Only two Asian teams in last 32 – how does one bridge the gap?

The ‘real’ competition begins now, as many would say that the battle lines for the round of 32 in the FIFA World Cup, which begins on Monday, 29 June, have been drawn. A close look at the line-up, however, brings back some depressing home truths: only two of the nine Asian countries in the fray, Japan and Australia, have made it to the next round.

This underlines how the world's largest continent, accounting for about 60 per cent of the global population, has failed to come of age on the biggest footballing stage despite being allocated an unprecedented eight-and-a-half qualification spots in the expanded 48-team field. The seven teams whose achievement lay merely in qualifying rather than progressing were Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Korea and Uzbekistan.

Japan, incidentally, have carved a niche for themselves among football's elite over the years, and five-time champions Brazil — whom they meet on Monday — will be wary of the fleet-footed East Asians. It is Japan's fifth successive appearance in the knockout stages, while the Socceroos, who have now reached the knockout rounds in back-to-back World Cups, will face Mohamed Salah's Egypt on 3 July.

Could Asia's balance sheet have been somewhat better, given its striking contrast with Africa, from where nine of the 10 participating teams have progressed? It is a matter of ifs and buts, but one certainly expected more from South Korea — semi-finalists as co-hosts alongside Japan in 2002 and a nation that had qualified for the finals for an uninterrupted 11th time.

A shock 1-0 defeat to South Africa, after making the costly tactical decision to field a heavily weakened starting XI without captain Son Heung-min, left them on the back foot. The team never recovered from that blow.

This brings us to Iran, a side that showed remarkable character in battling adversity off the pitch and came agonisingly close to progressing beyond the first round for the first time.

It was hardly surprising when captain Mehdi Taremi said in the media zone after Iran's 1-1 draw with Egypt in their final group match: "It's a disaster World Cup, a disaster."

The frustration was understandable. Team Melli had to contend with circumstances no team should have to face at an event of this stature: a conditional US visa that required the squad to fly in and out of the host country within 24 hours before and after each match to their base in Mexico, as well as the denial of visas to their logistical staff and senior officials of the Iran Football Federation.

Still, much to their credit, Iran produced a series of disciplined performances to remain unbeaten in the group stage, drawing with New Zealand, the mighty Netherlands and Egypt. They were also controversially denied what would have been a decisive goal after a VAR offside review in the final group match.

Their hopes of progressing as one of the eight best third-placed teams remained alive until a frenetic 3-3 draw between Algeria and Austria finally shut the door on them.

The disappointment within the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) is palpable, with all four semi-finalists from the 2023 AFC Asian Cup having been eliminated. Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, the AFC president, attempted to put a positive spin on the outcome while acknowledging there was plenty of work ahead.

"Having two representatives advance highlights the incredibly high level of global competition," Salman said in a statement. "It shows that while our teams are making strides and displaying great fighting spirit, the gap at the absolute top tier remains narrow, and we must continue to work hard to bridge it."

The burning question, however, is how that gap can be bridged. The problem often lies in the lack of a robust domestic league structure in many countries, coupled with the shortage of quality players able to ply their trade in more advanced footballing ecosystems. The latter factor, which has seen a lion's share of African footballers establish themselves as professionals in Europe, has made a significant difference in developing their competitive edge and belief.

While the whole of Asia will now look to Japan and Australia to fly the flag for the continent, the decision-makers need to go back to the drawing board sooner rather than later.

LAST 32 FIXTURES

29 June: South Africa vs Canada (12.30 am IST)

     Brazil vs Japan (10.30 pm IST)

30 June: Germany vs Paraguay (2 am IST)

     Netherlands vs Morocco (6.30 am IST)

     Ivory Coast vs Norway (10.30 pm IST)

1 July: France vs Sweden (2.30 am IST)

    Mexico vs Ecuador (6.30 pm IST)

    England vs Congo (9.30 pm IST)

2 July: Belgium vs Senegal (1.30 am IST)

    USA vs Bosnia and Herzegovina (5.30 am IST)

3 July: Spain vs Austria (12.30 am IST)

    Portugal vs Croatia (4.30 am IST)

    Switzerland vs Algeria (8.30 am IST)

    Australia vs Egypt (11.30 pm IST)

4 July: Argentina vs Cape Verde (3.30 am IST)

    Colombia vs Ghana (7 am IST)