Africa’s remarkable performance at the 2026 FIFA World Cup has transformed the conversation around the expansion of the tournament, while Asia has been left reflecting on a disappointing campaign.
The contrast is striking when compared with the 2018 World Cup in Russia, where none of Africa’s five representatives progressed beyond the group stage and the continent managed only three victories from 15 matches.
Eight years later, the picture has changed dramatically. Out of Africa’s 10 participating nations at the 2026 tournament, nine advanced to the knockout stage, with only Tunisia failing to qualify.
Cape Verde, Egypt, Ivory Coast, Morocco and South Africa finished as group runners up, while Algeria, DR Congo, Ghana and Senegal secured qualification as the best third placed teams.
Asia, however, experienced a far less successful campaign. Only two of its nine representatives reached the knockout stage. Japan’s elimination in the Round of 32 has now left Australia as the continent’s only remaining hope.
Africa’s impressive showing has strengthened support for FIFA President Gianni Infantino’s decision to expand the World Cup, a move that was questioned after the continent’s disappointing outing in Russia.
Many observers now point to years of investment in football development as the driving force behind Africa’s progress.
Confederation of African Football President Patrice Motsepe credited the improvement to sustained investment in youth development, coaching programmes and stronger domestic leagues across the continent.
The signs of progress first became evident at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, where two African nations reached the knockout stage for the first time in the same tournament.
Before then, only Cameroon in 1990, Senegal in 2002 and Ghana in 2010 had managed to reach the quarterfinals of the competition.
Morocco went even further by becoming the first African nation to reach the semifinals after defeating Belgium, Spain and Portugal before eventually losing to France.
Speaking earlier this month in an interview with Zoyols News, former Nigeria captain William Troost Ekong described Morocco’s success as the result of years of careful planning and investment.
According to him, Morocco built a clear football structure by consistently investing in grassroots football, youth academies and modern facilities while maintaining the same development philosophy across all age groups.
Although the expanded World Cup format created additional qualification opportunities, it does not fully explain the difference between Africa’s success and Asia’s struggles.
With the competition now featuring 48 teams spread across 12 groups, traditional football powerhouses are more evenly distributed, creating more balanced groups and increasing the chances for emerging nations to progress.
The inclusion of the best third placed teams also expanded the knockout stage to 32 teams, giving more countries the opportunity to advance.
Despite those changes benefiting all confederations equally, African nations made better use of the opportunity than their Asian counterparts.
South Africa’s journey ended in the Round of 32 after suffering a late defeat to Canada, while Morocco progressed and will continue carrying Africa’s hopes.
The North Africans now enter the latter stages of the tournament with growing confidence. Once viewed as outsiders against Europe’s strongest teams, Morocco are now regarded as genuine contenders, especially after climbing to sixth in the FIFA world rankings, one place ahead of the Netherlands.
Even so, the road to another semifinal appearance remains difficult. The tournament bracket means African teams could eventually face football giants such as France, Argentina, England or Spain before reaching the final stages.
Defending champions Argentina, who meet Cape Verde next, are in a section of the draw featuring several African nations, opening the possibility of multiple meetings with teams from the continent.
Elsewhere, Algeria will face Switzerland, while Ghana take on Colombia, creating the possibility of an all African clash later in the competition should results go in their favour.
The numbers further underline Africa’s impressive campaign. Across 30 group matches, African teams recorded 10 victories and averaged 1.33 points per game.
Asian teams played 27 matches but managed only three wins, averaging just 0.67 points per match.
The difference became even more obvious during the final round of group fixtures. Five decisive matches featured African and Asian teams battling for qualification, with African nations winning four while Asia failed to record a single victory.
Four years ago, Australia, Japan and South Korea all reached the knockout stage. This time only Australia remains after Japan’s exit.
The disappointing performances have triggered serious reactions across Asia.
Uzbekistan coach Fabio Cannavaro admitted that, apart from Japan, Australia and possibly Iran, most Asian teams still have significant work to do before they can compete consistently at the highest level.
South Korea’s early exit proved particularly costly. Following a shock defeat to South Africa in their final group game, President Lee Jae Myung called for an investigation into what he described as organisational and personnel failures within the national team.
Shortly afterwards, head coach Hong Myung bo stepped down after two years in charge.
Jordan also struggled during its first ever World Cup appearance, losing all three matches while scoring only three goals and conceding eight.
Jordan coach Jamal Sellami believes one major factor separates African teams from many Asian nations. He pointed to the large number of African players competing in Europe’s top leagues, arguing that regular exposure to stronger competitions has helped improve their overall quality.
The statistics support that view. Morocco’s squad includes 20 players based in Europe, with 15 competing in the continent’s top five leagues.
DR Congo also has 24 players playing in Europe, while Egypt is the exception, relying mainly on footballers from its domestic league.
Jordan has only one player in Europe, Musa Al Taamari of French club Rennes. Iraq and Uzbekistan each have three Europe based players, while Iran has four.
Among Asia’s strongest football nations, Japan has 23 Europe based players, Australia has 16 and South Korea has 15.
The difference highlights the development gap that many Asian countries still need to close.
As Africa celebrates one of its finest World Cup campaigns, the Asian Football Confederation faces growing pressure to strengthen player development, improve domestic football structures and prepare its national teams to compete more effectively in future editions of the expanded tournament.
