1986 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC)

Listed below are the dates and results for the 1986 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds for the Asian zone (AFC). For an overview of the qualification rounds, see the article 1986 FIFA World Cup qualification.

A total of 28 AFC teams entered the competition. However, Chinese Taipei were assigned to the Oceanian zone instead. The Asian zone was allocated 2 places (out of 24) in the final tournament.

Asia's automatic qualifying berths were taken by Iraq and Korea Republic

Tournament Structure

The 27 teams were divided into 2 zones, based on geographical considerations. Zone A had 13 teams (teams from West Asia) and Zone B had 14 teams (teams from East Asia). There would be three rounds of play in each zone:

First Round: The teams were divided into 4 groups of 3 or 4 teams each. The teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winners would advance to the Second Round.

Second Round: The 4 teams in each zone were paired up to play knockout matches on a home-and-away basis. The winners would advance to the Final Round.

Final Round: The 2 teams in each zone played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The winners would qualify for the 1986 FIFA World Cup.

Due to wars their countries were involved in, Iran, Iraq and Lebanon had to play all their home matches on neutral ground or away.

AFC Zone A

First round

Group 1A

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
United Arab Emirates	2	1	1	0	1	0	+1	3
Saudi Arabia	2	0	1	1	0	1	−1	1
Oman	Withdrew


Oman	–	-	-
Saudi Arabia	-	–	0–0
UAE	-	1–0	-

Group 1B

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Iraq	4	3	0	1	7	6	+1	6
Qatar	4	2	0	2	6	3	+3	4
Jordan	4	1	0	3	3	7	−4	2
Lebanon	Withdrew


Iraq	–	2-0	-	2-1
Jordan	2-3	–	–	1–0
Lebanon	–	–	-	–
Qatar	3-0	2–0	–	-

Group 2A

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Syria	4	3	1	0	5	0	+5	7
Kuwait	4	2	1	1	8	2	+6	1
North Yemen	4	0	0	4	1	12	−11	0


Kuwait	–	5-0	0-0
North Yemen	1-3	–	0–1
Syria	1–0	3–0	–

Group 2B

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Bahrain	2	1	1	0	7	4	+3	3
South Yemen	2	0	1	1	4	7	−3	1
Iran	Disqualified


Bahrain	–	-	3-3
Iran	-	–	–
South Yemen	1-4	–	-

Second Round

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
United Arab Emirates	4-4 (a)	Iraq	2–3	2–1
Bahrain	1–2	Syria	1–1	0–1

First Leg

20 September 1985

United Arab Emirates	2 – 3	Iraq
F. Khamis Al-Talyani	Report	H. Saed , Hassan

Al-Rashid Stadium, Dubai

Referee: Abdul-Aziz Saleh Al-Salmi (Kuwait)

6 September 1985

Bahrain	1 – 1	Syria
Issa 42'	Report	Mahrous 61'

Bahrain National Stadium, Manama

Attendance: 8,224

Referee: Ahmad Bash (Jordan)

Second Leg

27 September 1985

Iraq	1 – 2	United Arab Emirates
Allawi	Report	F. Khamis Al-Talyani

King Fahd Stadium

Attendance: 4,175

Referee: Daina (Switzerland)

4–4 on aggregate, Iraq advanced to the Zone A Final Round on away goals.

20 September 1985

Syria	1 – 0	Bahrain
Kerdaghly 4'	Report

Abbasiyyin Stadium, Damascus

Attendance: 25,000

Referee: Abuwahid Shambe El-Boloshi (Oman)

Syria advanced to the Zone A Final Round.

Final Round

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Syria	1–3	Iraq	0–0	1–3

First leg

15 November 1985

Syria	0 – 0	Iraq
	Report

Abbasiyyin Stadium, Damascus

Attendance: 25,000

Referee: Vautrot (France)

Second Leg

29 November 1985

Iraq	3 – 1	Syria
H. Saed 28' Shaker 49' Allawi 72'	Report	El-Sel 54'

King Fahd Stadium, Taif

Attendance: 4,500

Referee: Fredriksson (Sweden)

Iraq won 3-1 on aggregate and qualified for the 1986 World Cup