'	Referee: Lattana (Italy)

19 March 1977	Qatar	0 – 3	Bahrain	Doha, Qatar
				Referee: Partridge (England)

21 March 1977	Qatar	1 – 4	Kuwait	Doha, Qatar
				Referee: Lattanzi (Italy

Kuwait advanced to the Final Round.

Group 5

Rank	Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
1	Australia	7	4	3	1	0	9	3	+6
2	New Zealand	5	4	2	1	1	14	4	+10
3	Chinese Taipei	0	4	0	0	4	1	17	−16

13 March 1977	Australia	3 – 0	Chinese Taipei	Suva, Fiji^[2]
	Rooney Abonyi			Referee: Promakash (Thailand)

16 March 1977	Chinese Taipei	1 – 2	Australia	Suva, Fiji^[3]
	Fung		Abonyi Kosmina	Referee: Getkaew (Thailand)

20 March 1977	New Zealand	6 – 0	Chinese Taipei	Auckland, New Zealand
	Nelson Campbell Taylor Weymouth			Referee: Suppiah (Singapore)

23 March 1977	Chinese Taipei	0 – 6	New Zealand	Auckland, New Zealand^[4]
			Nelson Sumner B. Turner	Referee: Dhillon (Singapore)

27 March 1977	Australia	3 – 1	New Zealand	Sydney, Australia
	Ollerton Kosmina		Nelson	Referee: Chan Tam Sun (Hong Kong)

30 March 1977	New Zealand	1 – 1	Australia	Auckland, New Zealand
	Nelson		Ollerton	Referee: Cheung Kwok Kui (Hong Kong)

Australia advanced to the Final Round.

Final Round

Rank	Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
1	Iran	14	8	6	2	0	12	3	+9
2	South Korea	10	8	3	4	1	12	8	+4
3	Kuwait	9	8	4	1	3	13	8	+5
4	Australia	7	8	3	1	4	11	8	+3
5	Hong Kong	0	8	0	0	8	5	26	−21

19 June 1977	Hong Kong	0 – 2	Iran	Hong Kong
			Kazerani 22' Jahani 77'	Referee: Gussoni (Italy)

26 June 1977	Hong Kong	0 – 1	South Korea	Hong Kong
				Referee: Biwersi (West Germany)

3 July 1977	South Korea	0 – 0	Iran	Busan, Korea Republic
				Referee: Foote (Scotland)

10 July 1977	Australia	3 – 0	Hong Kong	Adelaide, Australia
	Kosmina Barnes			Referee: Hungerbühler (Switzerland)

14 August 1977	Australia	0 – 1	Iran	Melbourne, Australia
	Rowshan 70'			Referee: Wöhrer (Austria)

27 August 1977	Australia	2 – 1	South Korea	Sydney, Australia
	Kosmina			Referee: Keizer (Netherlands)

2 October 1977	Hong Kong	1 – 3	Kuwait	Hong Kong
	Chung Choi-Wai		Al-Dakheel Bo-Homod Y. Yacob	Referee: Martinez (Spain)

9 October 1977	South Korea	1 – 0	Kuwait	Seoul, Korea Republic
	Park Sang-In 59'			Referee: Ciacci (Italy)

16 October 1977	Australia	1 – 2	Kuwait	Sydney, Australia
	Rooney 83'		Kameel 42' Al-Anbari 49'	Referee: Vautrot (France)

23 October 1977	South Korea	0 – 0	Australia	Seoul, Korea Republic
				Referee: Eriksson (Sweden)

28 October 1977	Iran	1 – 0	Kuwait	Tehran, Iran
	Jahani 48'			Referee: Thomas (Wales )

30 October 1977	Hong Kong	2 – 5	Australia	Hong Kong
	Tang Hung-Cheong 65' Chung Chor-Wai 80'		Ollerton 19', 31', 65' Abonyi 39' Bennett 85'	Referee: Ponnet (Belgium)

5 November 1977	Kuwait	2 – 2	South Korea	Kuwait City, Kuwait
	Bouabbas Al-Dakheel		Cha Bun-Keun Chor Chong-Doek	Referee: Dubach (Switzerland)

11 November 1977	Iran	2 – 2	South Korea	Tehran, Iran
	Rowshan 52', 68'		Lee Yung-Moo 28', 88'	Referee: Partridge (England)

12 November 1977	Kuwait	4 – 0	Hong Kong	Kuwait City, Kuwait
	Al-Dakheel 3', 17' Al-Anbari 45' Kameel 80'			Referee: Victor (Luxembourg)

18 November 1977	Iran	3 – 0	Hong Kong	Tehran, Iran
	Jahani 3', 35' Kazerani 19'			Referee: Raus (Yugoslavia)

19 November 1977	Kuwait	1 – 0	Australia	Kuwait City, Kuwait
	Al-Dakheel 52'			Referee: Bucek (Austria)

25 November 1977	Iran	1 – 0	Australia	Tehran, Iran
	Jahani 44'			Referee: Kitabdjian (France)

3 December 1977	Kuwait	1 – 2	Iran	Kuwait City, Kuwait
	Al-Dukhail 14'		Fariba 48' Khabiri 59'	Referee: Wright (Northern Ireland)

4 December 1977	South Korea	5 – 2	Hong Kong	Seoul, Korea Republic
				Referee: Aldinger (West Germany)

Iran qualified.

References

^ Japan played its "home" match against Israel away at Israel.
^ Both matches between Australia and Chinese Taipei were played on neutral ground.
^ Both matches between Australia and Chinese Taipei were played on neutral ground.
^ Chinese Taipei played its "home" match against New Zealand away instead.

[1] Japan played its "home" match against Israel away at Israel.

[2] Both matches between Australia and Chinese Taipei were played on neutral ground.

[3] Both matches between Australia and Chinese Taipei were played on neutral ground.

[4] Chinese Taipei played its "home" match against New Zealand away instead.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]