[World Cup Wrap-up ②] Nine Asian Tickets Prove Meaningless Amid 'Total Elimination' in Round of 16... Asia's Football Faces a Painful Reality as Japan Fights Hard

*This content was translated by AI.

The grand journey of the 2026 FIFA North American World Cup concluded on the 20th (Korea time), just 39 days after opening on the 12th. Various issues that had been widely discussed prior to the tournament, including the historic expansion to 48 participating nations, left clear highlights and shadows. Amid Europe's continued dominance, Asia, with nine participating countries, felt the high wall of world football. StarNews reflects on the North American World Cup journey through this wrap-up.

AFC member nations received a painful report card in this tournament. Although nine countries reached the final stage, not a single team advanced to the Round of 16. This stands in sharp contrast to the 2022 Qatar tournament, where South Korea, Japan, and Australia all reached the Round of 16.

FIFA expanded the number of participating nations from 32 to 48 starting with this tournament. Asia secured a record nine final-stage berths. However, the quantitative expansion did not lead to qualitative growth, only reaffirming the high wall of world football.

Asian countries also caused surprise upsets early in the tournament. South Korea defeated Czech Republic 2-1 in their first Group A match. Other Asian nations recorded two wins and four draws in the first six matches, signaling potential surprises. However, their performance declined sharply from mid-group stage. South Korea also suffered consecutive losses to Mexico and South Africa.

Only Japan and Australia reached the Round of 32, while South Korea and Iran finished third in their groups and competed for wild card spots but ultimately failed to advance to the knockout stage. Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Jordan, and Uzbekistan all concluded the tournament finishing last in their respective groups.

Japan, which had drawn high expectations as a "non-Asian-level" team, proved to have the best performance among Asian participants. In Group F, they recorded one win and two draws without defeat. With European-based players forming the core, Japan drew against European powerhouses like Netherlands and Sweden, and defeated Tunisia 4-0, marking the first time an Asian nation scored four goals in a single World Cup match and achieving the largest margin of victory by an Asian team.

Japan lost 1-2 to powerhouse Brazil in the Round of 32 but earned applause for putting up a competitive fight. Japan's demonstrated solid performance has set a benchmark for Asian football to learn from.

In Africa, nine out of ten participating nations advanced past the group stage (excluding Tunisia), fully benefiting from the tournament expansion. In contrast, Asia failed to maintain its early momentum and experienced a clear gap in ability.

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*This content was translated by AI.