No hope of any Asean team making World Cup finals

All three Asean representatives in the third qualifying round – Thailand, Singapore and Indonesia – exited in embarrassing fashion after finishing at the bottom of their respective groups. 

The failure of the three sides has provided compelling evidence that Asean countries remain peripheral figures on the football pitch. 

Ever since the football World Cup began in 1930, there has never been a team from Asean that has reached the finals. Indeed, none have come anywhere close to challenging for a berth. With the arrival of Australia, which joined the Asian Football Confederation in 2006, the prospect of seeing an Asean team in the Cup looks as distant as ever.

Recent performances by Thailand, Singapore and Indonesia did little to change matters given that the three teams managed just one win over the group campaign. With Vietnam, the second best-ranked team in the region, and Malaysia, holders of the Asean Championship title, eliminated even before the third round, the outlook had appeared gloomy.

Technically, Asean teams are still inferior to other teams on the continent. Looking simply at the accuracy of long passes or the first touch of the ball, the difference with rival teams’ standards was quite apparent. The Asean cause was not helped either by their body-size, which is generally smaller and shorter than others.

Inherent problems plagued the teams as they started the campaign. Indonesian players embarrassed themselves and their country in their elimination. They were on the wrong end of a 10-0 hammering in their final group match against Bahrain. Off the pitch, they fought among themselves. Their nightmare campaign reflected a team in disarray. Compounding the problem is the existence of two rival domestic leagues. That negative factor remains unresolved.

Singapore, meanwhile, have been in a period of transition, after woeful displays in the recent Asean Championship led to the team’s “old guard” being discarded. Like Indonesia, they went out without a single win, with their record also blotted by some heavy defeats.

Despite being regarded as the No 1 team in the region, Thailand struggled to lift out of a slump and met the same fate as their neighbours. However, they stayed in contention for qualification right until the end, only to succumb in a disappointing 2-0 away loss to Oman in the final match.

Given this performance and the apparent lack of administrative will, the chance of an Asean team appearing in the World Cup finals seems a distant dream.