Eight teams from the top two of each group advance to the final tournament, joining hosts Kuwait and defending champions Iran.
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*
North Korea and Malaysia qualified for the final tournament
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.