Why Can’t Southeast Asian Countries Qualify for the World Cup?

[@cek0792]

Honestly, as an Indonesian commenting. We Southeast Asians don't need representation in the World Cup as long AFC Qualifiers demonstrate that we're not good enough. We don't need to embarass AFC on the world stage. Our respective football federations simply need to improve. As an Indonesian, I think positive change is being done with our national team including diaspora players with exposure to European football. Furthermore, our engagement of diaspora players mixed with an improved grassroots system have been the long term projects implemented. I think my country is still far away from world cup qualification, however we now feel like we can finally dream qualification.

[@Andre_Tarigan]

Diaspora players 😂😂😂😂😂

[@MrBlazemaster525]

@@cek0792 you mean NATURALISISI?🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡

[@058_anzetdiantopebriwan7]

@@Andre_Tarigan apa yg lucu bro?

[@gilangh1780]

@@Andre_Tarigan so what? they have the right to represent Indonesia by blood and the law approves it

[@video_kendaraan2727]

​@@Andre_Tarigan Bilang Aja Kamu Pendukung Towel

[@Sidelineholic]

As ASEAN Football Journalist, my explanation is simple, because ASEAN countries lack the money to pursue them, not to mention the problem of corruption. The tradition of playing football is not with us. We are known to the world as a nation of spectators, not a haven of football talent. Unfortunately, we are not blessed with the culture of traveling as far as Africans when it comes to football to overcome the problem of lack of funds.

[@lordhenrywotton95]

Do you think ASEAN teams would do better if they were able to utilise diaspora players. Eg. Vietnam can call up Jason Pendant (Rouen), Ibrahim Maza (Hertha), Sebastien da Silva (Laval) who are playing at a high level.

[@zeinainjalut7687]

😂😢

[@Sidelineholic]

Yes, it's interesting when we talk about naturalization policies. What must be noted is that naturalization is a short-term policy to improve the achievements of the national team. In the case of Indonesia, the naturalization program was successful because our government worked hand in hand with the federation. The federation cannot afford to work alone, because to become an Indonesian citizen, you have to give up your original citizenship and that is a difficult job considering the reputation of this country in the world of football. What about other ASEAN countries? For a country with dual citizenship, it worked well, especially for the Philippines in women's football who managed to qualify for the World Cup. Meanwhile in Vietnam, a player who wants to be naturalized must play in the Vietnamese league for several years. But in principle, naturalization (another name: taking diaspora players from all over the world) will work well, if the country's football foundation is starting to get better, like Morocco right now. Meanwhile in ASEAN, perhaps only Thailand has football facilities that meet standards and they routinely sends local players to pursue careers abroad, especially in Japan

[@Sidelineholic]

my conclusion on my text. Yes, naturalization will have an impact on the achievements of national football teams in Southeast Asia, but it is not a long-term solution. The Federation must continue to build its own foundations for success

[@alandark8170]

@@Sidelineholic What is your opinion on the last few years of Malaysia football, Malaysia football league?

[@DanSurprise]

I am a Singaporean, and there is no way Singapore would ever do well in football. It all stems from our culture. Singapore is extremely competitive. Parents would fight to put their kids in top schools, pile them with tuitions, and other extra curricular activities which they think would 'benefit' their kids, such as piano lessons, art classes etc. Sports like football and others are perceived by the majority to be not realistic in our country. Professional sports in Singapore do not pay well, an average of $5000-$10000 SGD max per month. Plenty of white collar workers earn more than that. Another culture or behaviour of Singaporeans is that, we usually don't support our local sports scene much, especially football. A football fan in Singapore will be able to tell you everything about the English Premier League, but not a single thing about our local football league. Our stadiums are always empty, and there is basically zero marketing done to promote local football. Hence countries like Singapore will never ever make it to the world stage for football.

[@WickeDax17]

My friend, FIFA is connected to government. More money, more taxes expensive tickets. SG is not a corrupt nation, you guys put your own people first. 🫡

[@hongmama1245]

There's a slight shift in mentality, not a whole lot, where children with potential are selected for direct school entry. Their main goal is to focus on training instead of academics. While a long way to go, i see this as a step in the right direction. This would never had been possible during my younger days.

[@Vbfjdjeksk]

Thats exactly same with Korea and Japan man.

[@varrickace465]

To nurture sporting champions, we need a culture that encourages people going their own way outside of a prescribed path of success, and a culture that loves and nurtures competitive sports, these two things are something Singapore will never have.

[@ponrebirth]

Thailand, currently ranked 100th in the world, has so much potential. They were ranked as high as 43rd in the world by FIFA in 1998. They have some great players playing for clubs in Japan and Belgium. It's the bureaucrats and higher-ups in FA Thailand that are holding them back from letting them be as good as, say, South Korea or Japan.

[@RoseCityRebel]

We should’ve never fired Coach Mano. I’m so heartbroken as a Thai-Canadian that we missed after 4 tiebreakers. I really wanted to see them in the World Cup live with my mother.

[@chelsea_3148]

Atleast u-17 did qualified for 2 times (1997 and 1999), i hope we can do better

[@RoseCityRebel]

@@chelsea_3148 Agreed

[@Ramses060784]

Hopefully can see a ladyboy playing

[@RoseCityRebel]

@@Ramses060784 Their tips are certainly bigger than yours!

[@notJCS]

Reminder that North Korea has qualified for the World Cup 2 times, making the quarter-finals in 1966. SEA has only qualified once if we're counting the Dutch East Indies in the '30s.

[@theshape3988]

I didn't know that. Good to know JCS

[@NaikaVideo]

He says that in the video regarding the Dutch East Indies.

[@MuhammadIlham-xi7ll]

​@@NaikaVideoThe Dutch East Indies is today's Indonesia.

[@dyo510]

@@MuhammadIlham-xi7ll And now Indonesia with players "fairly similar" to Dutch East Indies time will make it to the World Cup "again", trust me!!!

[@G.A.C_Preserve]

@@MuhammadIlham-xi7ll exclude that Eastern part of that island

[@jasetran2186]

Frankly though the REAL reason why we haven’t been able to qualify is simple: we just SUCK right now. Not for a lack of passion, but due to a combination of unfavourable genetics (generally shorter and less athletic, probably to adapt to the hot and humid tropical climate conditions) and dysfunctional and corrupted football federation when it comes to the domestic league and youth system (as you rightly pointed out). Thus when it comes to facing teams from other regions, its almost always the case that we are either not as tall, fast, strong and high endurance as them, or that we are not skilled enough individually and as a team, and most of the time its both. Our best teams (THA, MAS, VIE, IND, SG) on a good day are only competitive with average 2nd tier teams from other AFC regions (central asia) and 3rd tier teams from good regions (west and east asia). Heck we might only be overall slightly better than south asia because most of their funding and best athletes are channeled to wards cricket, and we almost always struggle against decent teams from every other continent So as much as I would appreciate us being given a shot at direct WC qualification in the name of representation, I DONT THINK WE SHOULD be given that privilege. There are countries that are far ahead of us and would be way more deserving but also left out because they are in a much tougher confederation (Europe, South America, Africa). If we care about merits and football quality, and that is what I think the WC qualification should be about, then we would have to earn it just like the rest of teams in asia. So I dont have a problem with the AFC and FIFA in that sense. Although I have to agree that having 4 qualification rounds (and multiple prequalifiers) is just absurd and they should somehow simplify it. On a bright note, it does look like football is growing in SEA. It used to only be Thailand that was the most consistent, but in the past half decade Vietnam and Indonesia has also risen and we as a region are starting to challenge decent teams at a continental level (China, Uzbekistan, UAE, Bahrain, etc.) Hopefully we can keep up the pace and our inter-ASEAN pride and rivalry can really push ourselves to finally earn our place in the continental footballing map 🫡🤠 Tldr - we suck thats why

[@FrozenDrone12]

@@jasetran2186 at this point SEA countries just focusing much on Sepak Takraw and make this sports going global, this is the real native sports of SEA

[@blairwich1935]

I don't think "shorter and less athletic" is really a thing. South / Central America has plenty of shorties and they excel and football. Messi is a tiny child-man sized guy, and he is the greatest contemporary player.

