Asian football needs major surgery

The illusion of hope and smoldering pain

At the 2026 World Cup, Asia has the largest force ever, with 9 teams. Now, only 1 team remains, but they do not even belong to this continent. The statistics are really a bucket of cold water. Iraq conceded 12 goals, only scored 1 goal. Uzbekistan conceded 11 goals, scored 2. Qatar conceded 10 goals, scored 2. Jordan conceded 8 goals, scored 3. Saudi Arabia conceded 5 goals, scored 1. South Korea scored 2 and conceded 3. Iran scored 3, conceded 3.

In total, these 7 Asian teams eliminated only won 1 match, drew 6 and lost 14 matches. Scored 14 goals and conceded 52 times. Qatar - the defending champion of 2 consecutive Asian Cups, left the tournament with only 1 point. Uzbekistan, Jordan and Iraq went empty-handed. Although there were many compliments about the rise of Asia and the expanded format expected to be the moment for this continent to shine, in reality it revealed a harsh face. Asian football has not progressed as quickly as the way their participation increased.

The first series of matches sparked a glimmer of hope. But then the tournament began to get into gear. The big teams regained their form. And the Asian teams, one by one, were defeated. Only Iran - undefeated with 3 draws, eliminated due to goal difference according to the most harsh scenario and Japan - once again had to taste the bitter feeling of being eliminated, leaving regret.

The contrast and post-World Cup crisis

Looking at African football, where 9/10 teams enter the knockout round, the contrast is something that cannot be ignored. Jordan's coach, Jamal Sellami, gave a deep insight: "The most important thing for Jordanian football, if it wants to have a chance to achieve better results, is to have players playing in stronger and more competitive leagues.

Africa's success proves that he was right. African players are scattered throughout European tournaments. Meanwhile, the best players in Asia, for the most part, play domestically.

The judgment has begun. The President of the Saudi Arabian Football Federation, Yasser Al-Misehal, resigned immediately after his team's defeat. The South Korean President called for a comprehensive review of the national team development program. Coach Hong Myung-bo resigned and the apologies were not enough to quell the outrage in his home country. Iraq has also opened an official investigation into its undefeated league.

Uzbekistan coach Fabio Cannavaro gave a frank assessment: "We need to improve in all of Asian football, except Japan, Australia and possibly Iran".

What's next?

Before the tournament, AFC President Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa once urged the teams to "capture this moment in North America and ensure we will set a new milestone of achievement, breaking records outside of Asia". However, the result is a completely different type of record.

The AFC head admitted the defeat: "The fact that only 2 representatives advanced (including Australia) highlighted the fierce competition of global football. This shows that although our teams have made progress and shown great fighting spirit, the gap with the upper class is still very large and we must continue to work hard to narrow it down.

But for a federation that has "worked hard" for decades, this progress seems too slow. As long as Asia cannot produce a team that can compete fairly and stably after the group stage, the numbers will continue to tell the old story, along with a long list of unanswered questions.