With the 2022 FIFA World Cup about to kick off in Qatar on November 20, fans will be excited to see which team comes out on top and gets crowned as the new world champions. There are six AFC nations taking part in this year’s World Cup: Qatar (hosts), Iran, South Korea, Japan, Saudi Arabia and Australia.
All of these countries will try their best to go on a long run in the famous competition. Before they take the stage in the Middle East next month, let’s take a look at the top five Asian nations with the most World Cup appearances.
1. South Korea
South Korea remains the most experienced Asian nation in World Cup football. They have qualified for 11 different editions of the FIFA competition (1954, 1986, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022) with their best finish coming in the 2002 World Cup as they ended in fourth place.
South Korea manager Paulo Bento will now try to mastermind another long cup run when the prestigious competition gets underway next month.
2. Japan
Japan have qualified for seven different World Cup tournaments (1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022) and is the second-most experienced Asian nation at the grandest stage of world football.
Since making its debut in 1998, Japan has participated in every edition of the World Cup. They have made the last 16 phases of the competition three times (2002, 2010, 2018).
3. Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia have been involved in six different editions of the World Cup (1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2018, 2022) but has made the Round of 16 stages just once back in 1994. The nation from West Asia will now be eager to give a good account of themselves when this year’s World Cup kicks off in Qatar. However, it won’t be easy for them as they have Argentina, Poland and Mexico in their World Cup group.
5. Australia
Australia have also participated in six World Cup tournaments so far (1974, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022). They made their debut in the 1974 World Cup but have since made the last 16 phases just once back in 2006.
The Socceroos’ head coach Graham Arnold would now be expected to get the best out of his players and engineer a good run in this year’s World Cup.
5. Iran
Iran have qualified for six different World Cup tournaments (1978, 1998, 2006, 2014, 2018, 2022) but has failed to get out of the group stages each time. The AFC country will now hope to go one step further by making it through to the knockout stages of the 2022 FIFA World Cup which will be held in the Middle East for the first time in history.
