Asian football on the rise? AFC nations remain unbeaten at the start of the FIFA World Cup

The 2026 FIFA World Cup has only just begun, yet it has already produced several surprising results, particularly from teams representing one confederation.

Details: According to Opta, national teams from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) have gone unbeaten through their first five matches of the tournament, recording two victories and three draws. Notably, all five games came against opponents from either Europe or South America.

Saudi Arabia held Uruguay to a 1-1 draw, Japan shared a 2-2 draw with the Netherlands, Australia defeated Turkey 2-0, Qatar earned a 1-1 draw against Switzerland, and South Korea claimed a 2-1 victory over Czechia.

Meanwhile, Cape Verde committed just one foul during the match against Spain. It is the fewest fouls recorded by any team in a FIFA World Cup match since 1966, when full tournament broadcasts first became available.

As a reminder: Spain’s forward also rewrote the tournament’s history by matching an unwanted record that had stood since 1966.