The qualification for the 1956 AFC Asian Cup consisted of 19 teams separated in three zones. The winner of each zone would join hosts Hong Kong in the final tournament. Qualification was done on a two-legged format, home and away games.
Central zone First round South Vietnam and Thailand received a bye to the second round.
First leg
Second leg
Malaya won 11–5 on aggregate.
Second round
First leg
Second leg
South Vietnam won 7–3 on aggregate.
Third round
South Vietnam qualified for the 1956 AFC Asian Cup.
Eastern zone Philippines, South Korea and North Borneo received a bye to the second round.
First round
Second round
First leg
Second leg
South Korea won 5–0 on aggregate.
Third round
First leg
Second leg
South Korea won 4–1 on aggregate and qualified for the 1956 AFC Asian Cup.
Western zone First round
Second round
Third round
Israel qualified for the 1956 AFC Asian Cup.
Qualified teams
Team Qualified as Qualified on 7 June 1955 Western Zone winners (Automatically qualified) April 1956 Central Zone winners 24 May 1956 Eastern Zone winners 2 September 1956
Goalscorers
References
Jovanovic, Bojan; Panahi, Majeed; Veroeveren, Pieter. "Asian Nations Cup 1956". RSSSF.