00:05The first Asian country to participate in the FIFA World Cup was Indonesia.
00:11This was at the 1938 tournament in France during the colonial era,
00:16when they were known as the Dutch East Indies.
00:22They lost their solitary match 6-0,
00:25which is still better than the continent's next representative
00:28on the game's biggest stage, South Korea,
00:31when they lost 9-0 and 7-0 on tournament debut in 1954.
00:41It wasn't until the 1966 World Cup
00:44that Asian participation became commonplace.
00:48And in England that year,
00:50North Korea hinted at what was to come in future decades
00:53as they stunned Italy in the group stage,
00:55then led Portugal 3-0 in the quarter-finals,
00:59before Eusebio near single-handedly completed a miraculous comeback.
01:09This was the first time that a nation from outside Europe or the Americas
01:13could progress from the first stage of a World Cup.
01:20Mexico 86 was the first time two Asian nations appeared together at the same tournament.
01:25But it wasn't until Saudi Arabia in 1994
01:29that another team from the continent made the knockout stages.
01:36And it stayed that way until 2002,
01:39a watershed moment in the history of the AFC,
01:42with World Cup hosting rights being shared by Japan and South Korea.
01:49Despite trepidation from outside
01:51at the level of interest in the sport in East Asia
01:54and the quality of the hosts,
01:56the tournament proved a roaring success.
02:01Japan reached the round of 16 for the first time,
02:05only to stumble against the competition's surprise packet, Turkey.
02:11Under the guidance of Rus Hiddink,
02:13South Korea went as far as the semifinals,
02:16sending shockwaves through football's established order.
02:20I'm very happy, I'm very satisfied
02:23that I could provide my, hopefully,
02:27my knowledge and my experience.
02:28But at the end, they have to do it.
02:31They have to do it.
02:32And then I look and I'm happy that a lot of people,
02:35a lot of Korean people, enjoy now,
02:38not just yesterday, but also in the past month,
02:42the development of Korean team.
02:43And that makes me normal, humble and happy for them.
02:49South Korea had never won a match at the World Cup before,
02:52but Hiddink unlocked something magical in the Taegook Warriors.
02:57A 2-0 win in the first match against Poland
03:00had the fans in a frenzy.
03:05Ahn Yonghwan came off the bench
03:07to level the second match against the USA.
03:10And when 21-year-old Park Ji-sung announced himself
03:13to the world with the only goal against Portugal,
03:17South Korea topped their group.
03:21The nation's president, Kim Dae-jung,
03:24led the celebrations.
03:42Coach Hiddink and players and all the people
03:45who participated in the effort,
03:47I really appreciate your work.
03:50You have made not only 48 million,
03:52but also 70 million Koreans
03:55cheering now on the peninsula.
03:59In the round of 16,
04:01Ahn Yonghwan headed the golden goal
04:03that sent Italy to their second Korean calamity.
04:06A goal that saw him lose his job,
04:09with Italian side Perugia in retaliation.
04:15Two controversial refereeing decisions
04:17helped South Korea beat Spain
04:19on penalties in the quarter-finals.
04:21And although their run came to an end
04:23against Germany in the semis,
04:25Hiddink had cemented his reputation
04:27as Mr Fix-It
04:29on football's greatest stage.
04:34The AFC has had at least four representatives
04:36at every World Cup since.
04:38And only once has an Asian nation
04:41to not reach the knockout phase.
04:45But despite Iran, Australia, South Korea
04:48and Japan all becoming World Cup regulars,
04:52consistency has not converted
04:55into further notable peaks.
04:58Japan in particular can feel frustrated
05:01at failing to progress beyond the round of 16,
05:04despite long spells ranked inside the top 20
05:07on FIFA's rankings.
05:10But with at least eight sides from the continent
05:13appearing at World Cups from 2026,
05:16the chances of one of those pushing new boundaries increases.
05:22Whether that's from one of the traditional powerhouses
05:25in the East,
05:26or the rising stars of the West,
05:28the AFC is home to an increasingly confident
05:31and ambitious array of football nations.
05:35and the future of the Taiwan
05:35of the West.
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