[@blairwich1935]

@@vin9649 Based on what?

[@valeries0817]

@@blairwich1935 they have fairly high stamina and usually,tougher body.Average SEA person are short and much slimmer,we would easily be crushed by teams who have way better physical advantages. You could try watching several matches of SEA teams,it is quite obvious n sad to see how its turning out

[@blairwich1935]

@@valeries0817 I don't doubt SEA is bad. I can see the results and what little they do when my country Australia goes against SEA teams. I just think if Messi (esp in his earlier years) was as skinny and short as he has been -- he wouldn't have done as well as he has. Also being skinny is correlated with high stamina anyway. Plus look at Japan... not a tall team and also skinny and is a top 20 team.

[@luishernandezblonde]

To be frank, saying China's football performance is too bad ignored the fact that they did qualify for one World Cup, which was in 2002. Sure, they were helped by Japan and South Korea hosting, but the Chinese still managed to overcome Bahrain, UAE, Qatar, Uzbekistan, Kuwait, Jordan, Oman and Iraq, both were/are no easy to play against. Doubt that Southeast Asian teams could have played like this against these teams. The sad truth of Southeast Asian football, though, is many things combined: 1. They have an extremely ineffective system of talent recruitment. People love football, but they do not have the right system due to corruption and mismanagement. Thailand came closest in building a correct system, but still miles behind even China, and that's despite China is currently pathetic. 2. Some countries have their football politicised. Myanmar is such an example, where people are fanatic football lovers, but the system is deeply corrupt due to the influence of the Tatmadaw regime (which is why they have a civil conflict). 3. Some nations are deeply xenophobic and afraid of using naturalised players or even their own diasporic ones due to "pure blood matter". Vietnam represents this example when the country has been against using naturalised players for years. This made sense for some way but it could prove destructive in the future. 4. Economically, most of them are not rich, and those with rich economies... well, aren't football mad. Singapore and Brunei are such example, rich but disinterested in football.

[@lontongstroong]

Malaysia is as rich as Balkan countries and has population that are passionate about football yet still got beaten regularly by countries much-much poorer than theirs.

[@sr3821]

Singapore love football, but what can you expect from a city state with 4 million population?

[@ketsura3618]

​@@sr3821 You know that Uruguay has 3.423 million right

[@marukoamv2424]

@@sr3821u said that, but what about Iceland who qualified to 2018 world cup

[@vin9649]

I think other races are just quite stronger than ASEANS Aseans are small

[@cero.tolerancia]

There is a lack of football culture. More people do not equate to more talent. Football is considered merely a pastime in many Southeast Asian countries, unlike for example Brazil where it is seen as an opportunity to change livelihoods and escape poverty and the favelas. Your attitude towards the game is different that way. Live to eat or eat to live is what I would like to equate this to. Mismanagement and corruption are not exclusive to Southeast Asia; if anything, they are worse in a handful of countries in Africa and Latin America. However, many of these countries can still remain competitive.

[@luishernandezblonde]

Southern Africa may have been the closest equivalent to Southeast Asia. These countries are simply not competitive except a handful of nations, and that included South Africa and Angola, despite far more favourable climate. Latin America, on the other hand, is too broad when you have Mexico to Argentina, yet the majority of them are football fanatics. It's still easier to name a Mexican football talent than any good Southeast Asian example, explain much.

[@rafiy7150]

futsal is popular in south east asia, Thaialnd, Indonesia, and Vietnam are one of the best in Asia

[@SandyFukaha-it5iz]

We Indonesian dont have Brazillian mentality,going to europe to get more money then marrying supermodel, everytime party,or even to participate in World Cup because means you will eat food which completely different,language barrier,culture barrier,you dont do this dont do that 😅 were never ready for that kind sacrifice 😂

[@jmgonzales7701]

@@SandyFukaha-it5iz we cant marry a super model we are southeasian, at least for men. our women don't have that problem.

[@jmgonzales7701]

@@rafiy7150 why is that? maybe 7 a side would work.

[@giodhuha6771]

Let's just hope Indonesia can go further this time.

[@porferiokabisig1322]

they will not. They will have a meltdown because they are south east asians

[@CuginosPizza]

Indonesian here. You hit the nails with the politicization of both FIFA and each country's FA. From Indonesia alone, there's at least one or two generations whose talents were robbed and ignored because of instability, corruption, and gross incompetence by Indonesian FA (PSSI). On the brighter side, it seems the last few years it has much improved, with the head of PSSI being someone with actual experience (owner of Oxford United, DC United, and former chair of Inter Milan) instead of mostly political appointee. Compare the record and tape of Indonesian NT from 3 years ago with now, it's night and day. There is one thing that was not mentioned in the video, but I believe contribute highly to the underachievement of Indonesian NT. This may have changed in the past few years, but for the most part, the football culture in Indonesia is more of watchers, not players. We love football, grow up loving to watch and play football, but once we become parents we don't choose to invest much in football for our children. What that means is that parents would rather spend their extra resource (time and money) on the education, extra tutoring, courses, etc for their children rather than buying them proper football kits and building/maintaining the local pitch. Education and schooling have been the proven way to lift ourselves out of poverty after centuries of colonization, while playing football is fun and nice and all it most likely won't help pay the bills. This is a culture issue not just for Indonesia but for many other Asian countries. To address this, it will take more than just PSSI to invest in infrastructure so those barriers to playing football are reduced. We also need our whole education system to be better for not just those who can afford it, but for everyone so parents don't feel obligated to spend significant portion of their income for private tutoring.

[@m1r__]

Malaysian here, we have it way worse. Congrats on the recent progress neighbors 🤝

[@Gary-vv5gt]

Heck you made it pretty far for the 3rd round world cup qualifiers. For SEA to do that is pretty good.

[@sawagaaz]

Your suggestion that FIFA should open a spot for one SEA/AFF team does not address the root issue which is lack of funding, incompetent and corrupt FAs, improper football development, lack of good infrastructures, etc. That suggestion is not a cure, but rather a painkiller. It doesn't heal you, it just make you temporarily feel less hurt.

[@dasgerbil5189]

+ non athletic genetic pool. Generally, we in SEA are just short, lower ratio body muscle mass, slower pace. An arabian import player could send our most of SEA pro player flying by a body check/collision.

[@kudajingkrak4919]

the AFF is also corrupt intstitutions. it's nothing but cash cows for big betting companies based in Singpore and Malaysia.. They don't care about football. they only care about money. AFF was formed meant to improve SE Asian fottbal, but turn out to be money makers for betting mafias... If AFF create healthy football competitions in SE Asia. i believe SE Asian football will imporve a lot. Not to mention that Kids in SE Asia are told to study hard. Not to play football. because Sports in general are not a good career. can't make you rich.

[@chrisguardiano6143]

Now when it comes to the Women's World Cup, Southeast Asia has had better luck getting nations to qualify for that tournament especially since 2015 when the tournament was expanded to 24 teams & then in 2023 to 32. Thailand qualified for the 2015 (where they beat Ivory Coast 3-2) & 2019 tournaments & both the Philippines & Vietnam qualified in 2023 with the Philippines beating hosts New Zealand 1-0 in a shock upset. With the Philippines at least, their chances of making future Women's World Cups are increased significantly by the fact that they are starting to recruit Filipino Americans from the college game in the US to play for the national team & investing in quality coaching.

