The Korea Republic and Portugal will play a match on December 2, 2022, in Al Rayyan. Quality Sport Images is a provider of sport images.
For the first time in the history of the World Cup, three teams from the Asian Football Confederation have made it to the knockout stages.
Australia and Japan will join South Korea in the next round after the South Koreans beat Portugal.
When it comes to points per game, the Asian confederation had its best World Cup since the group stages were expanded.
The most ever, six Asian sides competed at the most ever, and apart from the hosts, all of them won at least one match.
An average of 3.67 points per team was given by the six sides that won seven matches. In the 2002 and 2010 tournaments, Asian sides averaged 3.5 points per team.
It is the confederation's best performance to date. In 1994, Saudi Arabia and South Korea were the only Asian teams that averaged better points per team. Back in 1966, North Korea had four points.
Salem Al-Dawsari of Saudi Arabia scored his team's second goal in the game. The photo was taken by Maddie Meyer and is courtesy ofFIFA.
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Saudi Arabia's win over Argentina in the opening game of the World Cup gave the tournament a boost. Despite a loss to Costa Rica, Japan beat Spain and Germany to stay alive. The Taegeuk Warriors had their head coach suspended and their best defender injured, but they still won. The hope is that at least one of the teams can go further in the competition.
Two African sides made it to the round of 16 in the same year that Algeria and Nigeria made it to the knockout rounds.
The five African sides this year won seven matches and drew three for an average of 5.8 points per team, which is two times what they won in the previous year. Since Tunisia beat France in the final round of group stage matches, all African teams have won at least one match at the tournament.
The group F match between Canada and Morocco will take place on December 1, 2022. The photo was taken by Matthias Hangst.
The World Cup was held in the Middle East and North Africa. The teams from the Middle East earned an average of 3.4 points in the group stage. In 1982, Algeria won two of its matches but was eliminated after the "Disgrace of Gijon" where West Germany and Austria played out a result that would benefit them at Algeria's expense.
The World Cup was the first time that all African teams had a head coach. The round of 16 has Japan and Australia in it. South Korea's Paulo Bento, who was forced to watch the match against his native Portugal from the stands, was the only overseas coach to make it to the knockout rounds.
There is not enough data to say if the performances of African and Asian teams are a one-off or part of a trend, but the inclusion of more sides from the two confederations is justified.
Three Asian and two African teams could cause more surprises in the knockout rounds of the World Cup, according to the number of top ranked teams beaten by sides from Asia or Africa.
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