1966 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC and OFC)

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

21 teams entered, but the entries of Congo and the Philippines were rejected.

The plans were for four rounds of play:

South Africa, who had been moved to the Asia/Oceania zone, was disqualified after being suspended by FIFA due to apartheid, and all fifteen African zone teams withdrew in protest after FIFA, citing logistical and competitive issues, confirmed there would be no direct qualification for an African team.

Later, South Korea were forced to withdraw due to logistical difficulties after the three 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.

The original group draws were:

The second round pairings were scheduled as follows: Group 1 winners v Group 5 winners, Group 2 winners v Group 4 winners and Group 3 winners v Group 6 winners, home-and-away, with the winners advancing to the final round.

As all teams withdrew to protest the allocation of places, the African First and Second rounds were scratched.

Originally, this was scheduled as a four-team tournament between Australia, North Korea, South Africa and South Korea played in Japan.

Before the tournament began, South Africa were disqualified after being suspended by FIFA due to apartheid, and South Korea were forced to withdraw due to logisitical problems after the tournament was moved to Cambodia.

Since North Korea lacked diplomatic relations with most countries and did not have a suitable venue at the time, finding a venue for the matches proved difficult until Head of State Norodom Sihanouk, an ally of Kim Il-sung, allowed the matches to be held in Phnom Penh.

...
Wikipedia