# 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 21 AFC and OFC teams and Israel 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.

## 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

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Hong Kong | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 5 | +4 | 6 | Play-off |
| 2 | Singapore | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 6 | −1 | 5 | Play-off |
| 3 | Malaysia | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 6 | +1 | 4 | |
| 4 | Indonesia | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 3 | |
| 5 | Thailand | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 12 | −4 | 2 | |
| 6 | Sri Lanka | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Withdrew |

#### 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

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | South Korea | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 1 | +3 | 6 | Final round |
| 2 | Israel | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 3 | +2 | 5 | |
| 3 | Japan | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 5 | −5 | 1 | |
| 4 | North Korea | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Withdrew |
Korea Republic advanced to the Final Round. North Korea withdrew prior to the tournament in protest of Israel's participation.

### Group 3

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Iran | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | +8 | 8 | Final round |
| 2 | Saudi Arabia | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 7 | −4 | 2 | |
| 3 | Syria | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 6 | −4 | 2 | |
| 4 | Iraq | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Withdrew |
Iran advanced to the Final Round.

### Group 4

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Kuwait | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 2 | +8 | 8 | Final round |
| 2 | Bahrain | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 6 | −2 | 2 | |
| 3 | Qatar | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 9 | −6 | 2 | |
| 4 | United Arab Emirates | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Withdrew |
Kuwait advanced to the Final Round.

### Group 5

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Australia | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 3 | +6 | 7 | Final round |
| 2 | New Zealand | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 14 | 4 | +10 | 5 | |
| 3 | Taiwan | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 17 | −16 | 0 | |
Australia advanced to the Final Round.

## Final round

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | | | | | |
| 1 | Iran | 8 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 3 | +9 | 14 | Qualification to 1978 FIFA World Cup | — | 2–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 |
| 2 | South Korea | 8 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 12 | 8 | +4 | 10 | | 0–0 | — | 1–0 | 0–0 | 5–2 |
| 3 | Kuwait | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 13 | 8 | +5 | 9 | | 1–2 | 2–2 | — | 1–0 | 4–0 |
| 4 | Australia | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 11 | 8 | +3 | 7 | | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–2 | — | 3–0 |
| 5 | Hong Kong | 8 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 5 | 26 | −21 | 0 | | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 2–5 | — |
Iran qualified.

## Qualified teams

The following team from AFC qualified for the final tournament.
| Team | Qualified as | Qualified on | Previous appearances in FIFA World Cup |
| Iran | Final Round winners | 25 November 1977 | 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
* Waskito Kaihun
* Andi Lala
* Ronny Pattinasarany
* Risdianto
* 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)