Association football is among the most popular sports in Asia, with 15 members of the Asian Football Confederation having competed at the sport's biggest international event, the men's FIFA World Cup. The highest ranked result in the World Cup for an Asian team is fourth place in the 2002 tournament by South Korea. AFC countries have hosted the finals two times.

Overview

1930 (13) 1934 (16) 1938 (15) 1950 (13) 1954 (16) 1958 (16) 1962 (16) 1966 (16) 1970 (16) 1974 (16) 1978 (16) 1982 (24) 1986 (24) 1990 (24) 1994 (24) 1998 (32) 2002 (32) 2006 (32) 2010 (32) 2014 (32) 2018 (32) 2022 (32) 2026 (48) 2030 (48) 2034 (48) Total Teams 0 0 0 0 0 0 52 Top 32 — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — 2 2 Top 16 — — — — — — — — — — — 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 2 0 1 3 0 9 Top 8 — 0 0 — 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 Top 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 Top 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1st 0 2nd 0 3rd 0 4th 1

Country No. Years Best result 1954, 1986, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022, 2026 4th 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022, 2026 R16 1978, 1998, 2006, 2014, 2018, 2022, 2026 GS (1974, 2006), 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022, 2026 R16 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2018, 2022, 2026 R16 1966, 2010 QF2022, 2026 GS 1986, 2026 GS 1938 R1 1970 GS 1982 GS 1990 GS 2002 GS 2026 GS 2026 GS

Results

Tournament standings

Team Champions Final Semi-finals Quarter-finals Round of 16 Round of 32 0 0 1 1 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 1 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 1 0

Team results by tournament

The team ranking in each tournament is according to FIFA. The rankings, apart from the top four positions (top two in 1930), are not a result of direct competition between the teams; instead, teams eliminated in the same round are ranked by their full results in the tournament.

For each tournament, the number of teams in each finals tournament (in brackets) are shown.

+FIFA World Cup results of AFC members Team1930(13)1934(16)1938(15)1950(13)1954(16)1958(16)1962(16)1966(16)1970(16)1974(16)1978(16)1982(24)1986(24)1990(24)1994(24)1998(32) 2002(32)2006(32)2010(32)2014(32)2018(32)2022(32)2026(48)2030 (48) 2034 (48)TotalQual.Comp. rowspan=2 colspan=7 •• GS1 ••••••• R16 GS GS GS R16 R32 TBD TBD 7 16 member of OFC • ••••• GS ••••••TBDTBD 1 13 R16 × •×× •••••••••••×••TBDTBD 1 15 colspan=3 • GS1 ×ו• GS • GS • GS GS GS GS TBDTBD 7 12 colspan=4 •×• GS ••••••••• GS TBDTBD 2 13 ••••••• GS OFC UEFA OFC member of UEFA 1 8 ×× × • • ••••••• GS R16 GS R16 GS R16 R16 R32 TBDTBD 8 17 colspan=14 •••••••• GS TBDTBD 1 9 colspan=7 •• GS1 •••••••••×••TBDTBD 1 14 colspan=6 QF ••••••• • GS •••×•TBDTBD 2 14 colspan=7 ו••••••••••GS GS TBDTBD 2 13 colspan=5 •••• R16 GS GS GS •• GS GS GS TBDQ 8 13 colspan=3 GS וו••• GS GS GS GS 4th GS R16 GS GS R16 GS TBDTBD 12 17 colspan=10 × • GS •••••••••TBDTBD 1 11 colspan=14 ••••••• GS TBDTBD 1 8

Legend

1stChampions2ndRunners-up3rdThird place4thFourth placeQFQuarter-finals (1934–1938, 1954–1970, 1986–present)R16Knockout round of 16 (1934–1938, 1986–present)R32Knockout round of 32 (2026–present)GSGroup stage (1930, 1950–1970, 1986–present)GS1First group stage (1974–1982)GS2Second group stage (1974–1982)

QQualified for upcoming tournamentTBDTo be determined (may still qualify for upcoming tournament)••Qualified but withdrew•Did not qualify•×Withdrew or disqualified during qualification (after playing matches)×Withdrew before qualification / Banned / Entry not accepted by FIFAHostsDid not enterstyle="width:10px" Not a FIFA member

Overall team records As per statistical convention in football, matches decided in extra time are counted as wins and losses, while matches decided by penalty shoot-outs are counted as draws. 3 points per win, 1 point per draw and 0 points per loss.