[@jmgonzales7701]

philippines used half breeds it should not count

[@dcapitan7]

They're just not good enough. If the WC qualifying criteria were just national team fan support, Malaysia and Indonesia would qualify for every WC. However, the talent on those teams just isn't WC caliber. Vietnam and Thailand have also shown potential at times but then regressed. I would have the AFC absorb the OFC and then start an "AOFC" Nations League. It would have two halves: an eastern half comprising of teams from East Asia, Southeast Asia, and Oceania and a western half composing of teams from Central Asia, South Asia and Western Asia. Southeast Asian teams would have more competitive matches against teams from outside their region. EDIT: I've just watched your video and I respectfully disagree with your argument. We want the 8-9 best teams in the AFC making it to the WC. That typically does not mean teams in Southeast Asia. However, I believe Uzbekistan will be the first Central Asian team to feature in a WC in 2026. They're good enough to qualify.

[@JakeStevyson]

Or You might called it Asian Pacific Football Conferation.

[@sawagaaz]

I like that idea too but the drawback to that suggestion is that the Asian Pacific confederation will be much weaker than the Western one. Almost all of the Oceanian (and some SEA) teams are really bad. Compare that to the western confederation that has more competitive teams. The really weak teams there would just be most of the South Asian ones. The lack of competitiveness is not ideal for teams like Japan, South Korea, and Australia.

[@rafiy7150]

New Zealand wouldnt like it lol, they have one spot already at the world cup

[@suasagala8025]

I would like this for most OFC countries as we hardly ever play teams outside of the region. It's only NZ that dominate and the rest of us that play for second. So for us it will help a lot and we'll see how we compare to ASEAN teams. I'm just not sure what benefit ASEAN teams would get. Maybe having more teams they can beat? If we came with our direct qualification then maybe that would help but I can't see any ASEAN team taking that off NZ.

[@dcapitan7]

Let's run a hypothetical League A for the "AOFC" or "APFC" Nations League. Based solely on July 2024 FIFA rankings, it could appear this way... East Group A: Japan, China, New Zealand, Vietnam Group B: South Korea, Australia, Thailand, North Korea West Group A: Iran, Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan, Oman Group B: Qatar, Iraq, Jordan, UAE The West would overall be stronger than the East, but there isn't a massive gap between the two sets of groups. North Korea is much better than its 110 ranking, and I believe New Zealand is a Top 50 team in disguise. As for the two Southeast Asian teams in the groups, they would be facing much tougher competition than they face in ASEAN Championships. Over time, this would only serve to improve their level of play.

[@howgoodistravel]

I think this video has the wrong angle. The basis of the video should be more like "The FIFA confederations suck", because an expansion of the tournament doesn't mean improving access to specific regions, that requires an overhaul of the confederations which is a separate issue. I've actually done this, based on the international windows leading up to the 2018 World Cup, looking at what an East Asia Pacific confederation and West Asia confederation would look like. Recently I've started to wonder if the "West Asia" element should include the Arabic countries of North Africa.

[@jmgonzales7701]

we should not even call arabic countries as asian

[@dartboard2646]

🇻🇳 and 🇵🇭 Womens Team reached Womens World Cup 2023. I mean, that should count for something right?

[@miggymiggy1553]

I think you're not a Football, you try to compare Women's Football!!! Most of the #Filipinos would rather care to qualify at the "Basketball World Cup" by FIBA. #FIFA & #FIBA are the 2 difference of each sports as confederations...

[@dartboard2646]

@@miggymiggy1553 I didn't mention basketball at all though. The video says Southeast asia doesn't rach the FIFA world cup, but Vietnam and Philippines (both SEA Countries) reach FIFA though womens World, still football. I didn't mention FIBA or Basketball on my comment

[@luishernandezblonde]

Women's football has very little expectation to follow though fan support is increasing.

[@rin99o]

Women football is not serious, nobody want to watch it on TV. do they even have a league in viet or phill?

[@clippygoat]

No one takes women's football seriously, unless you want to see Lehmann's ass 💀

[@kuderia]

As a Malatsian, I want to thank you very, very much for your brilliant commentary on the state of South East Asian football scene.

[@tkcom]

SEA teams are loading up the team with foreign dual-nationality players in order to stay competitive. 2 things I'd blame for low-quality local players: academies and nutrition. Have you seen what rural Thai kids have for lunch?

[@kudajingkrak4919]

Football and sports in general don't make good career in SE Asia. it can't make you rich.. that's why parent are hesitate to send their kids to sports. they prefer study. Doesnt' matter if they have enough nutritions or good academy. if it don't have good future for their kids, parents won't let them kids play sports. Singapore is already rich. kids consume enough nutritions. but the not competitive in any sports, because the reason i mentiond above.

[@intheoceanofknowledge]

Indonesia didn't provide the dual-nationality card. It's the Indonesia FA that invited the "Player" or per request, then after some verification that they're indeed having "Indonesian-blood", soon the Indonesia FA & Indonesia Goverment will work with them to get ID as Citizenship of Indonesia so they can play with Indonesia NT. If they don't have the blood, or never spent years in our land (Indonesia) then Indonesia will not process them.

[@jmgonzales7701]

have you seen what africans eat? im sorry this resources excuse is BS. North Korea literally qualified twice and that is more that southeast Asia. The reason is plain and simple we don't have the genetics for it.

[@franohmsford7548]

Excuse me but why the heck should Japan, South Korea or Iran have to miss out so that a weaker team from Thailand, Indonesia or Singapore can go? That's a ludicrous request! South America has only 10 member nations in Conmebol but the reason they have 4,5 or even possibly 6 now slots is because it would make no sense for Brazil to miss out so that the USA can go if the USA can't progress through Concacaf's qualifiers. If the USA can't beat Mexico or Costa Rica or Panama then why should they take a slot away from a team in South America that would easily qualify pretty much every time were they to be in North America. Take Venezuela for instance - They've never qualified for a World Cup because they're in Conmebol, even with Conmebol's excessive number of slots compared to member nations!

[@luishernandezblonde]

Venezuela loves baseball more than football, which made them the oddball of South America. It's only recently with the emergence of football talents that Venezuelans became more interested.

[@wenderis]

well with that logic, lets just make it a bloated Euro v Copa America. In every WC since a few decades, there will always be a weaker team on paper that qualified despite or because of stronger team stay home. AFC is just too big, Asia is hugee.

[@franohmsford7548]

@@wenderis There are 46 teams in AFC Qualification for the 26 World Cup, There are 55 teams in UEFA! Asia may be huge geographically but a whole lot of that is taken up by China and India! Indonesia, Pakistan and Iran are also big countries. The current Asian Qualifiers, the likes of Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia and Australia probably wouldn't qualify every time if they had to qualify through UEFA but give UEFA an extra four slots and all four of those teams would have a good chance. The problem with UEFA qualifying is very clearly that so few teams from Europe can actually get to the World Cup so at least a couple of teams who should be there won't! AFCON has a similar problem with a lack of enough slots. But I don't see that in Asian Qualifying as there's really not that many teams in the AFC who are good enough to be at a World Cup. Same with Concacaf where really you only have a big three...The USA, Mexico, and Costa Rica. Canada have upset that big three recently but let's give it a few years before we decide to make it a big four and make sure this isn't a flash in the pan from Canada. - I'll tell you what, Let Israel, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan into AFC Qualification and you can have another two slots.

[@franohmsford7548]

@@luishernandezblonde It's still harsh that Bolivia's qualified for a World Cup {1994} and Venezuela hasn't. But the big problem with Conmebol is that there's only 9 teams squabbling over 4 places {sometimes 5, maybe 6 now}. If it was 16 teams squabbling over 7 places there'd be more chance for the likes of a Venezuela to get in to one of those 7 places. But the fact is that Conmebol is overrepresented at every World Cup with just those 4 {or 5} places. Because Europe, Africa and Asia have around 50 teams each trying to qualify. - Even if you added Concacaf {32} and Conmebol {9} together you'd still have less teams trying to qualify than the AFC {46} and significantly less than UEFA {55} or AFCON {53}. - Conmebol will have at least 6 teams at the 2026 World Cup; they also have a play-off spot so a good possibility that it will be 7 South American nations there out of the 9! - Concacaf has three nations hosting the tournament who get in no matter what and another 3 slots so why not just merge Concacaf and Conmebol qualifying and give them the 9-12 slots. If the likes of Mexico, Costa Rica or the USA can't qualify against the likes of Peru, Bolivia and Venezuela then they don't deserve to qualify!

