Nine Asian nations reached the World Cup finals this year, but only two survived. That is the report card Asian soccer received in the group stage of the first "48-nation World Cup."
With the group stage of the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North America concluding Saturday, only Japan and Australia among Asian Football Confederation (AFC) members advanced to the round of 32. South Korea finished 10th in the competition among the 12 third-place teams after Uzbekistan suffered a come-from-behind 3-1 loss to the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the final Group K match that day. Iran ranked ninth among third-place teams and tasted the bitter cup of elimination.
With the expansion of participating nations, the number of AFC members in the finals rose from six in the previous 2022 Qatar tournament to nine. Three nations (South Korea, Japan and Australia) advanced to the knockout round in Qatar, but that number fell to two this time after South Korea was eliminated. Compared with recent World Cups contested by 32 nations, the number of Asian nations reaching the round of 32 this time effectively shrank by one-third, from six to two.
Asian nations started well. Beginning with South Korea's 2-1 come-from-behind victory over the Czech Republic in their Group A opener, they went unbeaten through the first six matches, but the surge ended there. Jordan and Uzbekistan, both making their finals debut, each finished with three losses, confirming the world's high wall.
By continent, the surge of Confederation of African Football (CAF) nations stood out. Ten nations reached the finals, and nine of them, all except Tunisia, advanced to the round of 32. The number of finalists doubled from five in the previous tournament, while the number of nations reaching the knockout round jumped more than fourfold from two.
In Europe, 13 of 16 nations reached the round of 32. Only the Czech Republic, Scotland and Turkey were eliminated. In South America, five of six nations, all except Uruguay, comfortably joined the knockout round. New Zealand, representing Oceania, was eliminated.
