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

Zones

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

Central Zone

• All matches played in Thailand.

Group allocation matches where winners were divided into separate groups

21 May 1971

Thailand	1–1	Khmer Republic

Bangkok, Thailand

22 May 1971

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

Bangkok, Thailand

22 May 1971

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

Bangkok, Thailand

Group A

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

24 May 1971

Thailand	10–0	Brunei

Bangkok, Thailand

26 May 1971

Indonesia	1–0	Thailand

Bangkok, Thailand

28 May 1971

Indonesia	9–0	Brunei

Bangkok, Thailand

Group B

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

24 May 1971

Khmer Republic	2–1	Hong Kong

Bangkok, Thailand

26 May 1971

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

Bangkok, Thailand

28 May 1971

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

Bangkok, Thailand

Semifinal

30 May 1971

Khmer Republic	2–0	Indonesia

Bangkok, Thailand

30 May 1971

Thailand	1–0	Malaysia

Bangkok, Thailand

Match for third place

1 June 1971

Malaysia	3–0	Indonesia

Bangkok, Thailand

Final

1 June 1971

Thailand	4–2	Khmer Republic

Bangkok, Thailand

Thailand and Khmer Republic qualified for final tournament

Eastern Zone

All the others withdrew, so  South Korea qualified automatically.

Western Zone

• All matches played in Kuwait.

Group allocation matches where winners were divided into separate groups

10 December 1971

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

Kuwait

11 December 1971

Bahrain	3–0	Lebanon

Kuwait

11 December 1971

Syria	0–0	Jordan
Penalties
	4–3

Kuwait

Ceylon (Sri Lanka) had a bye

Group A

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

13 December 1971

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

Kuwait

Referee: Sarkis Demirdjian (Lebanon)

13 December 1971

Jordan	3–2	Bahrain

Kuwait

15 December 1971

Iraq	1–0	Bahrain
Kadhim 89'

Kuwait

16 December 1971

Jordan	2–1	Ceylon

Kuwait

18 December 1971

Iraq	2–0	Jordan
Ahmed 11' Kadhim 62'

Kuwait

20 December 1971

Bahrain	3–0	Ceylon

Kuwait

Group B

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

14 December 1971

Kuwait	1–0	Lebanon
Khalaf		Rahal

Kuwait

17 December 1971

Kuwait	2–2	Syria
Khalaf Ibrahim		? ?

Kuwait

19 December 1971

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

Kuwait

Referee: Fernando (Ceylon)

Semifinal

21 December 1971

Kuwait	2–0	Jordan
Al Khashram Khalaf

Kuwait

22 December 1971

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

Al Choueikh High School, Kuwait

Match for third place

24 December 1971

Lebanon	2–0	Jordan
Al Ghoul Mantoufi	Report

Kuwait

Final

24 December 1971

Iraq	1–0	Kuwait
Nouri 90+4'

Kuwait

Referee: Sarkis Demirdjian (Lebanon)

Iraq and Kuwait qualified for final tournament

Qualified teams

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)

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