Team 1241810234181–403482988133338–53272456132040–202172137111634–181672244141549–341627115621–1541302113–221301226–4126015317–1411300338−501100106–6013003211–9013003211−901300309–9026006216–140

Appearances

Ranking of teams by number of appearances

TeamAppearancesRecord streakActive streakDebutMost recentBest result (* = hosts) 12 11 11 1954 2026 (2002*) 8 8 8 1998 2026 (2002*, 2010, 2018, 2022) 7 4 4 1978 2026 7 6 6 1974 2026 (2006, 2022) 7 4 3 1994 2026 (1994) 2 1 0 1966 2010 (1966) 2 2 2 2022 2026 * 2 1 1 1986 2026 1 1 0 1938 1938 1 1 0 1970 1970 1 1 0 1982 1982 1 1 0 1990 1990 1 1 0 2002 2002 1 1 1 2026 2026 1 1 1 2026 2026

Team debuts

Year Debutants Total 1938 1 1954 1 1966 1 1970 1 1974 1 1978 1 1982 1 1986 1 1990 1 1994 1 1998 1 2002 1 2022 1 2026 , 2Total 15

Not qualified 32 of the 46 active FIFA and AFC members have never appeared in the final tournament.

Country Number of qualifyingattempts 1930 1934 1938 1950 1954 1958 1962 1966 1970 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022 2026 2030 2034 15 colspan=3 •× •×× ••×••••••••×•••TBDTBD 14 colspan=5 ••••••••••••••TBDTBD 14 colspan=5 ••••••••••••••TBDTBD 14 ×× ••••••••••••••TBDTBD 13 colspan=4 ×× •••••••••••••TBDTBD 13 colspan=4 •••••••••••••TBDTBD 12 colspan=8 •••×•••••••••TBDTBD 11 colspan=3 colspan=6 •••••••••••TBDTBD 11 colspan=3 ••× × •×•••••••••TBDTBD 11 colspan=11 •• •••••••••TBDTBD 11 colspan=11 •••••••••••TBDTBD 10 colspan=12 ו•••••••••TBDTBD 10 colspan=3 ••••••••••TBDTBD 10 colspan=4 × • •••••••••TBDTBD 9 colspan=2 × •••••••••TBDTBD 9 colspan=9 •• ••×•••••TBDTBD 9 colspan=4 ×× •••••••••TBDTBD 8 colspan=13 × ••••••••TBDTBD 8 colspan=14 ••••••••TBDTBD 8 colspan=14 ••••••••TBDTBD 8 colspan=14 ••••••••TBDTBD 7 colspan=4 ••×•••••TBDTBD 7 colspan=16 •••••••TBDTBD 7 colspan=16 •••••••TBDTBD 6 colspan=3 ••••••TBDTBD 6 colspan=4 •• ••••TBDTBD 6 × × × •• ••••TBDTBD 5 colspan=9 • • ו••TBDTBD 5 colspan=10 colspan=6 •••••TBDTBD 5 colspan=3 × × ×ו••••TBDTBD 4 colspan=16 •××ו••TBDTBD 3 colspan=15 •••TBDTBD 1 colspan=8 •× colspan=11

Legend TBDTo be determined (may still qualify for upcoming tournament)•Did not qualify•×Withdrew or disqualified during qualification (after playing matches)×Withdrew before qualification / Banned / Entry not accepted by FIFA••Qualified, but withdrew before Finals××Invited, but withdrew before FinalsDid not enterstyle="width:10px" Not a FIFA member

