About this episode
This episode explores the potential of Asian teams in the FIFA World Cup and the challenges they face in achieving success.
There are more Asian teams competing in this year's FIFA World Cup than ever before, but can any of them win? With the tournament expanding to 48 teams, Asia has nine nations plus New Zealand from the Oceania confederation competing for the prize across the USA, Canada and Mexico. Many, like Saudi Arabia and Iran are from the Middle East, but East and South East Asia will be represented by World Cup regulars Japan, South Korea and Australia. Despite decades of investment, growing fan bases and increasingly professional leagues, no men's team from Asia has ever reached a World Cup final. So what's holding the region back from the top level of global football? Why within Asia do Japan and South Korea consistently outperform their neighbours? And what has gone wrong with China's football ambitions? In this episode, host Mariko Oi speaks to BBC Chief Presenter Steve Lai and Business Correspondent Nick Marsh about Asia's football culture, the challenges facing emerging football nations and which teams have the best chance of making history. We also take a listen to South Korean footballer Son Heung-min in an interview with More Than the Score. Our podcast More than the Score is at the…
People in this episode
Host: Mariko Oi
Guests: Steve Lai, Nick Marsh
Topics covered
- FIFA World Cup
- Asian football
- sports culture
- football challenges
- team performance
Keywords
- World Cup
- Asian teams
- football culture
- sports investment
- team performance
Mentioned in this episode
Places: Saudi Arabia, Iran, Japan, South Korea, Australia, China, USA, Canada, Mexico
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