Source - Unsplash by Fuzan Saari.
In the Football World Cup history, Latin America and Europe are the only two continents that have tasted the Golden-ware. Many European countries have been contenders for the World Cup main event- thanks to their infrastructure and grassroots development, from Latin America only 3 countries have had the success to lift the world cup, namely Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina. But what about the World's largest continent? To be honest no county from Asia has been able to leave a mark in people's minds through their World Cup performance except South Korea and Japan in 2002 and probably Japan in 2018. This season though there is a great chance for the Asian teams to impress as a record of 6 Asian teams will be participating in Soccer's top tournament.
South-Asian Teams Playing in World Cup 2022.
South Korea:-
Park Ji Sung - former United player & South Korean International.
South Korea is the only country who have played World Cup more than 10 times.
They are the most successful Asian Country in this competition. In 2002 South Korea reached the semi-finals against all odds. Hueng-Ming Son has earned a lot of headlines over the years playing for Spurs in the Premier League and is one of the key players for Spurs.
Due to his performance over the years, the popularity of Spurs has increased in South Korea by many folds. South Korea has players playing in La Liga, Premier League, and Olympiacos, in Bundesliga. In recent friendlies, they have defeated, Chile, and Egypt, and drew against Costa Rica after putting up a good show.
In WC South Korea is in Group H, with matches against Portugal, Uruguay, and Ghana. Though Portugal & Uruguay are the favorites to qualify for the knock out stages, you never know it's football after all.
2. Japan:-
Takehiro Tomiyasu of Japan during a Premier League match.
Japan has qualified for the round of 16 in many editions of the competition such as in 2002, 2010, and 2018. In 2018, Japan lost to Belgium in the round of 16, despite going up by 2-0 before the break. If they could have held on to the lead, another history would have been made. Japan to have players playing in Premier League, La Liga, etc.
The most notable players in recent times are Takehiro Tomiyasu, Takumi Minamino, etc. They are expected to reach the round of 16.
Let's see the group they are in
3. Iran:-
Iran has previously featured in the tournament before but hasn't had much success, as they have never been able to get past the group stage. Though they are one of the strongest representators of Asia. In their recent friendlies, they have defeated Uruguay which will act as a huge confidence boost for the whole team. Their most notable player is Mehdi Taremi who plays in FC Porto.
Other Teams:-
The other teams from Asia are Saudi Arabia who qualified through the WC Qualifiers, Qatar the host nation who will be appearing for the 1st time in this premier competition, and Australia who qualified through the InterContinental qualifiers.
Saudi Arabia defeated Ice Land in their Pre-Worldcup friendlies and will play their next match against Panama. There are lots of expectations from Saudi Arabia in this edition of the world cup.
Conclusion:-
If 2002 was the edition, which showed that Asian teams can compete against European teams, South Korea reached the semi-final when Japan and South Korea co-hosted the tournament, this edition can mark the rise of Asian teams as football powerhouses, more so because this time a record of 6 Asian teams are participating, which has never happened before.
Good performance of Asian teams will become the hope of next-generation Asian kids who are fighting poverty and dreaming one day they will earn huge and relieve their family & society off the shackles of hunger. Hope in the coming years many more Asian countries will be able to say it out loud, " We too have a Son Hueng Min" playing for their country and, the pride & hope of their nation.
Thank you for visiting our page. Keep supporting Asian Football.