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).

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

The plans were for four rounds of play:

South Africa was suspended by FIFA due to apartheid, and all fifteen remaining African teams then withdrew in protest after FIFA confirmed that there would be no direct qualification for an African team, thus leaving the Asia-Oceania winner to qualify by default. South Korea then withdrew because of 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.

None of the matches were played as all teams withdrew to protest the allocation of places

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

Each pairing was to play home-and-away, with the winners to advance to the final 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 disqualified after being suspended by FIFA due to apartheid, and South Korea withdrew after the tournament was moved from Japan to Cambodia due to logistical problems.

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.

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