A sigh? All 9 Asian Football Confederation teams failed to reach the round of 16! 5 teams finished bottom of their groups, marking the worst World Cup performance in 12 years.

On July 4th Beijing time, Australia faced Egypt in a crucial World Cup round-of-16 clash, ultimately losing 3-5 in a penalty shootout after a hard-fought battle, thus missing the round of 16. Following Australia's exit, all nine AFC teams in this World Cup have been eliminated.[Watch the World Cup on Migu Video]

Thanks to the World Cup expansion, this edition featured nine AFC teams: Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Australia, Qatar, Jordan, Uzbekistan, and Iraq. Among them, Jordan and Uzbekistan made their debut appearances as "newcomers."

Although all nine AFC teams managed to score goals in this World Cup, only Japan and Australia successfully advanced from the group stage. Of the remaining seven, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Jordan, and Uzbekistan all finished last in their respective groups.

Meanwhile, Iran and South Korea, who finished third in their groups, unfortunately failed to qualify among the eight best third-placed teams, ending up in 33rd and 34th place respectively in the tournament.

The two teams that did advance—Japan and Australia—also failed to go far. Japan's campaign was particularly heartbreaking: they once led Brazil at halftime but were overturned and lost in the second half, still winless in five knockout appearances. Australia, in a closely contested match, lost 3-5 to Egypt after a penalty shootout, also bidding farewell to the World Cup.

As a result, no AFC team has made it to the round of 16 in this World Cup, marking the worst showing in 12 years. This once again proves that Asian football remains a marginal "bit player" on the global stage.

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