Malaysia had an impressive counterattack, Lee Kang-in launched the attack in the World Cup qualifiers in Asia

Although the 2026 FIFA World Cup is still a long way off, the road to get there has already begun in Asia and the second Asian qualifying round has officially begun.

Most of the continent's leading luminaries were able to conduct their campaigns without much fuss with some big wins recorded, but there were also some major upsets. Below, let's review what we learned in the World Cup qualifiers in Asia.

Malaysia shows determination to have an impressive return

If you watch the recent football match, you will see that after taking the lead in the 7th minute at Bukit Jalil National Stadium, Malaysia seemed to have overcome the Kyrgyz Republic 3-1 before the end of the next hour. The away team's resistance, Harimau Malaya then went on to create a stirring response of its own.

Starting with an own goal in the 72nd minute, defender Dion Cools then leveled the scores five minutes later with his second goal of the evening before Faisal Abdul Halim scored a dramatic winner in injury time. third hour.

It was a clear win for the Malaysians given how they achieved it against an opponent ranked 50 places above them in the FIFA world rankings at 97th.

And the result could be even more important given the fact that Group B appears to have the clear leader in Oman but both Malaysia and the Kyrgyz Republic have a great chance of claiming a top-two spot ahead of Chinese Taipei to advance to the rankings.

ASEAN hopefuls have a lot of work to do

While Malaysia won, their Southeast Asian neighbors had less joy with Vietnam being the only country to claim three points by defeating an ASEAN rival in the Philippines.

Thailand was unable to maintain its lead as it lost 1-2 to China, Singapore and Myanmar suffered 0-5 defeats to South Korea and Japan respectively, while Indonesia was defeated 5-1 by Iraq.

The fact that Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines are all in Group F means at least one team is guaranteed to progress, while the remaining teams are facing tough tests and must face stars. disappointing, Southeast Asian football still has a lot of work to do if they want to get better. Their record compared to last time is that there is only one representative in round 3 of the Asian qualifiers.

Lee Kang-in is ready to shine for Korea

For all the potential he has shown since arriving at the Valencia academy, Lee Kang-in's career has yet to really take off although that could change following his move to Paris Saint-Germain in the summer. summer.

However, few can deny his qualities so it was quite surprising that he did not stand out for Korea at last year's World Cup, shining when he had the chance to come off the bench. against Ghana and then started in the win against Ghana. Portugal secured a place in the round of 16.

It has been suggested that then South Korea coach Paulo Bento was not entirely convinced with the attacking midfielder's attitude but with the Portuguese gone, his successor is that Jurgen Klinsmann seems to have no such problems.

In the 5-0 victory over Singapore as seen live on caheo page, where everyone expected Son Heung-min to be the mainstay of Taegeuk Warriors, it was Lee who ran the show and seemed to be the one with the most ability. The ability to tear apart the opponent's defense with his left foot.

While Son has had to shoulder South Korea's expectations in recent years, Lee is now poised to become a star in his own right.

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