[@wenderis]

@@franohmsford7548 fair comment. Not only geographically, but population obviously. If its only about competitiveness and spectacle, I agree just make it between Europe (+North Africa) v South America. It would be fascinating. The rest of the world just can enjoy this and we probably will. But don't call it the world cup. This is not baseball.

[@motorpolitan8884]

Problem is I imagine is the same for many developing countries. We all played football as kids but once we reach 14 we pretty much just focus on school and beyond. There are no academies, there is no system to develop young talent beyond 12 years old. Another reason is that scouts are more focused on South America and Africa. SEA has never produced a world class player, so we can't blame them. Thr only good players I can name from Asia are all from South Korea and Japan. It's not about economic development alone as many SEA countries are more developed than Cote d'ivoire, Cameroon (no offense, it's a fact), yet struggles to produce talent.

[@prodbymask.]

not too mention sometimes nepotism and money is the requirement to become a pro.

[@someperson3883]

Australia are the most southern and of the most eastern members of the AFC. Australia have qualified for ever World Cup since becoming AFC members and won the 2015 Asian Cup

[@ponrebirth]

Geographically speaking, Australia are in Oceania and the fact that they're in the ASEAN Football Confederation is absurd.

[@tdubmusketeer]

@@ponrebirthOFC is so bad, the socceroos wanted better competition and more money to grow their program

[@RockinFootball_23]

@@tdubmusketeer Especially when you think back to that world record setting score line of 31-0 when they played against american somoa. That shouldn't be happening. The rest of OFC were clearly not on their level (i'm ignoring NZ).

[@87CoronaFender]

@@ponrebirthAustralia is a large country, with over 50% of it closer to SE Asia then South Pacific Oceania.

[@robbiebalboa]

@@tdubmusketeerexactly it was a win win. By 2002 our governing body wasn’t making money to the point they could pay their players flights to travel from Europe to play these Oceania sides. Had to field players from a struggling NSL at the time.

[@TheLIMREPORT]

Good video bro - this could have been another chance for a collab lol. I was born in Malaysia and even though I’ve lived in New Zealand longer, I’m still essentially Malaysian at heart - watching Malaysia at this year’s AFC Asian Cup and the first part of WC 2026 qualifiers was so much fun (apart from the thrashing by eventual finalists Jordan). I know the Malaysian football scene pretty well - it’s a long story but you can sum it up like this - Lots of talent, no development, too much corruption at the top. Malaysians love football far more than even badminton which is their most successful Olympic sport - but the English Premier League gets 1000x more coverage than the local leagues. 1 in 10 have intimate knowledge of who plays in their Malaysian domestic league. Southeast Asia is really the sleeping giant that needs to be woken up. It could be a mini UEFA if done right. The money, population and talent is there. It just needs to be unlocked the right way. In Malaysia, JDT FC is the way to go. But it’s like a modern city amidst a slum.

[@markmelo2779]

I've been thinking recently, with the oil countries sucking up all the air in AFC, should the ASEAN countries (and perhaps East Asia and Australia) join and strengthen OFC?

[@MrBlazemaster525]

LOLno - I can tell you that'd be a bad idea because they're not giving OFC more than 2 slots in the WC and with NZ already ring-fencing 1 slot....

[@FrozenDrone12]

​@@MrBlazemaster525if I recalled well, Oceania is the weakest region in FIFA rate not only their overall countries rank in the table but also their performance on world stage, not surprising, beside they don't have a much talent resources they mostly a rugby centric countries

[@porferiokabisig1322]

@@MrBlazemaster525 New Zealand will say thank you and join the AFC while the top OFC/AFF team will still have to battle Uruguay to go to the world cup. Lots of travelling and no world cup qualification for our sucky region.

[@danieljames9322]

Maybe. Those countries just arent good enough. Maybe there needs to be a FIFA Nations League so like teams play like teams and pro/rel.

[@BBallRambling]

This is the sort of sports talk I want more of. Nobody in America probably even realizes this is an issue! Thank you.

[@FrozenDrone12]

As Indonesian i will Never recognize that 1938 World Cup qualified no matter what, because that was happened when our country wasn't even existed yet and still under colony status No, me myself only recognize that we just qualified to Olympic in 1956 and never qualified to World Cup yet Dutch East Indies =/= Indonesia

[@slayer8790]

Good, keep your opinion to yourself lol.

[@FrozenDrone12]

@@slayer8790 okay

[@gilangh1780]

well FIFA says otherwise so

[@FrozenDrone12]

@@gilangh1780 don't care much and not so make a proud, better if we can Qualified to WC someday under the name of Indonesia then Dutch Indies

[@ongkialexander792]

FIFA:Indonesia is the first Asian country to take part in the World Cup.....!!! 

[@diomuda7903]

You forget that the only Southeast Asian nation to have been truly competitive in World Cup... is Australia. Yes, *Australia* , I do not lie. Australia, a country in the Oceanian region with nothing to do to ASEAN, but is part of the Southeast Asian football sphere because the geography and football reasons, has played in six FIFA World Cup, including five in-a-row since 2006, and twice advanced past the group stages and put up strong performances against the likes of Chile, France, Serbia, Ghana, Italy, Argentina, Croatia and Brazil. Despite football is just the fourth or fifth most popular sport in Down Under. Instead of taking the advantage from Australia's ascension to the AFF, Southeast Asian countries decided to exclude Australia from playing in the senior AFF Championship in a secret ban, despite AFF Cup being a miniature regional tournament, even though Australia has long expressed desire to help Southeast Asian football considering it is the only AFF nation capable at playing in World Cup. This mindset showed just how bad Southeast Asian football is.

[@hientrinhle6160]

But we never be proud of your WC qualified because you never attend our AFF cup. We don't need to be shared your honor. Tks

[@FrozenDrone12]

Australia is never be a part of SEA 100% they just a stray white people and whatever the reason they get Into AFF

[@diomuda7903]

@@hientrinhle6160 I am not Australian. I am Vietnamese and I am telling the truth. ASEAN banned them, not the other way around.

[@hientrinhle6160]

@@diomuda7903 ok tôi cho là Úc bị cấm tham gia nhưng cũng không có ai ở ĐNA nào nhận vơ tự hào mỗi khi Úc thành công . Đơn giản bạn hãy hiểu là ĐNA chấp nhận úc đăng ký vào là làm theo.ý muốn của liên đoàn AFC. Có lẽ khi nào Úc được xuất hiện tại Aff cup thì ĐNA sẽ chúc mừng thành tích WC của Úc.

[@diomuda7903]

@@hientrinhle6160 Cái suy nghĩ đấy đủ giải thích sao Đông Nam Á yếu kém. Nên nhớ rằng chính Nhật Bản và Hàn Quốc ủng hộ Úc vào châu Á và Đông Nam Á. Nếu nói như vậy, sao ko đổ lỗi Nhật Bản và Hàn Quốc?

[@NoLuckJKMY807]

Well, the reason why the SEA countries never qualify for the FIFA World Cup is because the SEA countries don't have the money to invest in football, coupled with the fact that many Southeast Asian teams generally rely on their players in the local leagues (which is only comparable to the National League in the English football pyramid) in their national football team. I mean seriously, as a Malaysian, despite I'm glad to see they are improving significantly and climbing the ranks since 2022, they are still held back from improving further thanks to the fact that those players of Malaysian diaspora were "forced" to play in the local leagues unlike Indonesia. Furthermore, Malaysia was struck by the fact that the magnificent Kim Pan-gon had stepped down as the coach recently (Yes, I'm doubtful that Pau Marti Vicente can continue to help Malaysia to improve despite being Spanish-based for many years).

