A total of 21 AFC and OFC teams and Israel[1] entered the competition. However, South Vietnam could not compete after being annexed by Vietnam. The Asian zone was allocated 1 place (out of 16) in the final tournament.
There would be two rounds of play:
- First Round: The 21 teams would be divided into 5 groups. The groups had different rules, as follows:
- Group 1 had 6 teams. The teams played against each other once in Singapore. The top 2 teams after the group matches played against each other in a single match. The winner would advance to the Final Round.
- Groups 2 and 3 had 4 teams each. The teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winners would qualify.
- Group 4 had 4 teams. The teams played against each other twice in Qatar. The group winner would qualify.
- Group 5 had 3 teams. The teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winner would qualify.
- Final Round: The 5 teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winner would qualify.
| Date | Comp. | Home team | Away team | Result | Scorers |
| 07.01.1977 | World Cup Qualifier | Saudi Arabia | Iran | 0 – 3 | Gholamhossein MAZLOOMI (16) Hassan ROWSHAN (62) Gholamhossein MAZLOOMI (78) |
| 28.01.1977 | World Cup Qualifier | Syria | Iran | 0 – 1 | Ali PARVIN (36) |
| 22.04.1977 | World Cup Qualifier | Iran | Saudi Arabia | 2 – 0 | Mohsen YOUSEFI (10) Habib SHARIFI (84) |
| 19.06.1977 | World Cup Qualifier | Hong Kong | Iran | 0 – 2 | Hossein KAZERANI (22) Ghafour JAHANI (77) |
| 03.07.1977 | World Cup Qualifier | Korea Rep. | Iran | 0 – 0 | |
| 14.08.1977 | World Cup Qualifier | Australia | Iran | 0 – 1 | Hassan ROWSHAN (70) |
| 28.10.1977 | World Cup Qualifier | Iran | Kuwait | 1 – 0 | Ghafour JAHANI (48) |
| 11.11.1977 | World Cup Qualifier | Iran | Korea Rep. | 2 – 2 | Hassan ROWSHAN (52) Hassan ROWSHAN (68) |
| 18.11.1977 | World Cup Qualifier | Iran | Hong Kong | 3 – 0 | Ghafour JAHANI (3) Hossein KAZERANI (19) Ghafour JAHANI (35) |
| 25.11.1977 | World Cup Qualifier | Iran | Australia | 1 – 0 | Ghafour JAHANI (44) |
| 02.12.1977 | World Cup Qualifier | Kuwait | Iran | 1 – 2 | Behtash FARIBA (48) Habib KHABIRI (59) |
Group 3
| Rank | Team | Pts | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Iran |
8 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | +8 |
| 2 |  Saudi Arabia |
2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 7 | −4 |
| 3 |  Syria |
2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 6 | −4 |
| — |  Iraq |
withdrew | |||||||
Final Round
| Rank | Team | Pts | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Iran |
14 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 3 | +9 |
| 2 |  South Korea |
10 | 8 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 12 | 8 | +4 |
| 3 |  Kuwait |
9 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 13 | 8 | +5 |
| 4 |  Australia |
7 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 11 | 8 | +3 |
| 5 |  Hong Kong |
0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 5 | 26 | −21 |
| Rank | Team Iran |
Pts | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Final Round | 14 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 3 | +9 |
| 2 | First Round | 8 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | +8 |
| 3 | Total | 22 | 12 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 20 | 3 | +17 |
Goal Scorers
| PLAYER | |
| ROWSHAN Hassan | 5 |
| JAHANI Ghafour | 4 |
| KAZERANI Hossein | 2 |
| MAZLOOMI Ghulamhossein | 2 |
| DANAEIFARD Iraj | 1 |
| FARIBA Behtash | 1 |
| KHABIRI Habib | 1 |
| PARVIN Ali | 1 |
| SADEGHI Mohammad | 1 |
| SHAREEFI Habib |
1 |
| YOUSIFI Mohsen |
1 |
Statistics
| Matches won | 10 |
| Matches Drawn | 2 |
| Number of Matches Lost | 0 |
| Goals Scored | 20 |
| Goals per game | 1.42 |
| Goals conceded | 3 |
| Spectators total | 601,080 |
| Spectators average | 42,934 |
| Total players used | 38 |
| Players Used during finals | 14 |
[/tab][ [tab title=”Squad “]
| 1 | HEJAZI, Nasser | 60 | 0 | 19-Dec-49 | 29 | Shahbaz |
| 2 | MAVADAT, Bahram | 10 | 0 | 30-Jan-50 | 28 | Sepahan |
| 3 | KORBEKANDI, MohammadReza | 2 | 0 | 27-Jan-53 | 25 | Zob Ahan |
| 4 | ABDOLLAHIE, Nassrollah | 37 | 1 | 30-Nov-53 | 25 | Shahbaz |
| 5 | NAZARI, Hassan | 33 | 0 | 13-Mar-55 | 22 | Taj |
| 6 | ESKANDARIAN, Andranik | 27 | 0 | 16-Sep-51 | 27 | Taj |
| 7 | NAYEBAGHA, Hassan | 20 | 0 | 21-Oct-50 | 28 | Homa |
| 8 | GHASHGHAEAN, Alireza | 5 | 0 | 27-Feb-54 | 24 | Bargh Shiraz |
| 9 | SHOJAEI, Ali | 5 | 0 | 23-Mar-53 | 25 | Zob Ahan |
| 10 | KAZERANI, Hossein | 24 | 2 | 13-Apr-47 | 31 | Pas |
| 11 | ALLAHVARDI, Javad | 2 | 0 | 09-Apr-52 | 26 | Perspolis |
| 12 | GHASEMPOUR, Ebrahim | 30 | 0 | 02-Jul-56 | 21 | Shahbaz |
| 13 | DANAEIFARD, Iraj | 17 | 3 | 19-Mar-51 | 27 | Taj |
| 14 | PARVIN, Ali | 73 | 12 | 12-Oct-46 | 32 | Perspolis |
| 15 | SADEGHI, Mohammad | 38 | 4 | 17-Mar-51 | 27 | Pas |
| 16 | NOORAEI, Nasser | 9 | 5 | 09-Jul-56 | 22 | Homa |
| 17 | BISHKAR, Majeed | 2 | 0 | 06-Aug-56 | 22 | Rastakhiz |
| 18 | MAJD-TAYMOORI, Hamid | 2 | 0 | 03-Jun-53 | 25 | Shahbaz |
| 19 | ROWSHAN, Hassan | 38 | 13 | 02-Jun-56 | 22 | Taj |
| 20 | JAHANI, Ghafour | 27 | 6 | 04-May-50 | 28 | Malavan |
| 21 | FARAKI, Hossein | 23 | 11 | 19-Apr-56 | 22 | Pas |
| 22 | FARIBA, Behtash | 16 | 12 | 11-Feb-55 | 23 | Pas |
[/tab] [tab title=”Matches”] Matches
| Date&time | Comp. | Home team | Away team | Final score |
| 03.06.1978 at 16:45 | Group D | Holland | Iran | 3 – 0 |
| 07.06.1978 at 16:45 | Group D | Scotland | Iran | 1 – 1 |
| 11.06.1978 at 16:45 | Group D | Peru | Iran | 4 – 1 |
[/tab] [tab title=”Highlights “] [/tab]
[tab title=”Gallery “]
Navad program on World Cup 1998 & Interview with Mohajerani
[/tab] [/tabs]