1966 FIFA World Cup qualification (Africa, Asia and Oceania)

Listed below are the dates and results for the 1966 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds for the Africa, Asian and Oceanian zone (Confederation of African Football, Asian Football Confederation and what later would become the Oceania Football Confederation).

FIFA rejected the application of Congo and Philippines. There would be three rounds of play:

• First Round: Australia, North Korea, South Africa and South Korea received byes and advanced to the Asia-Oceania First Round directly. The remaining 15 teams, all from Africa, were divided into 6 groups of two or three teams. The group winners would advance to the Second Round.
• Second Round: The 6 teams were divided into 3 matches and would play against each other on a home-and-away basis. The winning three teams would advance to the Final Round.
• Asia/Oceania First Round: The 4 teams Australia, North Korea, South Africa and South Korea would have played each other twice in a round-robin tournament at a neutral venue, originally Japan but ultimately Cambodia.
• Final Round: The AFC winner would have to play the 3 African teams on a home-and-away basis. The winner would qualify.

South Africa was suspended by FIFA due to apartheid. All fifteen remaining African teams withdrew in protest against there being no automatic qualification for an African team, leaving the Asia-Oceania winner to qualify by default. South Korea then withdrew because the 3 team tournament was moved from Japan to Cambodia, leaving only Australia and North Korea to contest the final place. North Korea easily won both legs to qualify.

Africa First Round

No matches were played because of protests to the allocation of spots. The original group draws were.

Group 1  Ghana  Guinea

Group 2  Cameroon  Sudan

Group 3  Algeria  Liberia  Tunisia

Group 4  Mali  Morocco  Senegal

Group 5  Ethiopia  Gabon

Group 6  Libya  Nigeria  United Arab Republic

Africa Second Round

The second round pairing were scheduled as following.

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Group 1 Winners	A	Group 5 Winners	–	–
Group 2 Winners	B	Group 4 Winners	–	–
Group 3 Winners	C	Group 6 Winners	–	–

The winners were to advance to the final round.

Asia / Oceania First Round

Originally this was to be a four team group stage between Australia, North Korea, South Africa and South Korea played in Japan. However South Africa was suspended and South Korea withdrew because the 3 team tournament was moved from Japan to Cambodia. Because North Korea lacked diplomatic relations with most countries, finding a suitable venue for the match proved difficult, until Head of State Norodom Sihanouk, an ally of Kim Il-sung, said the matches could be held in Phnom Penh. The winner (North Korea) qualified for the eighth FIFA World Cup which was held in England.

Rank	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	North Korea	2	2	0	0	9	2	7	4
2	Australia	2	0	0	2	2	9	−7	0
—	South Africa	banned
—	South Korea	withdrew

North Korea  v  Australia

21 November 1965

North Korea	6 – 1	Australia
Pak Doo-Ik  15' Pak Seung-Zin  54', 80' Im Seung-Hwi  58' Han Bong-Zin  65', 88'		Scheinflug  70' (pen.)

National Olympic Stadium, Phnom Penh Attendance: 60,000 Referee: Patrick Nice (Malaysia)

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Australia  v  North Korea

24 November 1965

Australia	1 – 3	North Korea
Scheinflug  15'		18', 75' Kim Seung-Il  53' Pak Seung-Zin

National Olympic Stadium, Phnom Penh Referee: AG de Silva (Singapore)

North Korea advanced to the Final Round.

Final Round

Because of the withdrawal of the African teams, North Korea qualified automatically.

Rank	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	North Korea	qualified
—	Winners Match A (Africa)	withdrew
—	Winners Match B (Africa)	withdrew
—	Winners Match C (Africa)	withdrew

External links

• RSSSF - 1966 World Cup Qualification