[@AJayZy]

Very proud to read an articulate comment from a fellow 🇲🇾-sian

[@jmgonzales7701]

not just money man but genetics as well

[@NoLuckJKMY807]

​@@AJayZy Sorry for the late reply, but you are welcome, my countryman!

[@fishyfish6510]

Only an American will complain about "representation" 😂. This is the World Cup not a Netflix series pal. You're either good enough to play or you're not. The real issue that needs to be talked about is the why that they're not good enough

[@gekkogipsy519]

Here in the Philippines people care more about basketball than any other sport. Everywhere I go there's always basketball equipments and merches of NBA players. It's just so fucking sad because I'm one of the only football fans in there.

[@johelectrix7927]

same po

[@GeorgeAceAlmerato]

The truth is that the majority of Filipinos don't like football because they find it boring. Thats why it is rare to see football fields unlike basketball where every barangay has, sometimes 2-3 courts. Also basketball is easier to play than football

[@robertotampioc7318]

@@GeorgeAceAlmerato and also more achievements…

[@GeorgeAceAlmerato]

@@gekkogipsy519 It is also rare to see Filipinos playing football; yes there are some but only few.

[@nakata18]

As a Malaysian, I agree with your assessment. And like the commenter above from Indonesia, I don't want to see my country play in the World Cup if they're not good enough to represent Asia. For the time being, I'll support them when it comes to regional tournaments

[@nuraisya1391]

Jika kamu lolos piala dunia itu artinya kamu kuat, apa kamu fikir lolos piala dunia di rounde 3 ini lawan nya timur Leste, di situ ada jepang, jika kamu bisah lolos itu artinya kita tidak lemah😕

[@guyfaux3978]

You would think Singapore, rich city state that it is, would have a bunch of "ringers" the same way Gulf States do in cricket.

[@MrBlazemaster525]

They're too proud of their origins to do it - at least the Chinese section of their community

[@wangsengsin2527]

To play for Singapore you need citizenship, and since we don’t allow dual citizenship, you have to give up your original citizenship to apply, and most footballers don’t want to do that

[@sawagaaz]

Singapore used to have a bunch of foreigners play in their team back in the 2000s and the early 2010s. Note that these players played in the Singaporean league for a few years before they were naturalized. Per FIFA rules, player naturalization is allowed if the player were born in that country, have parents or grandparents from that country, or if the player has stayed in the country for at least five years. Of course, the naturalization has to comply with the target country's rules. One can't randomly naturalize any players they like. Timor-Leste tried that during the 2018 World Cup qualifying by naturalizing a bunch of Brazilians and had all their results annulled.

[@lontongstroong]

@@sawagaaz And the biggest elephant in the room for football development in Singapore - super rigid mandatory conscription.

[@jmgonzales7701]

singaporeans focus on studies more than sports

[@tarik6990]

They just aren't good at football, period. They are very passionate about it but they just aren't good.

[@minhaj9802]

Exactly, the answer is lack of talent.

[@MrTuttiFrutti]

​​@@minhaj9802lack of talent is due to lack of investment and development. Grassroots development is the recipe for discovering talent and making it flourish.

[@Edgar_Ramirez471]

Cause indonesians are dark short people

[@dachosenone207]

As a SEAtizen. I agree, Kids here are not blessed with opportunities to atleast play football. No available fields, No available trainers, No marketing.

[@minhaj9802]

@@dachosenone207 Not really, many poor countries in Africa would destroy the richer SEA countries. Yes economics and opportunities play a part but talent is the key here

[@kimdongdot2471]

Indonesia will qualify from round 4..i saw how they played, they have chance to go through to 4th round..they are lucky having 2million Indonesia descents living in the Netherlands..otherwise, it would be impossible to get qualified to the world cup for any SEA teams.

[@travelog3137]

As one who regularly is in Asia for afc afcl etc, the answer is simple more games equals more sponsoring and more Money Despite some matches ups who are very well received in attendance and other factors most games are not these games lose the federation money to compensate for this sponsoring massively needed and to perfect it more games The answer in short more games mean more sponsoring slots means more money

[@Pangandaran]

well, if SEA get at least 1 direct spot on the WC, i can assure you that most of the times it will be Australia joining the WC thru SEA spot since Australia is in the SEA Federation (AFF) as well

[@thetouchback]

Australia is only in the AFF because they don't want to spend money on sending their men's and women's youth teams to other parts of the continent. The Kangaroos have played in a grand total of zero ASEAN Championships since joining and the national team has no presence regionally. Besides, if they wanted an easy World Cup berth, they would go back to Oceania, and it's now guaranteed bid.

[@Pangandaran]

​@@thetouchbackthe OZ's U16 just won the AFF U16 cup last month and their U19 today started their journey in the U19s. so maybe the senior team will also joined the next edition of the AFF cup, to test their "B" team since the AFF Cups always not being held on a FIFA matchday calendar

[@diomuda7903]

@@thetouchback You forgot that it was ASEAN that forbade Australia from playing. Australia could not play because a stipulation in 2013 (the year Australia joined AFF) ban Australia from ever playing unless one of the ASEAN country can qualify for the World Cup, which is certainly a huge mistake. Australia wanted to play, but ASEAN nations banned them.

[@AriseDragon]

@@Pangandaran halo from future tournament AFF U19 Australia get rank 3 bro

[@sanexpreso2944]

I would like to see more representation of Southeast Asia in world football, always when we talk about football in Asia, Korea and Japan stand out, and the countries of the Middle East, considering how popular football is in countries like Thailand, Indonesia or Viet Nam I think they are underrepresented

[@agentg11]

Filipino here. The women's are the pride currently of the Philippines in terms of football but I hope the men's will catch up

[@annas.1986]

Yes, that USA women third reserve team.

[@agentg11]

@@annas.1986 ok Dutch East Indies

[@jmgonzales7701]

@@agentg11 he or she is right thou..

[@agentg11]

@@jmgonzales7701 but what if other Caribbean countries its fine? Jamaica?

[@qilimercurial5116]

Women tournament are easy.

[@dyo510]

Tuh dengar tuh para Local Pride, check tuh menit 00.50 - 01.10!. Sepak bola Asia tengggara memang sama sekali ga diperhitungkan di level dunia. Dianya masih bicara Asia tenggara lho, ada Thailand yg sebenarnya cukup mengharumkan Asia Tenggara selama ini tapi itupun ga dianggap, apalagi Indonesia sebelum Coach Shin ama pemain2 diasporanya. Eh Malah bersikeras seakan memang di masa lalu kita "Macan Asia"...Macan asia dimana, kalau memang benar iya seharusnya dari dulu kita da juara Piala Asia berkali2, masuk Piala Dunia berkali2 tapi kenyataany?..makanya sekarang dukung coach Shin, times Sekarang ama federasi bersama pemerintah juga dah berjuang bersama2 tuk bikin sejarah di dunia sepak bola. Yakin gw kita bisa lolos ke piala dunia, bukan saja lolos tapi benar2 bakal memberikan tantangan ke tim2 kelas dunia di Piala Dunia!

[@DrHydroxide]

It would be interesting if the world cup qualifiers were broken down to the 5 subdivisions of the AFC. With 8.5 spots available, let's say you give 1 for each of the EAFF, WAFF, SAFF, CAFA, and AFF and then pan-Asian final round for the last 3.5.

