For a brief moment, it felt like this would be a good summer for Asia.The 2026 World Cup began with South Korea's electrifying victory over the Czech Republic.Then, over the next four days, teams from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) went undefeated, largely through draws.Luck turned on the tournament's sixth day.
And when the losses rained down on Asia, they poured.The World Cup's expanded format made way for a record nine teams from the AFC.But after the group stage, seven were eliminated: South Korea, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Uzbekistan.
The last two, Australia and Japan, were sent home after the round of 32 — making the AFC the first significant confederation to see all of its teams eliminated at this World Cup (the Oceania Football Confederation, also eliminated in the group stage, was represented by one team, New Zealand.)It was not only a blow to the individual countries, but Asian football at large.Today, there are more Asian players in European club football, and more money and effort spent on the beautiful game in Asia.
Yet when it was showtime on football's biggest stage, AFC teams delivered only three wins out of 29.For the sixth World Cup in a row, no squad from the AFC could notch a victory in the knockout round." What it showed is that Asian football can be competitive to a level, but there is still a gap that still needs to be bridged between Asia and the rest of the world," says Paul Williams, who is based in Australia and is co-founder of the online news outlet The Asian Game.So, what's holding teams back? Or is it a matter of time until Asia has its moment in the World Cup like Europe, South America and most recently Africa?The biggest disappointment among AFC teams was South Korea, which was the second-highest ranked squad in its group.
After their initial win, the Taeguk Warriors became increasingly disorganized and failed to deliver in their subsequent games against Mexico and South Africa."In truth, there were ...