1982 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC and OFC)

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "1982 FIFA World Cup qualification" AFC and OFC – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (February 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

1982 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC and OFC)

Tournament details
Teams	20 (from 2 confederations)
Tournament statistics
Top scorer(s)	Gary Cole Steve Sumner Brian Turner (9 goals)
← 1978 1986 (AFC) → 1986 (OFC) →

AFC Asian Qualifiers
FIFA World Cup 1958 1962 1966 1970 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022 2026
AFC Asian Cup 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2007 2011 2015 2019 2023 2027
v t e

OFC Qualifiers
FIFA World Cup 1966 1970 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022 2026
v t e

Listed below are the dates and results for the 1982 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds for the Asian and Oceanian zone (AFC and OFC). For an overview of the qualification rounds, see the article 1982 FIFA World Cup qualification.

A total of 21 AFC and OFC teams entered the competition. However, Iran withdrew before the draw was made. The Asian and Oceanian zone was allocated 2 places (out of 24) in the final tournament.

There would be two rounds of play:

• First Round: The remaining 20 teams would be divided into 4 groups. The groups had different rules, as follows:
  • Group 1 had 5 teams. The teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winner would qualify.
  • Group 2 had 5 teams. The teams played against each other once in Saudi Arabia. The group winner would qualify.
  • Group 3 had 4 teams. The teams played against each other once in Kuwait. The group winner would qualify.
  • Group 4 had 6 teams. All matches were played in Hong Kong. There would be four stages of play:
    • Classification matches: All teams would be paired up to play preliminary matches to determine group classification.
    • Group stage: Based on the results of the classification matches, the 6 teams were divided into 2 groups of 3 teams each. The teams played against each other once. The group winners and runners-up would advance to the semifinals.
    • Semifinals: The winner of Group A played against the runner-up of Group B in a single match, and the winner of Group B played against the runner-up of Group A 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.
• Final Round: The 4 teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winner and runner-up would qualify.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	New Zealand	8	6	2	0	31	3	+28	14	Advance to Final round		—	3–3	5–0	2–0	13–0
2	Australia	8	4	2	2	22	9	+13	10			0–2	—	2–0	3–2	10–0
3	Indonesia	8	2	2	4	5	14	−9	6			0–2	1–0	—	1–0	3–3
4	Chinese Taipei	8	1	3	4	5	8	−3	5			0–0	0–0	2–0	—	0–0
5	Fiji	8	1	3	4	6	35	−29	5			0–4	1–4	0–0	2–1	—

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

New Zealand advanced to the Final Round.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Saudi Arabia	4	4	0	0	5	0	+5	8	Advance to Final round
2	Iraq	4	3	0	1	5	2	+3	6
3	Qatar	4	2	0	2	5	3	+2	4
4	Bahrain	4	1	0	3	1	6	−5	2
5	Syria	4	0	0	4	2	7	−5	0

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

Saudi Arabia advanced to the Final Round.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Kuwait	3	3	0	0	12	0	+12	6	Advance to Final round
2	South Korea	3	2	0	1	7	4	+3	4
3	Malaysia	3	0	1	2	3	8	−5	1
4	Thailand	3	0	1	2	3	13	−10	1

---

---

---

---

---

Kuwait advanced to the Final Round.

To date, it is last time that South Korea failed to qualify.

---

---

Based on the results, China PR, Japan and Macau were placed in Group A, while Hong Kong, Korea DPR and Singapore were placed in Group B.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	China	2	2	0	0	4	0	+4	4	Advance to Zonal semi-finals
2	Japan	2	1	0	1	3	1	+2	2
3	Macau	2	0	0	2	0	6	−6	0

---

---

China and Japan advanced to the Group 4 Semifinals.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	North Korea	2	1	1	0	3	2	+1	3	Advance to Zonal semi-finals
2	Hong Kong	2	0	2	0	3	3	0	2
3	Singapore	2	0	1	1	1	2	−1	1

---

---

Korea DPR and Hong Kong advanced to the Group 4 Semifinals.

Korea DPR advanced to the Group 4 Final.

---

China PR advanced to the Group 4 Final on penalties.

China PR advanced to the Final Round.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Kuwait	6	4	1	1	8	6	+2	9	Qualification for 1982 FIFA World Cup		—	2–2	1–0	2–0
2	New Zealand	6	2	3	1	11	6	+5	7	Advance to Play-off		1–2	—	1–0	2–2
3	China	6	3	1	2	9	4	+5	7			3–0	0–0	—	4–2
4	Saudi Arabia	6	0	1	5	4	16	−12	1			0–1	0–5	0–2	—

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

Notes

At the time, goals scored and head-to-head results were not used to rank teams level on points and goal difference. As China PR and New Zealand finished level on points and goal difference, a play-off on neutral ground was played to determine who would qualify.^[1]

The match was originally planned to be played in Kuala Lumpur until New Zealand protested due to the venue hosting previous matches for China. Melbourne was also considered before Singapore was ultimately chosen.^[2]

Kuwait and New Zealand qualified.

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

Team	Qualified as	Qualified on	Previous appearances in FIFA World Cup1
Kuwait	Final Round winners	14 December 1981	0 (debut)
New Zealand	Play-off winners	10 January 1982	0 (debut)

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

9 goals

8 goals

5 goals

4 goals

3 goals

2 goals

1 goal

1 own goal

• Upendran Choy (playing against Indonesia)

• 1982 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA)
• 1982 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONMEBOL)
• 1982 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONCACAF)
• 1982 FIFA World Cup qualification (CAF)