FIFA rejected the entries of Ethiopia and South Korea, whereas Chinese Taipei withdrew.[2] The remaining 8 teams played in a knockout tournament, with matches on a home-and-away basis. The tournament winner would qualify. As all their opening teams declined to play them, Israel won the tournament and advanced to the qualification play-off against Wales.
Format
There were four rounds:
First Round: 8 teams were divided into 4 groups of 2 teams to determine four winners.
Second Round: The 4 first round winners played in one group with 2 advancing to the final round.
Final Round: The remaining two teams contested one spot in the CAF/AFC–UEFA play-off.
^Turkey, pre-independent Cyprus, and Egypt withdrew without playing any matches. Israel (included in teams) didn’t play any matches besides the inter-confederation playoffs due the Arab League Boycott.