Asian Football Confederation President Mohammed bin Hammam reckons only two Asian nations have any chance of winning the 2022 World Cup in Qatar – and Australia doesn’t rate a mention.
The Socceroos have impressed many en-route to the Asian Cup final in Qatar but their performance clearly hadn’t rubbed off on Bin Hammam when asked which teams held most promise for the region.
“We have two very good teams or, let me say, good practices in Asia: Japan and South Korea,” Bin Hammam told The Associated Press.
“If there will be any, I believe Japan or Korea can be our team which lifts the World Cup.”
Japan and South Korea faced off in an epic semi-final showdown on Tuesday, with Japan advancing after a match that finished 2-2 and many deemed worthy of a final.
Both nations reached the knockout stage of last year’s World Cup in South Africa, while the Socceroos narrowly failed to get out of their group.
South Korea reached the semi-finals of the 2002 World Cup under Guus Hiddink in a tournament the co-hosted with Japan.
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