[@mrmakhno3030]

Just look at Transfermakt record, you will see why. They do have talented player like Chanathip and Quang Hai but their level is still very low to reach to World Cup. I mean Thailand recently lost against China lmao. Vietnamese football is at very bad mood recently too, they were kicked out of World Cup Asian qualifier.

[@raymondleonardsetiabudhi2285]

as a real football fans and come from indonesia, yes, i want to see my national football team play in WC, but not due to FIFA create a specific SEA region to qualify, we want the best team that play in FIFA world cup, it should be stay with the best 32 countries, no need to create a special region like SEA, or central asia to accomodate countries for these region to play in WC

[@freedomkilledbysociety6509]

Yeah that's fair, I mean its better to be like "asian" than "southeast Asia" regionally indeed we're in southeast Asia but like "ASIA" Is good enough, you know what I mean??😂

[@hanggaraaryagunarencagutuh7072]

@@freedomkilledbysociety6509 As an Indonesian, I don't consider myself an Asian at all. I'm just an Indo-Pacificer.

[@xoxooxxo3835]

​​@@hanggaraaryagunarencagutuh7072bruh what ? the only pacific islander in Indonesia are the Papuans. Pacific Islander tend to have big body just look at them in rugby union or league. also with your logic that would fit into the West narrative that Asians are just Japanese,Koreans and Chinese lol.

[@hanggaraaryagunarencagutuh7072]

@@xoxooxxo3835 You're misreading some of my words, which is written as "Indo-Pacific", not "Pacific".

[@ThatDruidDude]

Setuju, pemikirannya agak lain abang di video ini. Tapi saya senang banget Australia masuk ke AFF, regional makin terpacu untuk berkembang lebih cepat.

[@shinsaber2109]

Grass root problem. ASEAN countries do not have resources to train young talents and provide them a domestic competitive environment to grow like Japan or Korea.

[@porferiokabisig1322]

That is one of them.

[@jmgonzales7701]

no, its just lack of talent. Alot of African countries are more corrupt and less resources yet they would crush southeast Asia even rich like Singapore and brunei.... We just don't have the genetics for it.

[@vvverne]

​@@jmgonzales7701Why would Southeast Asians not have the genetics with football? If anything football is probably one of the least genetically-reliant sport out there, it's all about skill and coordination.

[@NahMyTurn]

Myanmar(Burma) could've qualified in their golden era. But they didn't even join the competition during that time unfortunately.

[@porferiokabisig1322]

Then it was not a golden era!😆

[@NahMyTurn]

@@porferiokabisig1322 wdym?

@@porferiokabisig1322 what the definition of your gold era then?

[@jamchavez3330]

To bad for Philippines football is probably only the 5th most popular sports

[@jamchavez3330]

@Hadc577 yeah i know.

[@fadjarharie]

It's okay, personally i'm not offended. Our FA while trying to improve their football, they still hardly remove most of corrupted member. And they still had their strong influence even not being a top member. As you said it's full of politic stuff.

[@tpsam]

As a person that grew up playing in Europe Italy near Monaco France that Cote Azure area but it's also Thai and living in Thailand now Money and climate and culture Thai best athletes go into muay Thai Unlike Europe there's no route to grind and be a millionaire just by playing and being a phenomenal player in Thailand even the competition nearby isn't on par There is not enough infrastructure Children are too busy with school even if the infrastructure is there And most of the time it's too hot to be playing outside all day long and beyond the sunlight part of the day like people do in Europe

[@FansArhanGalery]

Thanks for the explanation 😊

[@robbiebalboa]

Your variety of sport content is second to none.

[@FozzQuaker]

I remember meeting him in 1996 during a meet at Gateshead. Although he wasnt from the North East of England, he was adopted as one of our own and still calls Newcastle home. I wasnt, nor have I been a big Athletics fan, and I wasn't particularly good at Athletics in school, but I wasn't bad at the Triple Jump as I loved watching Jonathan Edwards, and hoped I could emulate him, which mevee happened

[@teguharifandi3489]

Well put, well researched

[@elineroebersfan]

I think the reason is simply because Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, and Iran r just so dominant in Asia and those 4 teams alone r usually enough to fill the Asian slots for the WC

[@ameEeeee3]

as southeast asian, from malaysia. most asean countries are successful at badminton and hockey than football

[@Albetroz1415]

India, Pakistan are the successful teams in Hockey in Asia with multiple Olympic medals, never seen Southeast Asian teams.

[@ameEeeee3]

@@Albetroz1415 malaysia are successful in hockey while philippine succesful in boxing and basketball

[@-M--MuhammadAryaAvrionza]

​@@ameEeeee3 kalo success di badminton sama hockey mana pingat emasmu? Mana gold olympic mu? 😂😂🤣🤣🤣

[@ameEeeee3]

@@-M--MuhammadAryaAvrionza populirasi mewakali olympik di negara saya kurang dari kamu dan lain so

[@ameEeeee3]

@@-M--MuhammadAryaAvrionza apa warna fifa puskas mu?

[@ewokmoses5909]

Great video. Pls also do the same why India n China also can’t enter WC with about 1/5 of world population. Cheers

[@burningphoneix]

The reason the AFC Qualifying has so many stages is because it doubles as AFC Asian Cup and AFC Cup qualifying. Also, your solution neglects sending a team to the intercontinental playoffs

[@BALHAM69]

Nice explanation.😅 One day we could see india and a few others such as Bangladesh along with Sri Lanka joint host a World Cup.😮

[@stefamarz]

for crickets🤪

[@chicagobuildingnerd1833]

I like your idea of six groups. However I would limit them to six teams and have the lowest ranked teams play in a preliminary playoff beforehand so it is at an even number. Also would limit the next round advancement to only the second place teams as I feel odd numbered groups are less complicated than ranking third place teams. Don’t like your idea of giving ASEAN a guaranteed spot as all of the AFC should have a chance of qualifying. Plus you should watch the AFF Cup if you want to watch ASEAN national teams play against each other in a highly competitive competition. Also the reason why the Asian qualifiers is so weird is because it is a combined World Cup/Asian Cup qualifying tournament. I suggest move the Asian Cup from one year after the World Cup to the same year as the Copa America and Euros so the qualifiers for the two tournaments can be separate. As for hosting FIFA messed up the rotation so only the OFC and CONCACAF would be eligible under existing rules. The OFC cannot host the tournament by itself and CONCACAF would just be a repeat of 2026. I suggest amend the rules give ASEAN 2038 as they have a proven hosting record. You can argue it doesn’t make sense as it is back to back Asia but it is different enough from Saudi Arabia that it feels like somewhere new plus FIFA held back to back World Cups in Europe twice and no one complained then.

[@govb123]

Even though football is by far the most popular sport in Thailand. The game we actually play commonly is futsal which we've done quite well in the sport. Football infrastructure for grassroot level is so bad we cannot pass the ball because the uneven pitch. Our small physique is a big disadvantage and our skill is also not as good as the others. It's ok that we don't get the ASEAN quota because we'll only embarrass ourselves.

[@kevincika]

I definitely agree with your take on South East Asia. It needs more representation as a region, despite the additional spots AFC got. However, some countries prioritise other sports than football. Like India for example

[@agent4758]

India lives in a delusional world. The most popular sports in india is cricket which is barely played in 8-10 countries and also requires less fitness than any other sports. Even fat people can playing cricket at international level. And they invest billions of dollars into this sport. Imagine where will be them in football, if they invest that money in football, given the population and talent pool they got.

[@harrisiskandar8356]

Not enough funding. Football association Malaysia image 😂

[@AJayZy]

Even if they got enough funding they are corrupted and incompetent. Another Malaysian

[@chayap7984]

i will answer the question as Thai 1. the football organization of Thailand faced corruption all the time, they rarely supported our player with moderate budget. Luckily, some football clubs are doing with their heart and support by own budget to develop players . 2. there is a priority system. even a player who play not well. he got an opportunity to play for national team over a better player because his dad is powerful In 2023, finally Thailand got the woman who give us a light and hope again

[@joso7228]

Comically complicated Qualifiers 3:03 - 'which are very biased towards the countries with a more developed soccer set-up' You are literally answering your own question - the countries with a more developed soccer set-up

[@SteppeNomad585]

This is so true. I don’t think it’s just politics or economic reasons. Let’s be honest, it simply the lack of size, speed and strength of Southeast Asian players.

