The Asian Football Confederation is one of the regions that benefited from FIFA’s expansion of the World Cup from 32 to 48 teams, as the confederation went from four guaranteed slots in previous tournaments to eight for the 2026 edition in North America.

Australia, Iran, Japan, South Korea, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, which qualify through the interconfederation playoffs, as well as debutants Jordan and Uzbekistan, are the nine nations representing the confederation at the tournament starting on June 11.

Asia has not recorded a significant success at the World Cup since South Korea reached the quarter-finals in 2002. But AFC representatives would hope to at least come close to matching the benchmark set by the Koreans this year.

While most Asian teams are expected to end their campaigns after the group stage, some are expected to at least reach the knockout phase, given their squad, World Cup history, continental success, and FIFA ranking.

Japan

Japan is arguably the best national team in Asia at the moment, boasting some big names playing in Europe, including Kaoru Mitoma, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Takefusa Kubo, Daichi Kamada and others, who are capable of ensuring that Japan progresses from the group stage.

The Samurai Blues are the highest-ranked Asian team in the world as per the FIFA Rankings. They are in Group F of the tournament with the 2010 finalists, the Netherlands, Sweden and Tunisia, which is a considerably easier group for Japan to qualify from.

Japan has participated in six previous World Cups, but the Samurai Blues were eliminated from the group stage on three occasions and advanced to the knockout phase three times.

However, they have not reached the quarter-finals. The Japanese, however, have an incredible history of continental domination, having won the Asian Cup four times.

South Korea

South Koreans are one of the heavyweights of football in Asia. Korea became the first Asian team to reach the semifinals of the World Cup at the 2002 tournament co-hosted by the country and Japan.

The Taegeuk Warriors eventually finished fourth after losing 3-2 to Turkey in the third-place match, a position that remains the highest-ever for an Asian country in the tournament.

However, they have been unable to come close to the achievement in subsequent tournaments, with two group-stage eliminations and two round-of-16 crashes as well.

Nevertheless, the Koreans are still a capable striking force, considering they are paired in the same group for the tournament with countries of equal or closer strength.

The two-time Asian champions are in Group A alongside co-host Mexico, South Africa and Czechia.

Australia

Despite being an Oceania country, Australia currently play their football as an Asian representatives after moving from the Oceania Football Confederation to the AFC in 2006.

The Socceroos have since won the Asian Cup once, in 2015. They are also one-time runners-up in the FIFA Confederation Cup, which showcases Australia as one of the top teams in the world.

Australia are in Group D of the World Cup with co-host United States, Paraguay and Turkey, a relatively difficult pairing on paper.

Despite the draw, the team is capable of scaling the group like the Socceroos did at the last tournament, qualifying from the group stage on the same six points as France, which eventually reached the final.

Iran

The Iranian national team are one of the top-ranked teams in the world, with three Asian Cup titles to their name. Iran has featured in six previous World Cups but has never reached the knockout round.

The Iranians, however, can break the curse in North America, given that they are in the same group as Belgium, Egypt, and New Zealand and should therefore be capable of accumulating the points needed to go beyond the first round, based on their FIFA ranking.