In every big tournaments, there are few regular teams like Brazil, France, Germany, Mexico, Argentina etc. Brazil being the top contender , Germany most successful in every segment. Nigeria, Cameroon, Ghana are African competitors. When we come to asian confederation, out of 47 member nations, only 12 have participated ever in Senior level world cups. Australia and Saudi Arabia have been part of 5 World cups and reached second round. Iran also have played 5 tournaments, but have never reached second round. North Korea played twice, in 1966 reaching quarter finals and in 2010. Indonesia played in1938. Iraq, Israel, Kuwait, UAE, China are other teams who have played world cup from Asia.
Japan and South Korea have the best competitive record and they are the regular attendees to major tournaments.
Let's see in detail:
KOREA REPUBLIC
Korea Republic/South Korea are the most successful team in Asia. They are participating in World cup regularly since 1986. Also known as Reds, are the first asian team to reach semi final of World cup. Korean association is Korea Football Association. Current coach is Paulo Bento, and captain Heung Min Son, Tottenham star. Cha Bum Kun is the top scorer (58 goals) and most caped player (138). Their current FIFA ranking is 40, 17 being the best ever. Many Korean players are now in Europe, bringing home experience and knowledge of the game.
FIFA World Cup
Korea Republic participated in the tournament for the first time in 1954. They had a big gap after that , until they take part again in 1986. The golden generation,along with one of the finest strickers of Bundesliga that time, Cha Bum Kun, they fought well in the world cup. They lost to eventual champions Argentina 1-0, and Italy 3-2. Their best performance came when they co hosted world cup in 2002 , with Japan.
Famous Dutch coach Guus Hiddink took charge of Korean team in 2001. His first tournament with team was 2001 confederations cup, but he was criticised because of the team's bad performance. Eventually, team gained confidence and strength, by which they achieved their first victory in World Cup defeating Poland . They held US for a 1-1 draw and defeated Portugal 1-0, as they were reduced to 9 men with 2 red cards. In a dramatic second round clash against Italy, Korea came from behind to win 2-1. In quarter final, Spain were their opponents, but match went on to Korea's favor in Penalties. They lost to mighty Germany 1-0 in semi. They finished fourth after losing to Turkey in loser's final.
2 of the players were elected to the team of the tournament, Hong Myung Bo received third place for Best player of tournament. This increased popularity for the game in Korea. Hiddink became a hero, and Govt gave honorary citizenship and a villa in Korea.
They were able to reach second round only once after that, in 2010. But, in 2018, came their most famous win, 2-0 win against Germany. It's known as Miracle of Kazan. This was one of the most dramatic game of the tournament, with group already deadly, Mexico, Sweden being other teams, all wishing to advance. But, in 80 years, it was first time Germany got eliminated in first round of World cup. Korea couldn't reach to second round, however, decided the fate of the group.
AFC Asian Cup
They were part of 17 Asian cups, and reached final 6 times. They were victorious in 1956 and 1960. Most recent was in 2015.
Asian Games
Till 2002, Korean senior team was participating in Asian games, and now U23 team. Till then, they have reached final 6 times, becoming champions 3 times.
As U23, they became champions in 2014 and 2018.
Olympics
In Olympics, their best result was Bronze in 2012 London. They reached quarter finals of 1948 Olympics.
They also have participated in CONCAF Gold cup in 2000 and 2002, claiming fourth place in 2002. In 2001, they were part of Confederation's cup.
U17
Korea U17 team participates in U17 World cup and AFC Championship.
Korea took part in the U17 world cup 6 times, first being in 1987. Their best result so far is reaching quarter finals, which they have done in 1987,2009 and 2019. In 2015, they beat Brazil , Guinea and draw against England to reach second round, but lost to Belgium.
In U16 AFC tournaments, Korea became Champions in 2002 and 1986. In 2008 and 2014 also they reached final. They were in semi finals of 2018 tournament, which gave them chance to participate in World cup.
U20
Korean U20 team also participates in World cup and AFC Championship.
Their best result in U20 World cup came in 2019, when they reached final in Poland against Ukraine and lost 3-1.
Before that, they were part of the tournament 14 times. In 1983, they were fourth in the tournament. In 1991, 2009 and 2013, they reached quarter finals.
Korean U20 team has been their biggest success. They were Champions of Asia 12 times. 5 times they were Runners up, most recently in 2018. They were able to achive third place 6 times. It really shows why they are the best team of Asia.
U23.
Korean U23 team mainly participates in Olympics, AFC U23 Championship and Asian games since 2002. They qualified for Olympics 8 times, and were bronze medalists in 2012. In Asian games, they have won gold in 2014 and 2018, and bronze in 2002 and 2010. They are the current AFC U23 Champions. In 2016, they lost in final.
Women
Korea Republic women team started with a big loss against Japan in 1999, 13-1. But, they have evolved alot since then. They were able to qualify for 3 world cups - 2003,2015 and 2019. Best result came in 2015, when they reached second round of the tournament. Their current FIFA ranking is 18.
Since 1991, they appeared in 12 AFC Asian Cup championships. They were never able to become champions , best result being third placed in 2003.
In Asian games, their record is better. They reached third place in last 3 tournaments, fourth before that.
