A total of 116 teams entered the competition, with Italy, as the host, and Argentina, as the holders, qualifying for the final tournament automatically.

Three entries were rejected by FIFA: Belize, Mauritius and Mozambique due to their outstanding financial debts, taking the number of accepted teams down to 113.

Seven teams withdrew during the qualifying process without playing a match: Bahrain, India, Lesotho, Maldives, Rwanda, South Yemen and Togo.

Final round, the 6 teams played each other once, the winner and runner up qualify Rwanda and Togo both withdrew.

Final round, the 4 teams play playoff games on a home and away basis, the winners would qualify.

The winning team of the OFC qualification tournament played the CONMEBOL group winner with the weakest record in a home-and-away play-off.