The United States, Mexico, and Canada will jointly host the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Eight teams from Asia have already secured their spots in the tournament. If either Iraq or the UAE manages to clear the playoff hurdle, Asia’s tally will rise to nine.
Let's take a journey through the footballing traditions and histories of these eight Asian nations that have earned their tickets to the world’s biggest stage and compare them with India, the world’s most populous country that once again failed to qualify.
From dazzling footwork that once astonished the world to the depths of decline where a nation now finds itself. Perhaps revisiting the glories of the past might ease the ache of the present.
Jordan
Jordan will play in the FIFA World Cup for the first time in their history. They do not possess a deep or storied footballing tradition. It wasn’t until 2004 that they managed to qualify for their first AFC Asian Cup.
Only after the year 2000 did Jordan begin to take football seriously, so much so that not a single Jordanian player has scored more than 35 international goals. Until 2006, they hadn’t even participated in football at the Asian Games. As for the Olympics, qualification for Olympic football remains nothing more than a distant dream.
And India?
The story is strikingly different. India has two Asian Games gold medals, in 1951 and 1962, proudly resting on its chest. The team was the runner-up in the 1964 AFC Asian Cup. Just a year after gaining independence, India laced up its boots for Olympic football, appearing in 1948, 1952, 1956, and 1960.
In the 1956 Melbourne Olympics — where legends like Lev Yashin and Igor Netto also played — India finished fourth. The country has lifted multiple Quadrangular and Merdeka tournament titles. Players like Sailen Manna, chosen by FIFA as one of the world’s top ten captains, and Jarnail Singh, who led the Asian All-Star team, once made India a respected name in Asian football. That was (and perhaps still is, in spirit) India.
Australia
Australia has qualified for the FIFA World Cup for the sixth consecutive time. Yet, there’s a fascinating chapter that links Australia and India in football history.
In the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, India defeated Australia 4–2, thanks to a brilliant hat-trick by Neville D’Souza who was the first Asian ever to score a hat-trick in Olympic football. That win also made India the first Asian country to reach the Olympic football semifinals.
Shocked by their loss on home soil, the Australians challenged India to a so-called “friendly rematch,” arguing that the 4–2 result had been a matter of luck. India accepted the challenge. The match was played in Sydney and the Indians humiliated the hosts 7–1.
South Korea
Since 1986, South Korea has never missed a single FIFA World Cup — a record that makes them Asia’s most consistent representatives on football’s biggest stage. They are also the only Asian team ever to reach the World Cup semifinals.
In the 1962 Jakarta Asian Games, India defeated South Korea 2–1 to win the gold medal. Up until the mid-1980s, India had beaten Korea multiple times, including in the 1986 Merdeka Cup, when India triumphed 3–2 — a victory sealed by V.P. Sathyan’s unforgettable long-range strike from 35 yards out.
Japan
The Samurai Blue are now a permanent force in world football, Asia’s modern powerhouse. Just recently, they stunned Brazil with a 3–2 victory.
But rewind a few decades, and the picture looked very different. Imagine this scoreline today: India 3 – Japan 0. Hard to believe? Yet, it really happened in the 1966 Merdeka Cup. The Indian team then included players like C. Mustafa, the legendary goalkeeper from Kannur.
And in the 1970 Bangkok Asian Games, India won the bronze medal once again by defeating Japan. The goal was scored by Manjit Singh.
Saudi Arabia formed a football federation in 1956 but only began participating in a major tournament (the AFC Asian Cup) in 1984. Iran lost to India in the final of the 1951 Asian Games football event. Qatar, a country where Indian workers toiled in the oil fields in the 1950s, is now represented by a team that qualified for the World Cup this time, including Malayali player Tahseen Jamshed, who may become one of its goal scorers.
Uzbekistan, which became an independent country in December 1991, played its first international match only in June 1992. While all these teams head to the 2026 World Cup, India, once a contributor of numerous players to the Asian All-Star eleven and once called the “Brazil of Asia,” has failed to even qualify for the Asian Cup.
Some unanswered questions
There are countless questions lingering in the minds of the nation’s players and fans alike… and yet, today’s sports authorities have no definitive answers to any of them.