[@zanztronix]

filipinos has alot of speed and strength tbh its just the lack of passion to the game

[@meanieblue]

Football also not popular in Australia, it's below footies and cricket, but they always managed to send their team in each WC. A national team with its most players play in big european leagues is the main factor whether they're worth or not to compete in WC. Southeast asia nations are heavily relying on players with the skill and capacity on the local league's level so no chance even in 100 years if they're still doing the same

[@theavgeekguys]

i don't agree, South East Asian Countries had qualified for Futsal World Cup , Women's World Cup and the U-17, U-19, U-20 Women's and U-19,U-20 Men's World Cup

[@goutamsaha8136]

what about the actual fifa world cup and not just the youth tournaments?

[@theavgeekguys]

@@goutamsaha8136 Phillippines,Vietnam And Thailand had qualified for the FIFA Women's World Cup 2015, 2019 and 2023 , so any question.

[@spoliarium_12134]

We also root for our national team here in Philippines, they just lack of support from the government. Many people here is hyping too if Philippines can qualify in Fifa World cup

[@mrconfusion87]

And unlike the rest of ASEAN countries where football is the undisputed #1 sport, it is at best only 4th place in the Philippines!

[@zanztronix]

Philippines here, The problem of us is were focusing on basketball and other sports, but in basketball we lack in height. we have so much potential in football we have the height, the speed and we have good calfs. We only had one filipino legend in football history, only one! And also we almost qualified for the world cup in 2018 so yeah.

[@doughmeal4573]

I know that football in Southeast Asia is always underestimated, in fact all of Asia think considers itself the "eZ winner, if it meets Southeast Asia , but the ball is round, everything can rotate, i hope

[@jonpaul3868]

Short story: "amateurism" .. for the league, football association, and the athletes.

[@johanntan86]

Tactically and technically subpar players all round. Its gonna take a build up from ground which will take a generation. Soccer academies and a competitive league is going to be needed.

[@peruano-quichwa---aymara8611]

An old story from the Franco-Thai War of 1940-41 may help explaining a lot about Southeast Asian mindset. When France surrendered to Germany and Japan in 1940, the Thais realised it would be their time and they quickly launched multiple surprise attacks against French troops in Indochina, resulted in capturing a sizeable part of the territory. But as the Thais gained initial successes, they became complacent, failing to realise the main French Army was still intact and about to mount the offensive. Ultimately the Thais started losing land gained to the French and even lost in the naval battle of Ko Chang, which risked presenting France a reason to invade the country, before Japan jumped in and demanded ceasefire that the Thais salvaged their pride. If you understand this story, you may understand Southeast Asian situation isn't limited to just FIFA World Cup alone.

[@republicofkorea2516]

It should be noted that when Australia joined AFC in 2006, it was Japan and us Korea that agreed to support Australia's entrance and we remain the only Asian nations to have no issue with Australia's AFC membership. The rest of Asia simply viewed it with disdain. Yet our acceptance of Australia made the difference for us in World Cup. Southeast Asian nations' nonsense dislike of Australia won't do them any good in return.

[@kudajingkrak4919]

Australia competing in AFF ASEAN cup this year. ASEAN is SE Asia if i'm not mistaken.

[@bekasibego]

If Southeast Asians dislike Australia as you claim, explain why did they join and get accepted to compete in the ASEAN Championship every year since 2013

[@luishernandezblonde]

@@bekasibego Most Asians saw Australia as the remnant of Western or Russian imperialism (in case of Central Asia and Mongolia), a key reason why Australia wasn't allowed from playing in Asian football until 2000s. Japan and South Korea, however, had different interests and believed Australia joining would be beneficial.

[@bekasibego]

@@luishernandezblonde I'm not familiar with the rest of Asia, so I have no comment on that. However, my point is that the OP claims Southeast Asian nations dislike the inclusion of Australia in the AFC, which contradicts the fact that Australia has been welcomed and accepted to compete in the AFF (Southeast Asian Football Federation) every year since 2013

[@luishernandezblonde]

@@bekasibego I think he is saying that Southeast Asia welcomed Australia only after Japanese and Korean pressures. That means that ASEAN didn't invite Australia to join as expected, but it was more like persistent Japanese and Korean efforts.

[@Platinumshadow_153]

More information, Thailand was invited to World Cup in 1930, but the Great Depression from Wall Street Crash in 1929. Transportation to Uruguay in that time is really hard. Months for transportation via ship is not the good thing to consider. Even Japan refuses it. Egypt accepts the offer, but shipwreck to forfeit. It is really a bad year for World Cup.

[@clementchan9880]

Yeah, I think they should give one spot just for Southeast Asia, Thailand and Indonesia are actually pretty good. If you give 4-5 spots to the whole of Asia (or whatever it is now), then obviously the “big 6-7” are going to be dominating: South Korea, Japan, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Australia and occasionally China and North Korea! On that note they should give one to Central Asia as well, Uzbekistan are good as well! Thailand seem to have improved a lot over the past two decades (or maybe I just don’t watch enough Asian football). Give it another decade or two and they could be surprising some people.

[@bekasibego]

To say Indonesia is a rank outsider is an understatement, especially since their national football team literally beat and stopped the South Korean football team from competing in the 2024 Olympics for the first time in 36 years.

[@eqbal3906]

🤦‍♂️. That was south korea u23 national team. Not the south korea national team. Also, indonesia u23 beat south korea u23 because of luck and the referees favour the indonesia team a lot.

[@bekasibego]

@@eqbal3906 disagree, the statistic of the match showed Indonesia dominated the whole game, but yeah, I forgot it was U-23

[@worldcollides4197]

1. Won it though shootout so it is draw by official records. 2. Not an A-match. 3. Many Indonesians on U23 was also on their first team(national team) while Korean team has zero, actually way far from national team quality. Actually U23 players playing for foreign club was excluded, only k leagues youth played. Lee from PSG and Bae who won stoke player of the year didn’t played. Yes but still able to pass through Korea is great achievement so you can be proud of that but it ain’t smth to brag for like years to years. Trust me.

[@bidilz]

Was Madrid vs city draw because it's shootout?​@@worldcollides4197

[@sebfox2194]

​@@bekasibego You basically beat the Korean under 23 B team.

[@warcatbattalion]

I'm from SEA Problems are #1 NO proper infrastructure for talent development #2 education first, sports are just games #3 lack of athleticism cuz of lack of nutritional food for general population

[@yosua_bpjs]

ok, I understand your point. so, do you think it would be fairer if the AFC World Cup qualification is only held in 1 round based on the sub-region like this? → - 2 teams from West Asia - 1 team from South East Asia - 1 team from South Asia - 2 teams from Central Asia - 2 teams from East Asia + Australia

[@twrampage]

There was a suggestion some years back that the A-league should consider expanding with two Malaysian teams for added viewership and improved sponsorship money. I'm not surprised that didn't work out.

[@rafi6618]

what if A league merged with the thai league, I guess Bangkok FC would make the top 2 in the league, theyre so good in the ACL, Thais are also a big market to get more viewers

[@isrisentoday]

What you're saying is that the World Cup should have some DEI participants no matter how awful they are. You've just acknowledged that "Soccer in SE Asia sucks". So why should they be entitled to a seat at the WC just for the sake of inclusion and representation? The WC already has so many horrendous lopsided matches during the group stage. Why add to the sorry spectacle even more? Let's face it, the best SEA team would get massacred by the worst Euro team, 8-0. Let SEA teams first get better, then they could join the WC party legit.

