World Cup 18: Asian football is mixed with joy and sorrow, and some are happy and some are sad on the road to the World Cup

With the last round of the 2026 World Cup finals in the Asian quarterfinals, the Asian football world's World Cup promotion path presents a picture of sadness and joy. The team that goes straight to the World Cup is undoubtedly the biggest winner of this game. With its outstanding performance and strong strength, six teams, including Japan, Australia, Iran, Uzbekistan, South Korea and Jordan, successfully locked in the quota that went straight to the World Cup. As the leader of Asian football, the Japanese team has been advancing with stable state and superb skills; the Iranian team and the South Korean team have demonstrated the profound heritage of traditional strong teams, and stand out in the fierce competition with their tenacious fighting spirit and tacit team cooperation. The rise of Uzbekistan and Jordan has injected fresh blood into Asian football, and their success further proves the trend and development potential of Asian football. The team that advanced to the fourth stage still has the dream of rushing to the World Cup. Six teams, the UAE, Qatar, Iraq, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia, showed outstanding strength and resilience in the round of 18 matches. Although they encountered many challenges in the game, they successfully entered the next round with their tenacious fighting spirit and unremitting efforts. Although Saudi Arabia lost to Australia in the last round, it still advanced smoothly with the advantages accumulated before, demonstrating the deep accumulation of the strong West Asian team. As a dark horse in this competition, the Indonesian team's promotion is not only eye-catching, but also adds more variables to the competitive landscape of Asian football.

This is undoubtedly a heavy blow for teams who are sure to miss the World Cup. The six teams, Kyrgyzstan, North Korea, Palestine, Kuwait, China and Bahrain, failed to show enough competitiveness and finally stopped regretfully. Although the Chinese men's football team defeated Bahrain 1-0 at home in the last round, avoiding the embarrassing situation of being at the bottom of the group, their overall performance is still difficult to express, revealing many problems that need to be solved urgently.

The results of this World Cup top 18 not only reflect the competitive landscape of Asian football, but also allow people to see the different destinies of each team in the World Cup journey. For teams that have successfully advanced, they need to continue to maintain a good state, optimize their tactical system, and make every effort to win the final World Cup seat. For teams that failed to advance, this loss is both a setback and a new opportunity for future development. They need to deeply summarize their experiences and lessons, strengthen the construction of the youth training system, comprehensively improve the overall strength of the team, and make full preparations for the next World Cup qualifiers.

The competition in Asian football is still fierce, and all teams are constantly improving, striving to show the charm of Asian football on the World Cup stage. We look forward to Asian teams creating more exciting performances in the future World Cup, and we also hope that those teams that have not advanced can make breakthroughs in the future and jointly promote Asian football to a higher level.