1980 AFC Asian Cup qualification

1980 AFC Asian Cup qualification

Tournament details
Dates	25 December 1978 – 14 May 1979
Teams	17 (from 1 confederation)
Tournament statistics
Matches played	31
Goals scored	91 (2.94 per match)
← 1976 1984 →

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

This 1980 AFC Asian Cup qualification phase started in December 1978 while other qualification matches took place in early 1979. A total of 18 teams participated. Eight teams from the top two of each group advance to the final tournament, joining hosts Kuwait and defending champions Iran.

Group 1	Group 2	Group 3	Group 4
Bahrain  Lebanon  Pakistan*  South Yemen*  Syria  United Arab Emirates	Afghanistan  Bangladesh  India*  Iraq*  Jordan*    Nepal*  Qatar  Saudi Arabia*	Brunei*  Burma*  Hong Kong  Indonesia  Malaysia  North Korea  Singapore  Sri Lanka  Thailand	China  Kampuchea*  Japan*  Laos*  Macau  Philippines  South Korea  Vietnam*

• * Withdrew
•  Iran qualified as defending champions
•  Kuwait qualified as hosts

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
Syria	2	1	1	0	1	0	+1	3	1980 AFC Asian Cup
United Arab Emirates	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	2
Lebanon	2	0	1	1	0	1	−1	1
Bahrain	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Withdrawn[a]

• All matches played in the United Arab Emirates.

---

---

---

---

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
Qatar	4	3	1	0	10	2	+8	7	1980 AFC Asian Cup
Bangladesh	4	1	2	1	7	8	−1	4
Afghanistan	4	0	1	3	4	11	−7	1

• All matches played in Bangladesh.
• Iraq were originally drawn in this group but they withdrew before the start of the qualifiers.^[2]

---

---

---

---

---

---

• All matches played in Thailand.

---

Allocation matches to determine groups

•  Singapore received a bye

---

---

---

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
Malaysia	2	1	1	0	5	2	+3	3	1980 AFC Asian Cup
North Korea	2	1	1	0	4	2	+2	3
Indonesia	2	0	0	2	2	7	−5	0

---

---

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
Thailand	3	3	0	0	9	0	+9	6	1980 AFC Asian Cup
Hong Kong	3	2	0	1	8	2	+6	4
Sri Lanka	3	1	0	2	4	9	−5	2
Singapore	3	0	0	3	1	11	−10	0

---

---

---

North Korea  and  Malaysia qualified for the final tournament

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
South Korea	3	3	0	0	10	1	+9	6	1980 AFC Asian Cup
China	3	2	0	1	5	2	+3	4
Macau	3	1	0	2	4	7	−3	2
Philippines	3	0	0	3	1	10	−9	0

• All matches played in the Philippines.

---

---

---

Team	Qualified as	Qualified on	Previous appearance
Kuwait	Hosts	N/A	2 (1972, 1976)
Iran	1976 AFC Asian Cup champions	13 June 1976	3 (1968, 1972, 1976)
Syria	Group 1 winners	22 November 1979	0 (debut)
United Arab Emirates	Group 1 runners-up	23 November 1979	0 (debut)
Qatar	Group 2 winners	15 January 1979	0 (debut)
Bangladesh	Group 2 runners-up	16 January 1979	0 (debut)
North Korea	Group 3 winners	12 May 1979	0 (debut)
Malaysia	Group 3 runners-up	11 May 1979	1 (1976)
South Korea	Group 4 winners	29 December 1978	4 (1956, 1960, 1964, 1972)
China	Group 4 runners-up	29 December 1978	1 (1976)

In the 17 November match between Syria and Bahrain, the referee awarded a penalty to Bahrain. The Syrian head coach entered the pitch, threatening the referee, who stopped the match in the 81st minute. The committee initially awarded the match 3–0 in favour of Bahrain, but Syria threatened to withdraw; the committee adjusted its decision to a replay of the match on 25 November, but then Bahrain withdrew. All matches involving Bahrain were annulled.^[3]

• Morrison, Neil; Jovanovic, Bojan; Panahi, Majeed; Veroeveren, Pieter. "Asian Nations Cup 1980". RSSSF.
• "A-Cup: Singapore in Group Three"
• The Straits Times, 19 September 1978, Page 24
• "Champions Iran out of Asian Cup final round"
• The Straits Times, 25 May 1979, Page 35
• Al Anwar, November 1979