The 2026 FIFA World Cup gets into the crucial stages as nine African teams have qualified for the knockouts but the Asian sides faltered from the group stage with just two that progressed into the round of 32.

For decades, the World Cup was a tournament where Asia and Africa hoped to cause the occasional upset.

This summer, while Africa has made a good account of its football potential, Asia would feel disappointed at the end of the group stage of the competition.

Throwing light on Asia’s collective disappointment at this World Cup, Jordan coach Jamal Sellami, whose team suffered three defeats in as many group games, said Asia needs “more players to play at that high level” to stand a chance in doing well in global competitions.

“Our players are young and we need to take advantage of the experience we had here and ensure we do better at such higher level of competition,” Sellami said after the team’s 3-1 loss to Argentina.

“Look at how the African teams have fared. Nine of the 10 African teams playing at this World Cup have qualified for the next round.

Unfortunately, it’s not the same for Asia. To be at the top level, we need to have more players to play at that high level.”

Africa, meanwhile, has enjoyed its finest collective World Cup. Nine teams have progressed to the round of 32, surpassing the continent’s previous best, when only two nations reached the round of 16 in both 2014 and 2022.

Among them, Cape Verde has been one of the tournament’s biggest revelations. Playing in its first World Cup, the island nation held Spain to a goalless draw, frustrated Uruguay and earned a knockout berth through fearless performances.

Another African side Morocco has reinforced that its run to the semifinals in Qatar was no one-off, while Senegal recovered from losses to Norway and France to advance.

Egypt finished second in Group G with a win and two draws, while Ivory Coast responded to a narrow defeat to Germany with wins over Curacao and Ecuador, while Algeria and Senegal also sneaked through as the sixth and eighth best third-placed teams. South Africa’s qualification came after a surprise win over South Korea, which was one of the record three Asian teams that had made it to the round of 16 in Qatar.

South Korea, the only Asian team to have ever reached a World Cup semifinals, paid the price for fielding a much-weakened side without its captain Son Heung-min in its last group game against the Africans.