Summary of performance This table shows the number of countries represented at the World Cup, the number of entries (#E) from around the world including any rejections and withdrawals, the number of Asian entries (#A), how many of those Asian entries withdrawn (#A-) before/during qualification or were rejected by FIFA, the Asian representatives at the World Cup finals, the number of World Cup Qualifiers each Asian representative had to play to get to the World Cup (#WCQ), the furthest stage reached, results, and coaches. Year Host Size Asianfinalists Stage Results Coach1930 Uruguay131300 – 1934 Italy163221 – 1938France1537 2 1 0 lost 0–6 Johan Mastenbroek1950Brazil1334 4 4 – 1954Switzerland1645 3 1 2 lost 0–9 , lost 0–7 Kim Yong-sik1958Sweden1655 12 9 – 1962Chile1656 3 1 – 1966England1674 4 2 2 lost 0–3 , drew 1–1 , won 1–0 QF: lost 3–5 Myung Rye-hyun1970Mexico1675 7 1 4 lost 0–2 , drew 1–1 , drew 0–0 Emmanuel Scheffer1974West Germany1699 18 3 – 1978Argentina16107 21 4 12 lost 0–3 , drew 1–1 , lost 1–4 Heshmat Mohajerani1982Spain24109 21 1 9 drew 1–1 , lost 1–4 , lost 0–1 Carlos Alberto Parreira1986Mexico24121 28 4 8 lost 0–1 , lost 1–2 , lost 0–1 Evaristo de Macedo 8 lost 1–3 , drew 1–1 , lost 2–3 Kim Jung-Nam1990Italy24116 26 2 11 lost 0–2 , lost 1–3 , lost 0–1 Lee Hoe-taik 9 lost 0–2 , lost 1–5 , lost 1–4 Carlos Alberto Parreira1994United States24147 30 2 11 lost 1–2 , won 2–1 , won 1–0 R16: lost 1–3 Jorge Solari 13 drew 2–2 , drew 0–0 , lost 2–3 Kim Ho1998France32174 36 0 17 Group stage lost 0–1 , won 2–1 , lost 0–2 Jalal Talebi 14 lost 0–1 , lost 0–1 , lost 1–2 Takeshi Okada 14 lost 0–1 , lost 0–4 , drew 2–2 Carlos Alberto Parreira (fired after two matches, replaced by Mohammed Al-Kharashy for the final match) 12 lost 1–3 , lost 0–5 , drew 1–1 Cha Bum-kun (fired after two matches, replaced by Kim Pyung-seok for the final match)2002South KoreaJapan32199 35 5 14 lost 0–2 , lost 0–4 , lost 0–3 Bora Milutinović 0 drew 2–2 , won 1–0 , won 2–0 R16: lost 0–1 Philippe Troussier 14 lost 0–8 , lost 0–1 , lost 0–3 Nasser Al-Johar 0 won 2–0 , drew 1–1 , won 1–0 R16: won 2–1 QF: won 0–0 SF: lost 0–1 3rd: lost 2–3 Guus Hiddink2006Germany32197 44 5 12 lost 1–3 , lost 0–2 , drew 1–1 Branko Ivanković 12 lost 1–3 , drew 0–0 , lost 1–4 Zico 12 drew 2–2 , lost 0–4 , lost 0–1 Marcos Paquetá 12 won 2–1 , drew 1–1 , lost 0–2 Dick Advocaat2010South Africa32205 43 3 14 lost 0–4 , drew 1–1 , won 2–1 Pim Verbeek 14 won 1–0 , lost 0–1 , won 3–1 R16: lost 0–0 Takeshi Okada 16 lost 1–2 , lost 0–7 , lost 0–3 Kim Jong-hun 14 won 2–0 , lost 1–4 , drew 2–2 R16: lost 1–2 Huh Jung-moo2014Brazil32203 43 3 14 lost 1–3 , lost 2–3 , lost 0–3 Ange Postecoglou 16 drew 0–0 , lost 0–1 , lost 1–3 Carlos Queiroz 14 lost 1–2 , drew 0–0 , lost 1–4 Alberto Zaccheroni 14 drew 1–1 , lost 2–4 , lost 0–1 Hong Myung-bo2018Russia32210 46 0 22 lost 1–2 , drew 1–1 , lost 0–2 Bert van Marwijk 18 won 1–0 , lost 0–1 , drew 1–1 Carlos Queiroz 18 won 2–1 , drew 2–2 , lost 0–1 R16: lost 2–3 Akira Nishino 18 lost 0–5 , lost 0–1 , won 2–1 Juan Antonio Pizzi 18 lost 0–1 , lost 1–2 , won 2–0 Shin Tae-yong2022Qatar32206 46 1 20 lost 1–4 , won 1–0 , won 1–0 R16: lost 1–2 Graham Arnold 18 lost 2–6 , won 2–0 , lost 0–1 Carlos Queiroz 18 won 2–1 , lost 0–1 , won 2–1 R16: lost 1–1 Hajime Moriyasu 8 lost 0–2 , lost 1–3 , lost 0–2 Félix Sánchez 18 won 2–1 , lost 0–2 , lost 1–2 Hervé Renard 16 drew 0–0 , lost 2–3 , won 2–1 R16: lost 1–4 Paulo Bento2026 CanadaMexicoUnited States 48 208 46 0 16 Round of 32 won 2–0 , lost 0–2 , drew 0–0 R32: lost 1–1 Tony Popovic 16 Group stage drew 2–2 , drew 0–0 , drew 1–1 Amir Ghalenoei 21 Group stage lost 1–4 , lost 0–3 , lost 0–5 Graham Arnold 16 Round of 32 drew 2–2 , won 4–0 , drew 1–1 R32: lost 1–2 Hajime Moriyasu 16 Group stage lost 1–3 , lost 1–2 , lost 1–3 Jamal Sellami 18 Group stage drew 1–1 , lost 0–6 , lost 1–3 Julen Lopetegui 18 Group stage drew 1–1 , lost 0–4 , drew 0–0 Georgios Donis 16 Group stage won 2–1 , lost 0–1 , lost 0–1 Hong Myung-bo 16 Group stage lost 1–3 , lost 0–5 , lost 1–3 Fabio Cannavaro

