Asian Football Teams Trivia Quiz

Answer: Indonesia

The most popular sport in a nation so spread out across so many islands, football is a passion for Indonesians, many of whom are ardent supporters of the pastime. Domestically, their highest echelon of players compete in Liga 1 which, debuting in 2008, comprises eighteen top teams competing for the Piala Indonesia (the Indonesia Cup). On the international level, Indonesia was the first Asian team to appear in an FIFA World Cup finals tournament, doing so in 1938 as the Dutch East Indies.

Answer: Vietnam

Vietnam's league system, called the V.League, is split into two tiers with the top fourteen competing against one another for the National Cup on an annual basis. Interestingly, the modern V.League was founded in 1980, but national teams existed in Vietnam prior (albeit they were split into Northern and Southern Vietnam due to the politics of the country midway through the century).

Interestingly, success is seen throughout the nation with key teams being spread through most major cities from Hanoi in the north to Ho Chi Minh City in the south (formerly Saigon).

Answer: Bangladesh

Though cricket reigns supreme as the Bangladeshi sport of choice, football still maintains a presence in this Asian nation having been overseen by the Bangladesh Football Federation since the early 1970s. The Bangladesh Premier League wouldn't be created until 2007 and would, generally, contain a dozen top teams in the country though this number has dipped due to a lack of qualified coaches and sponsors. All three teams in the question have won the B.League and all three are from the Dhaka capital region.

Answer: Uzbekistan

Though originally part of the USSR's national league during the region's Soviet era, Uzbekistan joined similar nations in creating their own football league system in 1992, developing a federation to oversee the sport. Though many have vied for the title, the league has, historically, been dominated by Pakhtakor Tashkent FK, a powerhouse that retained many key Soviet athletes in its earlier days and continued its success further along.

Answer: China

China is a unique nation as far as Asian sports go because they have significant leagues for both American (gridiron) and traditional football (soccer). For the latter's sake, the highest tier of play is held, on the national level, in the Chinese Super League. With massive attendance, CSL games manage to be large-scale events across dozens of major cities though especially Guangzhou and Jinan, both of which have been historically strong options. China appeared at the FIFA World Cup for the first time in 2002, making it into the group stages in Korea and Japan.

Answer: India

Although football has been played in India since the early 19th century, India's formal football organizations have flipped around numerous times in the years, forming as the AIFF in 1937 and not having a Super League until 2013. Midway through the 20th century, India hit high notes in the sport managing to qualify for the Olympics and the FIFA World Cup (though they didn't attend the latter due to the cost of travelling to Brazil).

At the Melbourne Olympics in 1956 they managed a fourth place spot in the sport, narrowly getting edged off the podium.

Answer: South Korea

One of the earliest Asian teams to make it to the FIFA World Cup (doing so in 1954 in Switzerland, but losing in the group stages), South Korea has seen a unique variety of league structures in its past due to its complicated history with its northern counterpart. Nonetheless, on home turf, South Korea has several K League groupings housing top teams on a tier system (that stretches down to K League 4).

Interestingly, North Korea has generally excelled in women's football over South Korea with their women's team advancing further in the FIFA Women's World Cup on a regular basis.

Answer: Kazakhstan

The most popular sport in the nation (even beating out the Soviet favourite, ice hockey), football has been important to the nation of Kazakhstan since it first established its Football Federation in 1914 (reestablished in 1992 after the fall of the Soviet Union). Along with the reestablishment of the KFF was the introduction of the Kazakhstan Premier League with 21 teams (reduced to 14 in 2010), battling for the Kazakhstan Cup. Generally its top clubs have hailed from Astana.

Answer: Malaysia

Malaysia's history with football is surprisingly significant as it was the first country to create a written and formalized set of rules for the game, inevitably having a major effect on international, formal precedent for the sport. Despite this being done in the early 1920s, Malaysia's Super League wasn't established until 2004.

At the time the Super League only had eight teams; it doubled within twenty years. On the national level, Malaysia qualified for its first Olympics in 1972, heading to Munich for the group stages.

Answer: Japan

Historically, Japan has had one of the most successful football leagues in all of Asia with its J League providing a solid template for national federated football operations since 1921. The Japanese national team qualified for its first-ever FIFA World Cup in 1998.

In 2002 it shared hosting duties with South Korea. It returned to the World Cup on a recurring basis after that, generally showing in the group stages at the least. Japan also managed bronze at the Mexico City Olympics in 1968. All team names provided for this question have been featured as winners of the Emperor's Cup in the J1 League.