The men's qualification for association football tournament at the 1956 Summer Olympics was the first time the qualifying round was done on a home-and-away basis.

† Withdrew after qualifying

Team	Method of qualification	Previous best performance
Australia	Hosts	–
Poland †	Automatic qualification	Fourth place (1952)
Bulgaria	Bulgaria v Great Britain winner	Round of 16 (1924, 1952)
Yugoslavia	Yugoslavia v Romania winner	Silver medal (1948, 1952)
Hungary †	Hungary v East Germany winner	Gold medal (1952)
Turkey †	Turkey v West Germany winner	Quarter-finals (1948, 1952)
West Germany †	Turkey v West Germany winner	–
Soviet Union	Soviet Union v Israel winner	First round (1952)
Egypt †	Ethiopia v Egypt winner	Fourth place (1928)
South Vietnam †	South Vietnam v Cambodia winner	–
India	India v Thailand winner	First round (1948)
Thailand	India v Thailand winner	–
Japan	Japan v South Korea winner	Quarter-finals (1936)
China †	China v Philippines winner	First round (1936, 1948)
Indonesia	Indonesia v Taiwan winner	–
United States	United States v Mexico winner	Silver medal (1904)
United Team of Germany	Formation by West Germany and East Germany	Fourth place (1952)
Great Britain	Replacement by Poland	Gold medal (1900, 1908, 1912)

The final tournament had 16 spots reserved with 28 countries initially showing interest in the tournament.

Automatic qualification was granted to  Australia (host),  Poland,  Turkey, and  United Team of Germany (originally as West Germany).

• Europe: 4 places, contested by 8 teams (including Israel).
• Africa: 1 place, contested by 2 teams.
• Asia: 6 places, contested by 12 teams.
• Americas: 1 place, contested by 2 teams.

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Ethiopia	3–9	Egypt	1–4	2–5

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
South Vietnam	9–5	Cambodia	5–2	4–3
Iran	n/p1	Afghanistan	—	—
India	bye2	Thailand	—	—
Japan	2–23	South Korea	2–0	0–2
China	w/o4	Philippines	—	—
Indonesia	w/o5	Republic of China	—	—

¹ Both teams withdrew; the tie was scratched.
² As the withdrawal of other teams left six winners, the tie was scratched and both teams qualified automatically.
³ Both matches were played in Japan due to the lack of a suitable stadium in South Korea; Japan advanced on the drawing of lots.
⁴ Philippines withdrew.
⁵ Republic of China withdrew after the organizing committee ruled they had to play under the FIFA flag during the first leg, due to concerns over social and political unrest in Indonesia relating to the use of the Blue Sky with a White Sun flag.^[1]

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
United States	w/o1	Mexico	—	—

¹ Mexico withdrew.

Before the official draw for the final tournament on September 1, 1956, Poland withdrew and was replaced by  Great Britain.

After the draw, Hungary also withdrew: its place was offered to South Korea, however South Korea declined due to financial reasons.

Subsequently, South Vietnam and Turkey both withdrew, while the People's Republic of China and Egypt boycotted the Olympics.

11 July 1956

Ethiopia	1–4	Egypt
		El-Fanagily 3', 31' Ad-Diba 54' Adam 60'

Haile Selassie Stadium, Addis Ababa

31 July 1956

Egypt	5–2	Ethiopia
Saleh Attia El-Far Ad-Diba

Al Ahly Stadium, Cairo

3 June 1956

South Vietnam	5–2	Cambodia

10 June 1956

Cambodia	3–4	South Vietnam

3 June 1956

Japan	2–0	South Korea
Uchino 54' Iwabuchi 77'	Report

Korakuen Velodrome, Tokyo

Attendance: 10,000

10 June 1956

Japan	0–2	South Korea
	Report	? 58'  ? 64'

Korakuen Velodrome, Tokyo

Attendance: 20,000

Japan advanced by the drawing of lots.

• Australian football at the 1956 Summer Olympics
• 1956 Summer Olympics

• Guinness Record of World Soccer, by Guy Oliver (1st ed., Guinness Publishing, 1992)
• The Times newspaper, various dates

• Russell Gerrard. Games of the XVI Olympiad. Football Qualifying Tournament. RSSSF. 20 September 1998.