1986 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC)

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.

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 United Arab Emirates   — 1–0 —

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 — —

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 5   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 —

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[1]

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

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

20 September 1985

United Arab Emirates	2–3	Iraq
Al-Talyani   15' F. Khamees   60'	Report	Saeed   42', 79' Hashim   81'

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, Riffa

Attendance: 8,224

Referee: Ahmad Bash (Jordan)

27 September 1985

Iraq	1–2	United Arab Emirates
Saddam   88'	Report	F. Khamees   2' Al-Talyani   60'

King Fahd Stadium, Ta'if

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
Kardaghli   4'	Report

Abbasiyyin Stadium, Damascus

Attendance: 25,000

Referee: Abuwahid Shambe El-Boloshi (Oman)

Syria advanced to the Zone A Final Round.

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

15 November 1985

Syria	0–0	Iraq
	Report

Abbasiyyin Stadium, Damascus

Attendance: 25,000

Referee: Vautrot (France)

29 November 1985

Iraq	3–1	Syria
Saeed   28' Mahmoud   49' Allawi   72'	Report	Al-Sel   54' (pen.)

King Fahd Stadium, Ta'if

Attendance: 4,500

Referee: Erik Fredriksson (Sweden)

Iraq won 3–1 on aggregate and qualified for the 1986 FIFA World Cup.

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts   South Korea 4 3 0 1 8 1 +7 6   Malaysia 4 2 1 1 6 2 +4 5     Nepal 4 0 1 3 0 11 −11 1

South Korea   — 2–0 4–0 Malaysia   1–0 — 5–0 Nepal     0–2 0–0 —

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts   Indonesia 6 4 1 1 8 4 +4 9   India 6 2 3 1 7 6 +1 7   Thailand 6 1 2 3 4 4 0 4   Bangladesh 6 2 0 4 5 10 −5 4

Bangladesh   — 1–2 2–1 1–0 India   2–1 — 1–1 1–1 Indonesia   2–0 2–1 — 1–0 Thailand   3–0 0–0 0–1 —

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts   Hong Kong 6 5 1 0 19 2 +17 11   China 6 4 1 1 23 2 +21 9   Macau 6 2 0 4 4 15 −11 4   Brunei 6 0 0 6 2 29 −27 0

Brunei   — 0–4 1–5 1–2 China   8–0 — 1–2 6–0 Hong Kong   8–0 0–0 — 2–0 Macau   2–0 0–4 0–2 —

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts   Japan 4 3 1 0 9 1 +8 7   North Korea 4 1 2 1 3 2 +1 4   Singapore 4 0 1 3 2 11 −9 1

Japan   — 1–0 5–0 North Korea   0–0 — 2–0 Singapore   1–3 1–1 —

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
South Korea	6–1	Indonesia	2–0	4–1
Japan	5–1	Hong Kong	3–0	2–1

21 July 1985

South Korea	2–0	Indonesia
Byun Byung-joo   73' Kim Joo-sung   81'	Report

Olympic Stadium, Seoul

Attendance: 80,000

Referee: Booncherd Pratumthong (Thailand)

11 August 1985

Japan	3–0	Hong Kong
Kimura   9' (pen.) Hara   11' Mizunuma   53'	Report

Universiade Stadium, Kobe

Attendance: 19,000

Referee: Tulu Gurkan (Philippines)

30 July 1985

Indonesia	1–4	South Korea
Sulaiman   87'	Report	Byun Byung-joo   7' Choi Soon-ho   9' Huh Jung-moo   32' Kim Joo-sung   47'

Senayan Stadium, Jakarta

Attendance: 80,000

Referee: Timothy Joseph (Malaysia)

Korea Republic won 6–1 on aggregate and advanced to the Zone B Final Round.

22 September 1985

Hong Kong	1–2	Japan
Wan Chi Keung   79'	Report	Kimura   45' Hara   90'

Government Stadium, Hong Kong

Attendance: 28,000

Referee: Lee Kok Leong (Singapore)

Japan won 5–1 on aggregate and advanced to the Zone B Final Round.

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Japan	1–3	South Korea	1–2	0–1

26 October 1985

Japan	1–2	South Korea
Kimura   43'	Report	Chung Yong-hwan   30' Lee Tae-ho   42'

National Stadium, Tokyo

Attendance: 62,000

Referee: Maidin Bin-Singah (Singapore)

3 November 1985

South Korea	1–0	Japan
Huh Jung-moo   61'	Report

Olympic Stadium, Seoul

Attendance: 70,000

Referee: Othman Bin Omar (Malaysia)

Korea Republic won 3–1 on aggregate and qualified for the 1986 World Cup

The following two teams from AFC qualified for the final tournament.

Team	Qualified as	Qualified on	Previous appearances in FIFA World Cup1
Iraq	Zone A Final Round winners	29 November 1985	0 (debut)
South Korea	Zone B Final Round winners	3 November 1985	1 (1954)

¹ Bold indicates champions for that year. Italic indicates hosts for that year.

7 goals

6 goals

5 goals

4 goals

3 goals

2 goals

1 goal

1 own goal

• China v Hong Kong (1985)
• 1986 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA)
• 1986 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONMEBOL)
• 1986 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONCACAF)
• 1986 FIFA World Cup qualification (CAF)
• 1986 FIFA World Cup qualification (OFC)

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