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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 →

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.

Groups

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

Qualification

Group 1

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	1980 AFC Asian Cup
Lebanon	2	0	1	1	0	1	−1	1
Bahrain	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Withdrawn^[a]

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

All matches played in the United Arab Emirates.

16 November 1979

United Arab Emirates	0–0	Lebanon

Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi

Referee: Muhib Al Jaid (Saudi Arabia)

17 November 1979

Syria	1–1^[a] Cancelled	Bahrain

Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi

20 November 1979

United Arab Emirates	0–0	Syria

Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi

20 November 1979

Lebanon	Cancelled	Bahrain

Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi

22 November 1979

Syria	1–0	Lebanon
Qaddour 21'		Saleh 60' Abboud 63' E. Rustom 70'

Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi

Referee: Abdulwahab Binai (Kuwait)

23 November 1979

United Arab Emirates	Cancelled	Bahrain

Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi

^ ^a ^b 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.^[1]

Group 2

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	1980 AFC Asian Cup
Afghanistan	4	0	1	3	4	11	−7	1

Source: RSSSF

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

1 March 1979

Bangladesh	2–2	Afghanistan
Halim ?', ?'		Safdari ?' Hashimi ?'

Dhaka Stadium, Dhaka

2 March 1979

Qatar	3–0	Afghanistan
Muftah ?' Anbar ?' Sattar ?'

Dhaka Stadium, Dhaka

3 March 1979

Bangladesh	1–1	Qatar
Mohsin ?'		Muftah ?'

Dhaka Stadium, Dhaka

5 March 1979

Bangladesh	3–2	Afghanistan
Chunnu ?' Halim ?' Salahuddin ?'	Report	Najibullah ?' Saber ?'

Dhaka Stadium, Dhaka

6 March 1979

Qatar	3–0	Afghanistan
Sattar ?', ?' Muftah ?'

Dhaka Stadium, Dhaka

7 March 1979

Bangladesh	1–3	Qatar
Salahuddin ?'		Yusuf ?' Sattar ?' Muftah ?'

Dhaka Stadium, Dhaka

Group 3

All matches played in Thailand.

Allocation matches to determine groups

Singapore received a bye

1 May 1979

Thailand	3–1	Indonesia
Daoyod Dara 12' Withaya Laohakul 24' Manus R. 35'		Timo Kapissa 18'

Bangkok

2 May 1979

Malaysia	3–1	Sri Lanka

Bangkok

2 May 1979

North Korea	3–0	Hong Kong

Bangkok

Group 3A

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	1980 AFC Asian Cup
Indonesia	2	0	0	2	2	7	−5	0

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

5 May 1979

Malaysia	4–1	Indonesia
Santokh Singh 35' James Wong 51' Bakri Ibni 55' Mokhtar Dahari 88'		Iswadi Idris 71'

Bangkok

7 May 1979

North Korea	3–1	Indonesia
Pak Jong-hun 22', 75' Hong Song-nam 32'		Andi Lala 35'

Bangkok

9 May 1979

Malaysia	1–1	North Korea

Bangkok

Group 3B

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

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

4 May 1979

Hong Kong	3–1	Singapore

Bangkok

4 May 1979

Thailand	4–0	Sri Lanka

Bangkok

6 May 1979

Hong Kong	5–0	Sri Lanka

Bangkok

6 May 1979

Thailand	4–0	Singapore

Bangkok

8 May 1979

Sri Lanka	4–0	Singapore

Bangkok

8 May 1979

Thailand	1–0	Hong Kong

Bangkok

Semi-finals

11 May 1979

Malaysia	0–0	Hong Kong

Penalties
	5–4

Bangkok

12 May 1979

Thailand	0–1	North Korea

Bangkok

Third place play-off

14 May 1979

Thailand	1–2	Hong Kong

Bangkok

Final

14 May 1979

North Korea	1–0	Malaysia

Bangkok

North Korea and Malaysia qualified for the final tournament

Group 4

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

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

All matches played in the Philippines.

25 December 1978

South Korea	4–1	Macau

Rizal Memorial Stadium, Manila

25 December 1978

Philippines	0–3	China

Rizal Memorial Stadium, Manila

27 December 1978

Philippines	0–5	South Korea

Rizal Memorial Stadium, Manila

27 December 1978

China	2–1	Macau

Rizal Memorial Stadium, Manila

29 December 1978

South Korea	1–0	China

Rizal Memorial Stadium, Manila

29 December 1978

Philippines	1–2	Macau

Rizal Memorial Stadium, Manila

Qualified teams

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)

Controversies

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]

References

^ Al Anwar, November 1979
^ "منتخبنا خارج حسابات امم اسيا" (in Arabic). NIIIIS.com. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
^ Al Anwar, November 1979

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