How Many Asian Countries Will Be in the 2022 World Cup?

Jenny Lee October 30, 2022 | 10:09

The 2022 World Cup will be the first time that Asian football has 6 teams participating in the finals including Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Australia and host Qatar.

How Many Asian Countries Will Be in the 2022 World Cup?

The joy of the Australian team players after winning the right to attend the 2022 World Cup

The 2022 World Cup finals will take place in Qatar from November 21 to December 18. This will be the last World Cup with 32 teams participating. From the 2026 World Cup in the US, Canada and Mexico, the number of participating teams will be increased to 48 and Asian football will have 8 places to the finals.

Which Asian Teams Will Play in Qatar for World Cup 2022?

Asian football has 6 teams participating in a World Cup final for the first time, after Australia overcame Peru in the play-off to win tickets to the biggest football festival on the planet later this year. The representatives of Asian football at the 2022 World Cup finals include: Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Australia and host Qatar.

In 2018, Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Australia together attended the tournament in Russia and helped Asian football to have 5 teams attend the World Cup for the first time. Meanwhile, Qatar will be the first team in history to attend the World Cup for the first time as a host, since the case of Italy in the 1934 World Cup.

However, all six Asian teams fell into a difficult group at the 2022 World Cup finals. This led to the worry that Asian football would not have a representative to pass the group stage, instead of recreating the explosive scenario. like when Japan and Korea hosted the 2002 World Cup.

According to the draw results, the host Qatar will be in Group A with Ecuador, Senegal and the Netherlands. In Group B, Iran will face England, USA and Wales. In Group C, Saudi Arabia faced Argentina, Mexico, and Poland. In Group D, Australia competed against France, Denmark, and Tunisia. In Group E, Japan faced Spain, Germany and the winner of the Costa Rica/New Zealand play-off pair. In Group H, Korea will meet Portugal, Ghana, Uruguay.

Check More: World Cup 2022 Full Fixtures of 64 Matches - Updated

Key Facts: World Cup 2022 in Qatar

♦ The FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar is the 22nd world football championship for the national team.

♦ 32 excellent national teams will compete against each other in 8 groups. This is the second time a World Cup is held in Asia (after the 2002 World Cup in Japan & Korea).

♦ France is the defending champion of the tournament.

♦ The time of the 2022 World Cup is slightly different, instead of taking place in the summer as usual, it will be moved to winter.

Key Facts: 6 Teams from Asia Qualify for World Cup 2022

South Korea, Iran, Japan and Saudi Arabia all qualified directly. Australia beat Peru in the inter-confederation playoff to qualify.

#1. Qatar

FIFA World Ranking: 51st

Qualifying Record: N/A

Top Scorer: N/A

#2. Iran

FIFA World Ranking: 21st

Qualifying Record: 10P, 8W, 1L, 1D

Top Scorer: Sardar Azmoun (10 goals)

#3. South Korea

FIFA World Ranking: 29th

Qualifying Record: 10P, 7W, 1L, 2D

Top Scorer: Son Heung-min (7 goals)

#4. Japan

FIFA World Ranking: 23rd

Qualifying Record: 10P, 7W, 2L, 1D

Top Scorer: Takumi Minamino and Yuya Osako (10 goals)

#5. Saudi Arabia

FIFA World Ranking: 49th

Qualifying Record: 10P, 7W, 1L, 2D

Top Scorer: Saleh Al-Shehri and Salem Al-Dawsari (7 goals)

#6. Australia

FIFA World Ranking: 42nd

Qualifying Record: 12P, 6W, 3L, 3D

Top Scorer: Mitchell Duke (3 goals)

This is the fifth time in a row Australia has attended the World Cup. Australia's best performance was in the round of 16 of the 2006 World Cup, where they lost 0-1 to champions Italy. In the remaining times, Australia was eliminated from the group stage.

Will Asian Football Surprise at the 2022 World Cup?

Japan and South Korea fall into two difficult groups in the 2022 World Cup

Two decades ago, Korea and Japan hosted the 2002 World Cup, but Asian football only had 4 representatives to attend the biggest football festival on the planet. It was a resounding Asian team tournament, when Korea reached the semi-finals and Japan reached the round of 16.

But since 2002, the performance of Asian football at the World Cup has continuously gone backwards. In Qatar at the end of this year, fans expect Asian teams to be able to surprise other strong opponents in the world. They have advantages in terms of climate, yards compared to their competitors, and at the same time, their expertise is also more advanced than two decades ago.

This is really the moment when Asian football resonates," said the president of the Asian Football Confederation, Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa, after Australia overcame Peru. The team of the continent, for the first time in history, won the right to participate in the 2022 World Cup".

The head of the AFC believes that the 2022 World Cup will see an improvement in the performance of Asian football compared to the 2018 tournament. At the tournament in Russia 4 years ago, Asian football only surpassed Japan. group stage. The remaining four representatives including South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Australia and Iran were all disappointing.

After nearly half a decade, the strength and situation of Asian teams in the 2022 World Cup has changed. In a series of friendly matches in June, coach Hajime Moriyasu's army had encouraging results such as losing 0-1 to Brazil at home, defeating Paraguay and Ghana with the same score of 4-1.

They disappointed in the last match of the friendly series, when they lost 0-3 to Tunisia at home. However, overall, "Green Samurai" still shows its ability.

"The result (losing to Tunisia) was disappointing," said coach Moriyasu. "These matches will be useful in the future and I will use them as a springboard to improve the team."

In the 2018 World Cup, Japan regretted when leading Belgium to 2-0 after the first hour of competition. The team from the land of the rising sun let the opponent go upstream unfortunately in the 90+4 minute. They became the most impressive representative of the Asian football tournament that year.

In Qatar at the end of the year, Japan is expected to continue to make it difficult for rivals. However, the fact that they fell into a group with both Germany and Spain made things difficult. Costa Rica, the other opponent in the group, is also not an easy team to play.

South Korea, another continent's leading football, also falls into another group that can be considered "death" in the 2022 World Cup. To win one of the two tickets to the round of 16, Son Heung-min and the other teams. The team had to face Ghana, Portugal and Uruguay.

If Ghana has just lost to Japan 1-4 in a friendly match, then Portugal or Uruguay are two national teams at a very different level. The kimchi team probably needs an ecstatic tournament to pass the group stage.

Saudi Arabia ranked above Japan in the third qualifying round of the 2022 World Cup in Asia, but they disappointed when they lost to Colombia and Venezuela, two teams that did not qualify for South America earlier this month. Falling into a group with Mexico, Argentina and Poland makes the opportunity of coach Herve Renard's teachers and students not to be appreciated.

The hope of reaching the round of 16 of Asian football is probably on the shoulders of Iran and Qatar, two teams that fall into two groups that are theoretically easier to breathe.