00:04the Asian Football Confederation covers a vast territory from the shores of the
00:12Mediterranean to the surf beaches of the Pacific Ocean the AFC crosses seven
00:18time zones it would take 24 hours to fly the 14,000 kilometers from one side of
00:27the AFC to the other which is exactly what Lebanon had to do during qualification for
00:33the 2026 World Cup when they were drawn in the same group as Australia
00:41the Confederation was founded in 1954 and is headquartered in Kuala Lumpur
00:50the dominant forces have been Japan and South Korea from the eastern region
00:55Iran from the Central Asian Football Association and Saudi Arabia from the Western Federation
01:05since 2006 Australia have added their name to this group
01:09after transferring from the Oceania Confederation
01:17two World Cups have been hosted in the AFC most recently in 2022 in Qatar and before that the
01:25pioneering World Cup of 2002 in Japan and South Korea
01:32the Continental Championship the AFC Asian Cup has been won by nine different countries with a
01:40further five reaching the final Qatar have become tournament specialists winning their maiden title
01:49in 2019 and defending it four years later in the past four Asian Cups combined they've lost only one
01:56match Japan lead the way with four titles thanks largely to the extraordinary inability of South Korea
02:06to convert consistency into silverware the Thai Guk Warriors have made the semi-finals on a record 11 occasions but
02:17only lifted
02:17the trophy twice these were the first two Asian Cups in 1956 and 1960 when the finals consisted of just
02:26four teams
02:30South Korean club sides have fared better in the AFC Champions League winning a continent-best 12 titles five
02:38Korean clubs have won multiple Champions Leagues with Pohang Steelers leading the way with three
02:47but the influx of investment into club football in the Arab world has seen the balance of power shift from
02:53East to West in
02:54in recent years Saudi Arabia's al-Aqli proved victorious in the 2025 Champions League final
03:01boasting a side featuring the likes of Edouard Mondi Riyad Mahrez and Roberto Firmino
03:10Japan China and South Korea all possess domestic competitions that average over 10,000 spectators
03:17in India's in the last two finals per game but the hidden story in these statistics is the enormous
03:22untapped potential of the continent's sleeping Giants India's Super League draws an average 11,000
03:29fans per match and the biggest fixtures in Indonesia regularly attract over 25,000 spectators the potential
03:38for growth in the game in these enormous populations is frightening Asia has enjoyed a higher status in
03:47women's football. China hosted the first official World Cup in 1991, with two further additions
03:58staged in the region since, including the enormously successful 2023 tournament in Australia
04:05and New Zealand. As with the men's game, Japan have led the way, celebrating an historic
04:15World Cup victory in 2011. While individuals from Australia, especially star striker Sam Kerr,
04:24have raised the profile for female footballers across the globe, even sharing top billing with
04:30Kylian Mbappe on the ubiquitous FIFA video game. Asian football still lags behind the powerhouse
04:39confederations of Europe and South America, but the gap is closing as the football economies of
04:45the region grow. Nowhere on earth does the future of the game look so bright or so full
04:54of potential. The AFC is home to a collection of booming football nations.
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