JAPAN
Japan Football team is known as Samurai Blue. Team is under Japan Football Association. Their current FIFA ranking is 28, highest being 9 in 1998, and lowest 62. They started emerging as a prominent team in 1990s. They have competed in 6 FIFA World cups since 1998, 9 times in AFC Asian Cup, 2 time in Copa America, 5 times in Confederations cup. They were Asian Cup champions 4 times, runners up in 2001 confederations cup. Japan co-hosted 2002 FIFA World Cup along with Korea.
Yasuhito Endo has played most for Japan ,152 matches. Kunushige Kamamoto has scored most number of goals (80). Maya Yoshida is the current team captain. Hidetoshi Nakata, Shinji Kagawa, Junichi Inamoto, Keisuke Honda are other prominent players of Japan. Japanese football league J League is considered to be the most successful Football League in Asia.
Hajime Moriyasu is the coach of senior and U23 teams currently. Brazil legend Zico has coached Japan from 2002-2006.
U17
Japan U17 team participated mainly in FIFA U17 tournament and AFC U16 championships. They have qualified for world cup 9 times and were part of AFC championship 15 times.
They participated first time for World cup when they hosted the tournament in 1993 and reached quarter finals. In 2011 also they were able to reach quarter finals, and that's their best result in the tournament.
Japan are the current Asian U16 champions in the segment. They beat Tajikistan in 2018 tournament final 1-0. Previously they were champions in 1994 and 2006, runners up in 2012.
U20
Japan U19 team competes in FIFA U20 World Cup and U19 Asian championships.
They participated in World cup 10 times. Best result was in 1999, when they finished runners up. Before losing to Spain in final 4-0, they beat almost all prominent teams like England, Portugal, Uruguay, Mexico, USA and Cameroon. They were defeated 3 times in Quarter Finals. 2009 to 2015, they were unable to qualify for 4 consecutive World cups.
Japan Participated in AFC U19 championship
40 times since 1959. They were able to become champions only in 2016. They lost in final 6 times 1973,1994,1998,2000,2002,2006.
U23
U23 team mainly prepares for Olympics, Asian games and AFC Cup.
They appeared 7 times in Olympics, came fourth in 2012. They will be hosting next Olympics, which was scheduled for summer 2020, got postponed due to corona pandemic.
Appeared 4 times in AFC U23 championships, and won it in 2016. And 5 times in Asian games and became champions in 2010.
FIFA World Cup
Japan first participated in FIFA World Cup in 1998 France edition. In 1938, they withdrew from tournament due to world war 2. FIFA suspended Japan in 1950. It seems like they never used to play football till 80s. And they came up after that period.
Japan played 6 World cups - 1998,2002,2006,2010,2014,2018, all tournaments from 1998. In 2002,2010,and 2018 they were able to reach round of 16. In 2002 and 2018, they lost to third placed teams of the respective tournaments- Turkey and Belgium.
In 1998, they lost all their group matches. 2002 has been their best , when they hosted the world cup. They reached second round with a 2-2 draw against Belgium, 1-0 win against Russia and 2-0 win against Tunisia. They were 9th in overall position.
In 2006, they were in a tough group, along with Brazil, Australia, and Croatia. They lost to Brazil and Australia and draw with Croatia.
They beat Cameroon and Denmark in 2010, before losing to Paraguay in second round in penalties. In 2014, they lost to Ivory Coast, and Columbia in group stage and draw with Greece. In 2018 World cup, they beat Columbia and became first asian team to beat a Latin American team in World cup. They held Senegal in a 2-2 draw but lost to Poland in group stage. Honda became first Japanese player to score in 3 different world cups.
Confederation's Cup
They took part in tournament 5 times. They were Runners up in 2001. They were hosts along with South Korea. They beat Cameroon, Canada in group stage and held a young Brazil team 0-0. In Semi final Japan beat Australia 1-0 before losing to France in Final.
AFC Asian Cup
In 1956,60,64,72,80,84 Japan withdrew from tournament. When they started participating, suddenly rose to power by becoming champions in 1992. 1996 they reached quarter finals and again became champions in 2000 and 2004. Again they became champions in 2011. In 2019 , they were Runners up.
Copa America
In 1999 and 2019 , they participated in the Copa America tournaments but couldn't make much impact as they were out in group stages both times. They were also invited for 2011,2015 tournaments too. In 2011, they withdrew due to earthquake and Tsunami.
Club World Cup
Japan hosted FIFA club World cup many times. Sanfrecce Hiroshima reached third in 2015 and in 2016 Kashima Antlers from Japan lost in Final against Real Madrid 4-2 , only because of extra time hattrick by Cristiano Ronaldo.
Women
Japan National Women team are the only asian team to win FIFA World Cup from Asia. They have participated in 9 world cups since 1991, and lifted trophy in 2011 , beating mighty USA in penalties. They reached final again in 2015 , but lost to USA.
In Olympics also they have good record. They were fourth in 2008 and lost to US in 2012.
In AFC Asian Cup, Japan women team reached final 6 times and were champions 2 times 2014,2018.also, in Asian games , they reached final 6 times and became champions 2 times-2010,2018.
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