World Cup: Asian teams improve, Japan show the way

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The Asian teams performed better in the World Cup 2018 as compared to the 2014 tournament in Brazil. Five Asian teams qualified for the finals, and Japan stood out as it made it to the round of 16.

The Asian country set a 50 year-long plan since 1989 and had consecutively qualified for World Cup finals for six times since they first entered the tournament in 1998. CGTN took a look at Japan and the other Asian teams’ performances at this year's event.

Five Asian teams qualified, one into knockout stage

Things were better this year in Russia as it was the first time that five Asian teams qualified.

Japan, in Group H with Colombia, Senegal and Poland, went well through the group stage and joined in the last 16.

The Asian team defeated Colombia 2-1 in their opening match, and tied 2-2 with to Senegal in the second group stage match.

In spite of a 0-1 lost to Poland 1-0 in the last group match, Japan still went into the knockout stage after finishing second in group H. With same points as third-placed Senegal though, Japan came out based on their fair play performance, with less yellow cards than the African team.

Round of 16: journey stopped, won applause

In the round of 16, Japan finally met third-placed 'Red Devils' Belgium. The Asian team stunned the audience in this match.

This was the third time for Japan to reach the knockout stage. Genki Haraguchi scored the first goal while Takashi Inui lashed the ball into the far corner from about 20 meters out to give Japan a 2-0 lead.

Just as fans believed the Asian team could make history to go into the quarter-finals for the first time, Belgium staged a comeback to overcome the two-goal deficit to oust Japan 3-2. Though it stopped their journey, the Asian team won applause from all over the world.

Heungmin Son of South Korea and his teammates secured a 2-0 victory against Germany at Kazan Arena on June 27, 2018. /VCG Photo

Though South Korea didn't advance, they stunned the world by beating defending champions Germany 2-0 in their final group match.

Saudi Arabia also went out with pride by beating Egypt in their last match.

Each of the Asian teams earned a win in Russia with Australia the only AFC side that bowed out without a victory. The teams scored a total of 14 goals while conceding 18.

But in the 2014 tournament, the four Asian teams, Japan, South Korea, Iran, and Australia were all at the bottom of their groups. They scored nine goals, conceding 25, resulting in three draws and nine losses for a total of three points.

Chinese team, long plan to launch

China still need to work hard to qualify for the World Cup again since 2002.

A series of reforms have been made to promote football in the country. A general plan for Chinese football reform and development was established in 2015, with short-term goals of making better management, and creating plans for the mid-and-long team.

The mid-term target is to help the men's national team to advance to the top rankings of Asia, and women's team to be back to the world first-class rankings.

The long-term goal is that China host a world cup and the men's team qualify for the world cup and Olympics.

With big money spent in the Chinese Super League, a series of changes also have been made for the cultivation of domestic players.

Youth football training activities have been widely taken place all over the country. Though still long way to go, it is believed the Chinese national team can appear in the World Cup.