Japan didn't play in 1966 World Cup qualifiers, what are reasons ?? Japan played in prevoius World Cup qualifiers in 1960s, Japan team got some good results in Olympic Games (1964-quarter-finals, 1968-3rd place) if they played qualifiers, North Korea may not qualified for finals
The 1966 cup was a total mess... they moved the AFC qualifiers from Japan to Cambodia, and South Korea withdrew as a result, as did the African nations who had to play against them in the playoff... Stanley Rous was moving bits and pieces to ensure South Africa qualified but it blew up in his face, as the rest of Africa did not want to play at his home turf. Burn in hell Rous you racist scum! Let's see if the North Koreans can even get past the group stage's 4th place.