With South Korea’s 4-1 loss to Brazil, all sides from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) have been eliminated from the World Cup in Qatar.
But that was not before they provided some of the tournament’s biggest moments and delivered the region’s best-ever performance on the world stage.
Here are five players who stood out in their countries’ campaigns.
After an opening-day defeat for Qatar against Ecuador and a 6-2 hammering for Iran at the hands of England, things were not looking promising for Saudi Arabia when they lined up to face South American giants Argentina.
Lionel Messi duly put the two-time world champions ahead with an early penalty, and in the 27th minute, Lautaro Martinez appeared to have doubled their lead.
For a moment, it seemed like the match would be reduced to a matter of how many goals Argentina could score. But things can change very quickly in football.
Martinez’s goal was disallowed by VAR, and just after half-time, Saleh Al-Shehri snuck the ball past Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez from a difficult angle to draw the Saudis level.
And so the stage was set for Salem Al-Dawsari.
Controlling the ball smartly on the edge of the box in the 53rd minute, the Al-Hilal winger dazzled the Argentinian defense with his footwork before unleashing a strike goalward.
Emiliano Martinez got a hand to the ball, but could not stop it from finding the back of the net.
Al-Dawsari sprinted off, celebrating the goal with a cartwheel and a backflip to cap off one of the World Cup’s most jaw-dropping moments.
Saudi Arabia’s 2-1 win set the stage for what would turn out to be a tournament of upsets, as their fans marched on with the rallying cry: “Where is Messi?”
Unfortunately for the Green Falcons, this would be the high point of their campaign. They exited the tournament in the group stage after a 2-0 loss to Poland and a 2-1 loss to Mexico.
Al-Dawsari, however, added to his tally with the consolation goal in the final fixture – a goal that ended Mexico’s hopes of surviving the group.
Despite being somewhat culpable for goals scored by Germany and Costa Rica, goalkeeper Shuichi Gonda also supplied heroics when called upon, memorably saving four shots on goal within about 20 seconds against the Germans.
There was Takuma Asano, who lashed the winner past Manuel Neuer’s near post in what was perhaps the moment that made Samurai Blue fans realize this team was something special.
There was Daizen Maeda, who was a constant thorn in the side of opposing defenses, and was finally rewarded with a goal against Croatia.
And, of course, no one will forget Ao Tanaka and Kaoru Mitoma proving that seeing sometimes isn’t believing as they combined to complete Japan’s comeback against Spain and send them into the round of 16 as group winners.