00:07The first Asian country to participate in the FIFA World Cup was Indonesia.
00:13This was at the 1938 tournament in France during the colonial era,
00:18when they were known as the Dutch East Indies.
00:23They lost their solitary match 6-0,
00:26which is still better than the continent's next representative on the game's biggest stage,
00:31South Korea,
00:32when they lost 9-0 and 7-0 on tournament debut in 1954.
00:42It wasn't until the 1966 World Cup that Asian participation became commonplace.
00:49And in England that year,
00:51North Korea hinted at what was to come in future decades,
00:54as they stunned Italy in the group stage,
00:57then let Portugal 3-0 in the quarter-finals,
01:01before Eusebio near single-handedly completed a miraculous comeback.
01:10This was the first time that a nation from outside Europe or the Americas
01:15had progressed from the first stage of a World Cup.
01:21Mexico 86 was the first time two Asian nations appeared together at the same tournament.
01:27But it wasn't until Saudi Arabia in 1994
01:30that another team from the continent made the knockout stages.
01:37And it stayed that way until 2002,
01:41a watershed moment in the history of the AFC,
01:44with World Cup hosting rights being shared by Japan and South Korea.
01:50Despite trepidation from outside at the level of interest in the sport in East Asia
01:55and the quality of the hosts,
01:57the tournament proved a roaring success.
02:02Japan reached the round of 16 for the first time,
02:06only to stumble against the competition's surprise packet, Turkey.
02:12Under the guidance of Hus Hiddink,
02:15South Korea went as far as the semi-finals,
02:17sending shockwaves through football's established order.
02:22I'm very happy, I'm very satisfied
02:24that I could provide my, hopefully, my knowledge and my experience.
02:30But at the end, they have to do it.
02:32They have to do it.
02:33And then I look, and I'm happy that a lot of people,
02:36a lot of Korean people, enjoy now,
02:40not just yesterday, but also in the past month,
02:43the development of a Korean team.
02:45And that makes me normal, humble and happy for them.
02:50South Korea had never won a match at the World Cup before,
02:53but Hiddink unlocked something magical in the Taegok Warriors.
02:59A 2-0 win in the first match against Poland
03:02had the fans in a frenzy.
03:07Ahn Yonghwan came off the bench
03:09to level the second match against the USA.
03:11And when 21-year-old Park Ji-sung
03:14announced himself to the world
03:15with the only goal against Portugal,
03:18South Korea topped the group.
03:23The nation's president, Kim Dae-jung,
03:25led the celebrations.
03:27Good job, thank you, guys.
03:29Very good job.
03:29Thank you, nation.
03:43Coach Hiddink and players
03:45and all the people who participated in the effort,
03:48I really appreciate your work.
03:51You have made not only 48 million,
03:54but also 70 million Koreans cheering now on the peninsula.
04:01In the round of 16,
04:03Ahn Yonghwan headed the golden goal
04:04that sent Italy to their second Korean calamity.
04:08The goal that saw him lose his job,
04:10with Italian side Perugia in retaliation.
04:16Two controversial refereeing decisions
04:19helped South Korea beat Spain on penalties in the quarterfinals.
04:23And although their run came to an end against Germany in the semis,
04:27Hiddink had cemented his reputation as Mr. Fix-It
04:30on football's greatest stage.
04:35The AFC has had at least four representatives at every World Cup since,
04:40and only once has an Asian nation not reached the knockout phase.
04:46But despite Iran, Australia, South Korea and Japan
04:51all becoming World Cup regulars,
04:54consistency has not converted into further notable peaks.
04:59Japan in particular can feel frustrated
05:02at failing to progress beyond the round of 16,
05:05despite long spells ranked inside the top 20 on FIFA's rankings.
05:11But with at least eight sides from the continent
05:14appearing at World Cups from 2026,
05:17the chances of one of those pushing new boundaries increases.
05:23Whether that's from one of the traditional powerhouses in the East
05:27or the rising stars of the West,
05:30the AFC is home to an increasingly confident
05:33and ambitious array of football nations.
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