Top 5 Performances by Asian Teams in a World Cup

The best teams in the World Cup have almost always been a South American team or a European team but a few Asian sides have also had their fair share of the limelight after upsetting the big boys. Here is a list of top 5 Asian sides in the World Cup’s history.

#5 Japan, 2010 World Cup

Japan, who have qualified for the World Cup 5 times, are the second successful Asian team in the competitions history. Japan, coached by Takeshi Okada, were one of the standout teams of the tournament and gave all their opponents a run for their money.

The oriental nation defeated Cameroon 1-0 and gave a tough fight to the Netherlands, who were the runners up in the competition but were eventually beaten 1-0. Japan came back in style with a 3-1 thrashing of Denmark but lost on 3-5 on penalties to Paraguay in the round of 16. Keisuke Honda was a key player for Japan and helped his country finished second in their group in the World Cup.

#4 Saudi Arabia, 1994 World Cup

The Arab nation has qualified for the World Cup thrice but none of their campaigns were as successful as the 1994 one. Saudi, managed by Argentine coach Jorge Solari, lost their first game 2-1 to Netherlands but put on some energetic displays against Morocco and Belgium who they beat 2-1 and 1-0 respectively which allowed them to progress into the last 16 of the tournament.

Saudi’s hopes of progressing further in the completion were ended by Sweden on 3rd July 1994. The Arab side tried their best and managed to find the back of the net once but couldn’t prevent the Swedes from putting 3 goals past them.

#3 Israel, 1970 World Cup

The Jewish country has only managed to qualify once for the tournament but put in quite a good performance in the 1970 World Cup which was held in Mexico. Israel, managed by Emmanuel Scheffer, lost their first match 2-1 to Uruguay but the defeat did not cause them to lose any confidence.

The Israeli’s drew 1-1 with Sweden before holding Italy to the same score line but unfortunately finished at the bottom of their group and could not qualify for the round of 16.

#2 North Korea, 1966 World Cup

South Korea’s next door neighbours North Korea also did quite well for themselves in the 1966 World Cup which was hosted by eventual winners England. North Korea, coached by Myung Rye-Huan, were beaten 3-0 by the Soviet Union but that did not stop them from progressing in the competition.

The Korean team picked themselves up well after the Soviet defeat and drew 1-1 with Chile before beating Italy 1-0 to progress to the quarter-finals of the tournament against Portugal. North Korea put in a spirited display but eventually lost 5-3 to Portugal, who were led by Benfica star Eusebio who was the tournament’s top scorer with 9 goals.

#1 South Korea, 2002 World Cup

South Korea have qualified for the World Cup 9 times making them the most successful Asian team in the competitions history. The South Korean team usually got knocked out in the first round of the World Cup but in 2002 they surprised everyone and reached the semi-finals of the tournament under Dutch coach Guus Hiddink.

South Korea, who were one of the host nations of the 2002 World Cup, saw off powerful teams like Poland, Portugal and Italy along with historically beating Spain on penalties in the quarter finals of the competition before being knocked out of the World Cup by Germany courtesy of a Michael Ballack goal. Park Ji Sung, who achieved plenty of success with Manchester United, was a key player for South Korea in 2002.