FIFA WORLD CUP 2026 | Africa bests Asia in reaching the knockout stage

For decades, the World Cup was a tournament where Asia and Africa hoped to cause the occasional upset. This summer, while Africa has made a good account of its football potential, Asia would feel disappointed at the end of the group stage of the competition.

A record nine of Africa’s 10 qualified teams have made it to the knockout rounds of the expanded tournament, but only two from Asia have progressed into the round of 32.

Throwing light on Asia’s collective disappointment at this World Cup, Jordan coach Jamal Sellami, whose team suffered three defeats in as many group games, said Asia needs “more players to play at that high level” to stand a chance of doing well in global competitions.

“Our players are young and we need to take advantage of the experience we had here and ensure we do better at such higher level of coemption,” Sellami said after the team’s 3-1 loss to Argentina.

“Look at how the African teams have fared. Nine of the 10 African teams playing at this World Cup have qualified for the next round. Unfortunately, it’s not the same for Asia. To be at the top level, we need to have more players to play at that high level.”

Japan coach Hajime Moriyasu, while acknowledging the below par performance of the Asian teams, wants his side to become “the hope” for Asian football.

Moriyasu’s Japan secured its place in the round of 32 after a 1-1 draw with Sweden, finishing second in Group F behind the Netherlands. The Samurai Blue will now face five-time champion Brazil, carrying not only their own ambitions but, in the eyes of their coach, those of an entire continent.

“We are representing Japan, but we’re proud to be representing Japan towards the world,” Moriyasu said. “And of course, now we are representing Asia.”

His comments came days after viral footage showed Chinese football fans in Shanghai celebrating Japan’s 4-0 victory over Tunisia, briefly setting aside decades of political rivalry to cheer the success of one of Asia’s own.

“I know that other Asian teams are not as successful,” Moriyasu said. “I would like us to be able to encourage other Asian teams as well, and we would like to be their hope.”

Africa, meanwhile, has enjoyed its finest collective World Cup surpassing the continent’s previous best, when only two nations reached the round of 16 in both 2014 and 2022.

Among them, Cape Verde has been one of the tournament’s biggest revelations. Playing in its first World Cup, the island nation held Spain to a goalless draw, frustrated Uruguay and earned a knockout berth through fearless performances.

“We have become an example that small countries also can have big objectives provided they have focus, determination and work with organisation,” head coach Pedro Leitao Brito ‘Bubista’ said after securing knockout qualification.

“We have shown that nothing is impossible. We have represented our country, but we also represent Africa and small countries around the world.”

He and his team are now looking forward to taking on the world champions in the round of 32. “We are proud to be able to play Argentina,” he said. “This is a country with which we have longstanding ties.

“But above all our will is to do things with our identity regardless of who the opponent is. We will play our game with attitude and responsibility, knowing that Argentina has some of the best players in the world plus Messi, who some believe is the best of all time.”

Morocco has reinforced that its run to the semifinals in Qatar was no one-off, while Senegal recovered from losses to Norway and France to advance. Egypt finished second in Group G with a win and two draws, while Ivory Coast responded to a narrow defeat to Germany with wins over Curacao and Ecuador, while Algeria and Senegal also sneaked through as the sixth and eighth best third-placed teams.

South Africa’s qualification came after a surprise win over South Korea, which was one of the record three Asian teams that had made it to the round of 16 in Qatar.

South Korea, the only Asian team to have ever reached a World Cup semifinals, paid the price for fielding a much-weekend side without its captain Son Heung-min in its last group game against the Africans.

Japan has once again established itself as the continent’s standard-bearer, while Australia has also progressed to the knockout rounds. Saudi Arabia produced disciplined performances against higher-ranked opponents but failed to advance, while Qatar, Iran, Iraq, and World Cup debutants Jordan and Uzbekistan have also bowed out.

The 2026 World Cup has proved that the gap between football’s established powers and the rest of the world is narrowing down. The nine African teams, and the two representing Asia will hope to continue the run much further into the competition.

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