Competitive record

1938: The first Asian nation at the World Cup The Indonesian team, prior to independence in 1945 (as the Dutch East Indies). Indonesia was the first Asian team to participate in the FIFA World Cup when the team qualified for the 1938 tournament after its opponent, Japan, withdrew from the qualification heats. The 6–0 loss to eventual finalists Hungary in the first round of the tournament in Reims, France, remains the nation's only appearance in the World Cup. The straight knock-out format used at the time made it the only game ever played by the Indonesians. Thus, Indonesia holds the World Cup record as the team with the fewest matches played (1) and one of the teams with the fewest goals scored (0). They were 15th place in the rankings.

1950: India's withdrawal Burma, Philippines and Indonesia withdrew before the draw, so India qualified automatically. India later also withdrew because of the expense of traveling. Other teams economized by sailing, rather than flying, to the tournament. FIFA decided not to invite another team, leaving the World Cup three teams short.

1954: South Korea's first World Cup In the 1954 FIFA World Cup qualification, the Asian zone was allocated one place (out of 16) in the final tournament. In the 1954 World Cup qualification, three countries from the AFC participated. China PR withdrew, South Korea won against Japan and for the first time qualified for the World Cup. South Korea lost twice 0–9 to Hungary and 0–7 to Turkey. They were 16th place in the rankings.

1958–1962: World Cup without Asia