Qualification for the 1972 AFC Asian Cup finals held in Thailand.

• * Withdrew
• **  Israel originally qualified as hosts, but withdrew later^[1]
• *** Iraq were allocated to Western zone later
•  Iran qualified as defending champions

• All matches played in Thailand.

Group allocation matches where winners were divided into separate groups

More information Thailand, 1–1 ...

Thailand	1–1	Khmer Republic

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More information Malaysia, 8–0 ...

Malaysia	8–0	Brunei
Zulkifli Norbit 12', 28', 80' S. Abdullah 28', 38', 83' Wong Choon Wah 37' Soh Chin Aun 48'

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More information Indonesia, 2–1 ...

Indonesia	2–1	Hong Kong
Budi Santoso 4'  ?		?

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Group A

More information Team, Pld ...

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Indonesia	2	2	0	0	10	0	+10	4
Thailand	2	1	0	1	10	1	+9	2
Brunei	2	0	0	2	0	19	−19	0

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Source: ^{[citation needed]}

More information Thailand, 10–0 ...

Thailand	10–0	Brunei

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24 May 1971

Bangkok, Thailand

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More information Indonesia, 1–0 ...

Indonesia	1–0	Thailand

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26 May 1971

Bangkok, Thailand

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More information Indonesia, 9–0 ...

Indonesia	9–0	Brunei

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28 May 1971

Bangkok, Thailand

Group B

More information Team, Pld ...

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Malaysia	2	2	0	0	4	2	+2	4
Khmer Republic	2	1	0	1	3	3	0	2
Hong Kong	2	0	0	2	2	4	−2	0

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Source: ^{[citation needed]}

More information Khmer Republic, 2–1 ...

Khmer Republic	2–1	Hong Kong

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24 May 1971

Bangkok, Thailand

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More information Malaysia, 2–1 ...

Malaysia	2–1	Khmer Republic
Wong Choon Wah 12' Shaharuddin Abdullah 75'		Sleyman Selim 44'

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26 May 1971

Bangkok, Thailand

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More information Malaysia, 2–1 ...

Malaysia	2–1	Hong Kong
Shaharuddin Abdullah 25', 69'		Chung Chor Wai 44'

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28 May 1971

Bangkok, Thailand

Semifinal

More information Khmer Republic, 2–0 ...

Khmer Republic	2–0	Indonesia

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30 May 1971

Bangkok, Thailand

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More information Thailand, 1–0 ...

Thailand	1–0	Malaysia

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30 May 1971

Bangkok, Thailand

Match for third place

More information Malaysia, 3–0 ...

Malaysia	3–0	Indonesia

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1 June 1971

Bangkok, Thailand

Final

More information Thailand, 4–2 ...

Thailand	4–2	Khmer Republic

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1 June 1971

Bangkok, Thailand

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Thailand and Khmer Republic qualified for final tournament

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All the others withdrew, so  South Korea qualified automatically.

• All matches played in Kuwait.

Group allocation matches where winners were divided into separate groups

More information Iraq, 1–1 ...

Iraq	1–1	Kuwait
Aziz 15'		Bu Hamad
Penalties
	2–4

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More information Bahrain, 3–0 ...

Bahrain	3–0	Lebanon

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More information Syria, 0–0 ...

Syria	0–0	Jordan
Penalties
	4–3

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Ceylon (Sri Lanka) had a bye

Group A

More information Team, Pld ...

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Iraq	3	3	0	0	8	0	+8	6
Jordan	3	2	0	1	5	5	0	4
Bahrain	3	1	0	2	5	4	+1	2
Ceylon	3	0	0	3	1	10	−9	0

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Source: ^[2]

More information Iraq, 5–0 ...

Iraq	5–0	Ceylon
Kadhim 32', 42', 69' Kamil 51' Khalaf 88'

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13 December 1971

Kuwait

Referee: Sarkis Demirdjian (Lebanon)

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More information Jordan, 3–2 ...

Jordan	3–2	Bahrain

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13 December 1971

Kuwait

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More information Iraq, 1–0 ...

Iraq	1–0	Bahrain
Kadhim 89'

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15 December 1971

Kuwait

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More information Jordan, 2–1 ...

Jordan	2–1	Ceylon

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16 December 1971

Kuwait

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More information Iraq, 2–0 ...

Iraq	2–0	Jordan
Ahmed 11' Kadhim 62'

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18 December 1971

Kuwait

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More information Bahrain, 3–0 ...

Bahrain	3–0	Ceylon

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20 December 1971

Kuwait

Group B

More information Team, Pld ...

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Kuwait	2	1	1	0	3	2	+1	3
Lebanon	2	1	0	1	3	3	0	2
Syria	2	0	1	1	4	5	−1	1

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Source: ^{[citation needed]}

More information Kuwait, 1–0 ...

Kuwait	1–0	Lebanon
Khalaf		Rahal

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14 December 1971

Kuwait

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More information Kuwait, 2–2 ...

Kuwait	2–2	Syria
Khalaf Ibrahim		? ?

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17 December 1971

Kuwait

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More information Lebanon, 3–2 ...

Lebanon	3–2	Syria
Mantoufi 23' Al Ghoul 35', 55'		Said 3' Nano 25'

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19 December 1971

Kuwait

Referee: Fernando (Ceylon)

Semifinal

More information Kuwait, 2–0 ...

Kuwait	2–0	Jordan
Al Khashram Khalaf

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21 December 1971

Kuwait

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More information Iraq, 4–1 ...

Iraq	4–1	Lebanon
Kadhim 40', 53' Aziz 65' Ahmed 83'		Mantoufi 88'

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22 December 1971

Al Choueikh High School, Kuwait

Match for third place

More information Lebanon, 2–0 ...

Lebanon	2–0	Jordan
Al Ghoul Mantoufi	Report

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24 December 1971

Kuwait

Final

More information Iraq, 1–0 ...

Iraq	1–0	Kuwait
Nouri 90+4'

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24 December 1971

Kuwait

Referee: Sarkis Demirdjian (Lebanon)

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Iraq and Kuwait qualified for final tournament

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More information Team, Qualified as ...

Team	Qualified as	Qualified on	Previous appearance
Thailand	Hosts* and Central Zone winners	30 May 1971	0 (debut)
Iran	1968 AFC Asian Cup Champions	19 May 1968	1 (1968)
Khmer Republic	Central Zone runners-up	30 May 1971	0 (debut)
South Korea	Eastern zone winners (automatically qualified)	1971	3 (1956, 1960, 1964)
Iraq	Western Zone winners	22 December 1971	0 (debut)
Kuwait	Western Zone runners-up	21 December 1971	0 (debut)

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•  Israel originally qualified as hosts but later withdrew.  Thailand replaced them later.