[@hairiyanur3632]

Is thailand not indonesia bro,now the best team in south east asia is indonesia

[@nanotsuki]

@@hairiyanur3632 ??? did you don't understand what he is saying or what? your name sounds Indonesian so i will talk in indonesia. Dia ga ngomongin DEI masalah gender bang, dia ngomongin DEI masalah harus ada representasi padahal ga ada prestasi. Ente juga ga mau kan ada kontingen SEA di world cup cuman gara2 kasian ga ada representasinya, bukan karna emang mereka lolos penyisihan. Yang doi bilang tuh ni yutuber udah tau kalo bola di SEA itu masi jelek tapi kenapa nyaranin harus dikasi jatah slot? Yang ada makin kebantai. Makannya dia bilang mending memperbaiki permainan biar bisa masuk world cup jalur skill bukan karna kasian. Ane malah bingung ente ngapa jadi nyenggol thailand padahal ga ada disebut

[@Antonius_Wijaya906]

Southeast Asian country's considered AFF or ASEAN cup was the most prestige and most realistic to grabbed beside the tournament was the favourite for the sporting bet or gambling.

[@blitzkrieg278arbeit4]

the reason why is because we refused to get rid of rice or decrease our daily amounts…look at our physical we’re so weak in asia cup…luckily we’re a little bit better in technicality compared to 5 years ago but still not enough to fight arab countries or even east asians

[@Sskdd]

We’re not good enough. Our people love football but don’t really support local club. We were too used to watching premier league standard games, so we lost interest in lower quality games played locally.Hence, lack of funds for the clubs. ….and also corruptions from the FAs

[@ziyadalkautsar3511]

Not even seeing the video but so many country in SEA lack experience and good player that's all

[@GalihRivky]

to put it into perspective, I remember asking my dad to pursue football, I was 8 at the time and good enough to play for my school, but my dad said No, there is not enough money playing football..

[@TJoL1998]

NJPW mentioned 😮‍💨

[@waku_____waku_]

And the different regulation for Southeast asia player and south american or african player playing in european league making players from SEA are not developing 😢

[@waku_____waku_]

its too hard for southeast asia player playing in la liga or premier league or another top tier european league. You can easily find player from south asia or africa or arabs or south america in european league compared to SEA player

[@jjryan1352]

Real reasons: 1. Most of Southeast Asia covered in rice fields with houses and shops crowded along narrow roads. They don't have access to decent football fields, and the ones they have don't have nice grass like in Europe, and are often flooded out during the rainy season. 2. They wear sandals too often, which prevents most from learning to run properly from an early age. Need to wear proper shoes or go barefoot like Brazilians from the favelas. 3. People who never played football want to get on those football associations because FIFA hands out millions every year to each member country.

[@ironclad-m3q]

I'd like to add physicality to the mix. SEA countries mostly, if not all, have the lowest average height in the world, so they're disadvantaged to begin with. Fighting with no economic or structural benefit to balance things out makes it much harder.

[@Pnhatee]

This question is very simple 😂 It's because people who play football well in Thailand go on to become office workers or deliver parcels. As for the 11 Thai players, they are considered heirs of football association executives and Thai League club owners. There may also be descendants of influential people in those cities who are on the national football team.🤦

[@owenthornhill9671]

Southeast Asian joins Oceania including Australia, maybe 1.5 spots.

[@bandarm4900]

The solution for the ASEAN countries to play in the World Cup is trying compete with Japan, South Korea, Australia, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Qatar, Iraq, Uzbekistan, Jordan, UAE, Oman, and China. is that level

[@Enseaclopedia]

11 countries if you counted Timor Leste as AFF member.

[@generalpierogi7781]

This reminds me that being a Poland fan isn’t THAT bad

[@ayooo9770]

Respectfully I disagree with that initial point about FIFA not doing its job by not increasing access to underrepresented regions. It is the World Cup after all, and spots in it are highly coveted and only won on merit. Historically you have had to be significantly better than the rest of your continent to win the honor of representing your continent. The World Cup is different than the Olympics. The Olympics hands out free competition spots to every nation if they choose to take them in the name of global unity and participation, which is fine, that's their mission. I think that the World Cup's purpose is different. While it does bring together the world, first and foremost its purpose is to determine the world's best team. IMO certain regions within continents are not entitled to representation at the finals. If they can make it through the qualifiers and prove themselves, then great, they've proved themselves and deserve their spot. If not, I don't think the burden lies with FIFA to make sure every single corner of the world is represented.

[@ChenHung86]

Sorry, this is just stupid! World Cup is about finding the best team, its not about the kind of representation you present in your video. If you can´t beat countries with less than 1 million people( Kuwait, Qatar, Iceland etc), then you dont deserve to be in the world cup. You can apply the same logic to south asia with 1,5 billion people, but the standards there are even worse than SEA. Your argument is not fair to countries that actually manage their football well. Its also potentially dilluting the standard and quality of World Cup even more, its bad enoug with 48 teams I would love to see Thailand or Vietnam in a World Cup, but they should deserve it by beating strong oppenents in qualifiers and not by quota. Your proposal sounds like a football version of DEI

[@FELIX_AN]

Yeah it would be more fun to watch our national team overcome all odds defeating strong opponents too😁

[@mannytuzo]

Dawg you have such a horrible take, why should these “under represented” areas deserve their own qualifying spot? To lose 9-0 at each group stage game? DEI is stupid af and the best of each confederations should qualify to the WC to best represent their confederations, not just because we feel bad for them. We’re already gonna have teams that really shouldn’t be in a WC in 2026

[@bimosatriyotid6061]

DEI is not stupid. And Losing 9 - 0 each group stage? We never play in the world cup why do you assume we woud automatically get smacked

[@sebfox2194]

​@bimosatriyotid6061 Because you're not good enough to get in through the current qualifying system. So, obviously you would get spanked by the best teams in the World. If you lose 4-0 to teams like Vietnam and Thailand, then Brazil and Spain will put at least 8 past you.

[@HonestFarmerLigue1Fan]

​@@sebfox2194 Indonesia national team has developed, not much but it's there. Now it's Vietnam losing both home and away to Indonesia and they whined so much at press conference, trying to undermine Indonesia's football development off the pitch because they failed to win on the pitch.

[@yandrifadli]

Corruption is part of the culture here

[@Voyager_02]

Why is it difficult for Southeast Asian countries to enter the World Cup because they have been indoctrinated to lose before going to war, they are always pessimistic when meeting countries whose rank is above them, but now in Indonesia since the football association is held by Mr. Erik Thohir, he always encourages the players that we can fight against countries that are above us, as long as we have to be brave and believe in ourselves that we are the same and can even beat them. That is the progress of football in Indonesia now.

[@jmgonzales7701]

no its not about mentality its about realistic. We loose because we suck.

[@Voyager_02]

@jmgonzales7701 our national team used to always lose at all ages when facing the Korean or Japanese team, because in our minds, we didn't believe we could compete with them, so we lost before even fighting, due to mental errors. And now our mindset has changed, we will face anyone, as evidenced by the AFC U23 Cup, where we defeated Korea and made it to the semifinals. This is real.

[@jmgonzales7701]

@@Voyager_02 u need less of mindset and more on talent. Mindset wont get u anywhere u can have the mindset of julius cesar and it wont change that we southeast asians are slow, tiny and weak.

[@G4L4XYISIDK]

In the Philippines football/soccer is very much growing but Basketball dominates it here

[@saifulazami]

much better if asian divide to 4 group,each group have 11/12 teams,top 2 each path can go to world cup(like conmebol)

[@AlexAgung-z5q]

Marks my word we will reach world cup 2026 and if its true please go to the stadium and wear our national teams shirt 😂 even though i write while joking but sometimes luck happened