Roll on 2022: Asia seeks more World Cup shocks in Qatar

Asian teams weren't expected to make an impact at the World Cup but a record points haul and some stunning performances against top sides have lifted their hopes for Qatar 2022.

South Korea's 2-0 dethroning of defending champions Germany could have been viewed as a one-off, if not for Japan's heartbreaking defeat to star-studded Belgium days later in the last 16.

Iran also came desperately close to beating Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal, the European title-holders, in another sign that smaller teams may be closing the gap on the game's traditional powers.

None of the Asian Football Confederation teams reached the quarter-finals, extending a barren run which stretches back to the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea.

But Japan, South Korea and Iran departed Russia with their heads held high and positive expectations for Qatar 2022, when the World Cup returns to AFC territory for the first time in 20 years.

"The AFC nations can take great encouragement from this year's World Cup," Andy Jackson of FourFourTwo magazine told AFP.

"(They) can look forward to 2022 and an AFC-hosted World Cup in Qatar with the hope of being one of the nations causing some of the famous upsets we've seen so far in Russia."
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