1974 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC and OFC)

Listed below are the dates and results for the 1974 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds for the Asian and Oceanian zone (AFC and OFC). For an overview of the qualification rounds, see the article 1974 FIFA World Cup qualification.

India, Sri Lanka and the Philippines withdrew before the matches were played. The remaining 15 teams were divided into 2 zones, based on geographical and political considerations, as follows:

• Zone A had 7 teams (teams from East Asia, plus Israel). All matches were played in Korea Republic. There would be four stages of play:
  • Classification matches: All teams except Korea Republic would be paired up to play preliminary matches to determine group classification.
  • Group stage: Based on the results of the classification matches, the 7 teams were divided into 2 groups (Group 1 with 3 teams and Group 2 with 4 teams). The teams played against each other once. The group winners and runners-up would advance to the semifinals.
  • Semifinals: The winner of Group 1 played against the runner-up of Group 2 in a single match, and the winner of Group 2 played against the runner-up of Group 1 in a single match. The winners would advance to the Final.
  • Final: The 2 teams played against each other in a single match. The winner would advance to the Final Round.
• Zone B had 8 teams (teams from West Asia and Oceania, plus Indonesia and Korea DPR). There would be two stages of play:
  • Group stage: The 8 teams were divided into 2 groups of 4 teams each. The teams played against each other twice (Group 1 in Iran and Group 2 in Australia and New Zealand). The group winners would advance to the final.
  • Final: The 2 teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The winner would advance to the Final Round.

In the Final Round, the winners of Zone A and Zone B played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The winner would qualify.

Zone A

Classification Matches

South Vietnam  v  Thailand

16 May 1973	South Vietnam	1 – 0	Thailand	Dongdaemun Stadium, Seoul
18:00 KST (UTC+09)	81' (o.g.)			Attendance: 25,000 Referee: Coffman (New Zealand)

Israel  v  Japan

16 May 1973	Israel	2 – 1	Japan	Dongdaemun Stadium, Seoul
19:45 KST (UTC+09)	Mordechai Spiegler  5' Moshe Onana  61'		Shusaku Hirasawa  27'	Attendance: 25,000 Referee: Boskovic (Australia)

Hong Kong  v  Malaysia

17 May 1973	Hong Kong	1 – 0	Malaysia	Dongdaemun Stadium, Seoul
19:00 KST (UTC+09)	Lo Hung Hoi  53'			Attendance: 5,000 Referee: Azam (India)

Based on the results, South Vietnam, Japan and Hong Kong were placed in Group 1, while Thailand, Israel and Malaysia were placed in Group 2 with Korea Republic.

Group 1

Rank	Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
1	Hong Kong	4	2	2	0	0	2	0	+2
2	Japan	2	2	1	0	1	4	1	+3
3	South Vietnam	0	2	0	0	2	0	5	−5

Hong Kong and Japan advanced to the Zone A Semifinals.

Group 2

Rank	Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
1	Israel	5	3	2	1	0	9	0	+9
2	South Korea	4	3	1	2	0	4	0	+4
3	Malaysia	3	3	1	1	1	2	3	−1
4	Thailand	0	3	0	0	3	0	12	−12

Israel and Korea Republic advanced to the Zone A Semifinals.

Semifinals

Hong Kong  v  South Korea

26 May 1973	Hong Kong	1 – 3	South Korea	Dongdaemun Stadium, Seoul
15:00 KST (UTC+09)	Yuen Kuen Chu  5'		Kim Jae-Han  45' Park Yi-Chun  52' Chung Kyu-Poong  72'	Attendance: 35,000 Referee: Ruslan Hatta (Indonesia

Israel  v  Japan

26 May 1973	Israel	1 – 0 (a.e.t.)	Japan	Dongdaemun Stadium, Seoul
16:45 KST (UTC+09)	Moshe Onana  110'			Attendance: 35,000 Referee: Dhillon (Singapore)

Korea Republic and Israel advanced to the Zone A Final.

Final

South Korea  v  Israel

28 May 1973	South Korea	1 – 0 (a.e.t.)	Israel	Dongdaemun Stadium, Seoul
19:00 KST (UTC+09)	Cha Bum-Kun  109'			Attendance: 40,000 Referee: U Tin Thut (Burma)

Korea Republic advanced to the Final Round.

Zone B

Group 1

Rank	Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
1	Iran	9	6	4	1	1	7	3	+4
2	Syria	7	6	3	1	2	6	6	0
3	North Korea	5	6	1	3	2	5	5	0
4	Kuwait	3	6	1	1	4	4	8	−4

Iran advanced to the Zone B Final.

Group 2

Rank	Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
1	Australia	9	6	3	3	0	15	6	+9
2	Iraq	8	6	3	2	1	11	6	+5
3	Indonesia	4	6	1	2	3	6	13	−7
4	New Zealand	3	6	0	3	3	5	12	−7

Australia advanced to the Zone B Final.

Final

Australia  v  Iran

18 August 1973	Australia	3 – 0	Iran	Sydney, Australia
	Alston  43' Abonyi  45' Wilson  83'			Referee: Scheurer (Switzerland)

Iran  v  Australia

24 August 1973	Iran	2 – 0 (2 – 3 agg.)	Australia	Tehran, Iran
	Parviz Ghelichkhani  14', 32'			Referee: Kazakov (Soviet Union)

Australia advanced to the Final Round.

Final Round

Australia  v  South Korea

28 October 1973	Australia	0 – 0	South Korea	Sydney Sports Ground, Sydney
15:00 AEST (UTC+10)				Attendance: 32,000 Referee: Vital Loraux (Belgium)

South Korea  v  Australia

10 November 1973	South Korea	2 – 2 (2 – 2 agg.)	Australia	Dongdaemun Stadium, Seoul
15:00 KST (UTC+09)	Kim Jae-han  15' Ko Jae-wook  27'		Branko Buljevic  29' Ray Baartz  48'	Attendance: 40,000 Referee: Arie van Gemert (Netherlands)

The aggregate score was tied 2–2, and a play-off on neutral ground was played to decide who would qualify.

Australia  v  South Korea

13 November 1973	Australia	1 – 0	South Korea	Hong Kong Stadium, Hong Kong
20:00 HKT (UTC+10)	Jimmy Mackay  70'			Attendance: 28,000 Referee: Arie van Gemert (Netherlands)

Australia qualified, via the play-off.

See also

• 1974 FIFA World Cup qualification
• 1974 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA)
• 1974 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONMEBOL)
• 1974 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONCACAF)
• 1974 FIFA World Cup qualification (CAF)