1978 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC and OFC)

Listed below are the dates and results for the 1978 FIFA World Cup
1978 FIFA World Cup
The 1978 FIFA World Cup, the 11th staging of the FIFA World Cup, was held in Argentina between 1 June and 25 June. The 1978 World Cup was won by Argentina who beat the Netherlands 3–1 after extra time in the final. This win was the first World Cup title for Argentina, who became the fifth...

qualification
FIFA World Cup qualification
The FIFA World Cup qualification is the process that a national association football team goes through to qualify for the FIFA World Cup Finals. The FIFA World Cup is a global event, so qualification is required to reduce the large field of participants from about 200 to 32.Qualifying tournaments...

rounds for the Asian and Oceanian zone (AFC
Asian Football Confederation
The Asian Football Confederation is the governing body of association football in Asia. It has 46 member countries, mostly located on the Asian continent. However, due to the disputed boundary of Europe and Asia, nations such as Russia and Turkey which are located mostly in geographic Asia are...

and OFC
Oceania Football Confederation
The Oceania Football Confederation is one of the six continental confederations of international association football, consisting of Papua New Guinea, New Zealand and island nations such as Tonga, Fiji and other Pacific Island countries...

). For an overview of the qualification rounds, see the article 1978 FIFA World Cup qualification
1978 FIFA World Cup qualification
A total of 107 teams entered the 1978 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds, competing for a total of 16 spots in the final tournament. , as the hosts, and , as the defending champions, qualified automatically, leaving 14 spots open for competition....

.

A total of 22 AFC and OFC teams entered the competition. However, could not compete after being annexed by . 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 . 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 . 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.

Group 1

4
Rank
1	6	4	2	2	0	9	5
2	5	4	2	1	1	5	6	−1
3	4	4	1	2	1	7	6
4	3	4	1	1	2	7	7	0
5	2	4	1	0	3	8	12	−4
—	withdrew

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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

3
Rank
1	6	4	2	2	0	4	1
2	5	4	2	1	1	5	3
3	1	4	0	1	3	0	5	−5
—	withdrew

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Korea Republic advanced to the Final Round.

Group 3

8
Rank
1	8	4	4	0	0	8	0
2	2	4	1	0	3	3	7	−4
3	2	4	1	0	3	2	6	−4
—	withdrew

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Iran advanced to the Final Round.

Group 4

8
Rank
1	8	4	4	0	0	10	2
2	2	4	1	0	3	4	6	−2
3	2	4	1	0	3	3	9	−6
—	withdrew

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Kuwait advanced to the Final Round.

Group 5

6
Rank
1	7	4	3	1	0	9	3
2	5	4	2	1	1	14	4
3	0	4	0	0	4	1	17	−16

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Australia advanced to the Final Round.

Final Round

9
Rank
1	14	8	6	2	0	12	3
2	10	8	3	4	1	12	8
3	9	8	4	1	3	13	8
4	7	8	3	1	4	11	8
5	0	8	0	0	8	5	26	−21