FIFA World Cup: Asian teams punch above their weight in Qatar, revive memories of 2002

Six Asian teams qualified for the 2022 FIFA World Cup — most from the continent in the tournament’s history. Alongside hosts Qatar, Iran, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Japan and Australia were the other five. FIFA World Cup: Fixtures | Results | Points Table | Squads | Records While Iran, Korea, Saudi Arabia and Japan made it via the continental qualification route, Australia took entry by beating Peru in the intercontinental play-off. Instead of being the whipping boys for the European and South American teams, the Asian teams have held their head high and caused quite the stir in Qatar. Japan and Saudi Arabia both came from behind to beat Germany and Argentina in two of the biggest surprises in World Cup history. Saudi Arabia’s win over Argentina takes the cake in teams punching above their weight. On Friday, Iran scored two stoppage time goals to beat 10-man Wales in glorious scenes. There have been disappointments for the teams from the Asian Football Confederation: Qatar lost two straight games to exit the tournament ; Iran started by being thumped 2-6 by England and Australia were swept aside by France . “The stars have aligned… but this is football. Sometimes crazy things happen,” said Saudi Arabia manager Herve Renard following their win over Argentina. Japan’s win over Germany mirrored Saudi Arabia’s shock triumph over Argentina. They, too, trailed and scored two goals in the second half, with both coming close to each other. “We are reaching the global standard and our maximum capacity from Asian football. When we conceded a goal, we kept going. We have to be persistent, tough to the end and seize our momentum,” said Japan’s manager Hajime Moriyasu. Iran continued the run of shock-and-awe by beating Gareth Bale-led Wales. Despite off-the-field issues dominating their time in Qatar, Iran focused and were rewarded for their discipline and never-say-die attitude. Asia at FIFA World Cups [caption id=“attachment_11684591” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Japan players celebrate their 2-1 victory over Germany at the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha, Qatar. AP[/caption] Historically, FIFA World Cup titles have been shared between European and South American teams. No team outside these two continents has ever gone on to lift the trophy. For Asia, none have even made the summit clash. Rather, bar two countries, none have been able to break this duopoly even in the semi-finals. USA reached the last-four in 1930 and South Korea progressed to the semi-finals in 2002. (more on that below) Among Asian countries, Saudi Arabia reached the Round of 16 at the 1994 World Cup while beating Belgium along the way. On the whole, no team from Asia managed to get out of the group stages in five out of nine World cups held since 1986. 2002 FIFA World Cup glory

The last time an Asian team overachieved and were able to cause shockers was in 2002 — the first and previous instance of the FIFA World Cup being held in Asia. Hosted by Japan and South Korea, both of them made it out of the group stage with the latter going to the semi-finals. Japan emerged unbeaten from their group which also had Belgium, Russia and Tunisia. The Samurai Blue held Belgium and beat Russia and Tunisia. In the next round, they were unable to break down a defiant Turkish defence and bowed out to an early goal. South Korea, without any news-grabbing global names, came out as the surprise packages from the tournament. Managed by Dutchman Guus Hiddink, Korea worked as a team to beat Poland, draw with USA and beat Portugal in a must-win game.

If one name remains in everyone’s memory from that tournament it is that of Ahn Jung-Hwan who scored in extra time against Italy in the Round of 16. In the quarters, Korea enjoyed very little possession against Spain but had the cohesiveness to remain rock solid in defence. They won 5-3 on penalties, becoming the first Asian team to make the World Cup semis. The dream run would draw to a close against Germany when a Michael Ballack goal proved decisive and unlocked a stalemate that lasted 75 minutes. Since 2002, Asian teams have lacked consistency and attacking approach to take on the behemoths of Europe and South America. Read all the Latest News , Trending News ,  Cricket News , Bollywood News ,  India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook , Twitter and Instagram .