2026 World Cup Asian Qualifiers Deep Dive

[winner12ai]

Shift in Power: Japan/S Korea/Iran secure direct qualification, Uzbekistan reaches WC for first time, Jordan & Indonesia break East-West Asia monopoly! Japan leads with 62% possession but lacks attacking edge (2.3 goals/game), while S Korea's undefeated run hinges on Son Heung-min (attack efficiency drops 27% without him).

⚽Tactical Evolution:
• Japan's "small-fast-agile" style with 84% pass accuracy
• S Korea's high press (18.2 tackles/game, Asia No.1)
• Indonesia adapts Dutch total football, holds Saudi
• Uzbekistan's 1.85m defense scores 29% of goals via headers

Rising Stars:
• 19yo Takefusa Kubo (4G5A, 68% dribble success)
• 21yo Oh Hyeon-gyu (34.2km/h speed, 3 assists)
• 20yo Eldor Shomurodov (5G, Central Asian "Lewandowski")
• 22yo Salem Al-Dawsari (7G1A, Saudi "CR7 heir")

⚠Critical Challenges:
• Youth training gap: Japan has 630k registered youth players vs China's 50k
• Saudi's money-driven football reduces U23 playing time to <15%
• East Asia's exam-oriented education squeezes football culture

Future Moves:
• Japan launches "1M Youth Plan" to support SE Asia
• AFC eyes Asian Super League launch
• S Korea needs German-style space tactics; Saudi must diversify from wing crosses

[Optional]

Australia direct qualified out of Asia with a win over Saudis yesterday too.

[Optional]

Oh, it's AI output.

Good example of how bad AI can be for us. Sounds credible. Why would you imagine some of it is just fiction from reading that?

[ChuckyTheGoat]

Oh, it's AI output.

Good example of how bad AI can be for us. Sounds credible. Why would you imagine some of it is just fiction from reading that?

Good catch, Opti. I was trying to wrap my head around this.

A lot of good info. I was trying to mentally process it.

*SON (So Korea) is now pretty old. 32 y/o.
*Always amazed me that CHINA could be so populous but so bad at Soccer.

[Optional]

Good catch, Opti. I was trying to wrap my head around this.

A lot of good info. I was trying to mentally process it.

*SON (So Korea) is now pretty old. 32 y/o.
*Always amazed me that CHINA could be so populous but so bad at Soccer.

It's really not good info Chucky.

Apart from saying Indonesia made it, and missing Australia, the comment about Saudi's Al Dawsari being the next CR7 has to have come from some sarcastic comment the AI has been fed with. And he definitely has not scored 7 goals in the qualifiers as it says. Just 2.

DId not look any further than that but I bet there is more complete codswollop there.

Your comment that it is good info is a great display of why dumb AI models like this are actually insidious. The will rewrite history, and just plain old make up history, and us humans will as a group start to believe it.

The credible way they present complete BS info like we see here is the basis of the problem.

[ChuckyTheGoat]

OK, Opti:

1) I'm normally complimentary when someone posts.
2) I see your point on why it might not be so good.
3) In general I hate AI. Not a big fan.

Been looking at the World Cup bracket. A few things:
*48 teams means there will be some big mismatches in Group stage.
*32 teams advance! Way too many, 24 at most. Erodes the value of the group stage.