Commentary: Football’s Asian century is still on hold

TOKYO: In the early 2000s Sepp Blatter, the then-head of football’s governing bodyFIFA,spoke of where he saw the sport going. 

“In Asia you have more than half the world’s population,” he said. “The future of football must be in Asia.”

With a clear link between finances and on-pitch success, it was a common sentiment for the growing region, and as the World Cup opened in Japan and South Korea in 2002, many predicted the new century would see a winner emerge from this part of the world.

The 2026 World Cup, the biggest ever, featured a record nine Asian teams, up from six in the previous tournament. But after Japan crashed out to a late goal against Brazil on Monday (Jun 29), it only leaves Australia, which joined the Asian Football Confederation as recently as 2006.

The contrast is stark with Africa, with nine out of the 10 nations that qualified advancing to the knockout stages, even minnows like Cape Verde.

There is no single explanation for the Asian teams’ underwhelming performances. But the region has a lot of failings to face up to, if the future of football is to belong to it. 

There’s no shame for Japan, saddled with a difficult group and a tough draw against Brazil. Many of us here are rather sick of the low expectations that overlook the progress made on the pitch in favour of a focus on fans and players cleaning up stadiums. Japan has done most things right over the past three decades to build the grassroots game and develop a pipeline of elite players. 

But against Brazil, familiar failings were on display for a country that has qualified for every tournament since 1998 but never won a knockout game.

Manager Hajime Moriyasu made a baffling decision to go ultra-defensive after Japan’s best 45 minutes of