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 African, Asian and Oceanian zone. 21 teams entered, but the entries of Congo and the Philippines were rejected. The plans were for four rounds of play:
First Round: The 15 African teams were divided into six groups of two or three teams. The group winners would advance to the Second Round.
Second Round: The six group winners were divided into three groups and would play against each other on a home-and-away basis. The winners would advance to the Final Round.
Final Round: The Asia/Oceania winner would play the three African winners on a home-and-away basis. The winner would qualify.
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.
Africa First Round
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.
Asia / Oceania First Round
Originally, this was scheduled as a four-team tournament between Australia, North Korea, South Africa and South Korea, to be 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 logistical difficulties after the tournament was moved to Cambodia. Further complicating matters, North Korea lacked diplomatic relations with most countries and did not have a FIFA-standard venue at the time, while the Australian immigration laws in force meant the North Korean team would be unlikely to receive visas to enter the country. As such, finding a venue for the matches proved difficult until Head of StateNorodom Sihanouk, an ally of Kim Il-sung, allowed the matches to be held in Phnom Penh. ---- North Korea won 9–2 on aggregate. Due to the withdrawal of all African teams, the Final Round was scratched, meaning that North Korea also qualified automatically.
