Regarding the World Cup, there is a hidden track between Asia and Africa. The current score is 14:15 - the most critical link at the moment is actually Gabon.

The expansion of the World Cup means that the World Cup qualifying formats on all continents must be modified to a greater or lesser degree (except for South American football, which only has 10 teams). The more complex the format, the more hidden elements there are. Take Sweden, for example. Even though they have fallen without a bottom line in the world preliminaries, because Sweden has the advantage of being top of Group C in the UEFA Nations League, there is a high probability that they will go straight to the play-offs. In other words, they can continue to lie flat in the remaining two group matches.

Due to the addition of the UEFA Nations League first place bonus, the European World Cup preliminaries now have multiple tracks. You are working hard to compete for the second place in the group and get the play-off spot. Maybe someone has already won the play-off spot through the UEFA Nations League in advance. Of course, there are variables in the UEFA Nations League bonuses, but no one dares to bet on this track from the beginning. The African World Cup preliminaries have also been modified, making them simpler and more direct than before. Since Africa has 9.5 places, it is simply divided into 9 groups. The first place advances directly, and the second place in the group goes to the play-offs. But the problem is that 9 groups are second, which actually implies a track. Because only the four best ranked second teams are eligible to play in the play-offs. In other words, each team temporarily ranked second in the group must not only compete with the teams in the group, but also compete with the second-placed teams in other groups on points and goal difference. Nigeria is the second template for the group that survives the disaster. They scored one more goal at the last minute and became one of the four best second-placed teams in the group, allowing them to enter the play-offs. Racetracks are everywhere. It exists within the football world of every continent and also exists between continents. Relatively speaking, Europe and South America are on the same level, while Asia and Africa should be in the second tier. The overall World Cup results of these two continents are basically the same. Therefore, direct comparisons can be made between Asia and Africa regarding the World Cup, and even multiple tracks can be opened up.

Today, we are talking about a special track - the number of teams that have entered the World Cup in history. From the perspective of the new army, Asia and Africa will benefit the most from the expansion of the World Cup. The biggest gimmick of Cape Verde's entry into the World Cup is that it is the smallest participating country in the history of the World Cup, but don't forget that they are the 14th African team to participate. The top 13 are Egypt, Democratic Congo, Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Cameroon, Nigeria, South Africa, Senegal, Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire, Angola, and Togo. So, what about Asia? Originally, Asia and Africa were similar in this data. However, due to the birth of two new teams in this world preliminaries, Uzbekistan and Jordan, Asia's data directly reached 15. In order to avoid controversy, let’s list these 15 teams. Indonesia (called the Dutch East Indies in 1938), South Korea, North Korea, Israel, Iran, Kuwait, Iraq, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Japan, China, Australia, Qatar, Uzbekistan, Jordan. The controversy centers on Israel and Australia. In fact, football is football and politics is politics. In the field of football, judging which continent a team belongs to depends on which continental football federation it was under when it entered the World Cup. Israel reached the World Cup in 1970. At that time, they were in the Asian Football Confederation and participated in the Asian World Cup preliminaries. So, they were an Asian team at that time. Now, they are under UEFA and are a European team. Australia is even simpler. From the Oceania Football Confederation to the Asian Football Confederation, they are of course an Asian team in football. However, Australia's participation in the World Cup as an Asian team will start in 2010. So, for this track, it's currently 14:15. Africa is temporarily lagging behind. Due to the elimination of Oman in the fourth stage of the Asian World Cup preliminaries, this also means that after Uzbekistan and Jordan, there will be no other new teams in Asia this time. Therefore, at least until 2030, the number of historical participating teams in Asia will be fixed at 15. Focus on Africa. In fact, Africa is only one short of one, so let’s see if there are any potential new players in this African World Cup preliminaries play-offs. There is and is only one - Gabon. Gabon is unknown in African football, so it is surprising that they can get here. And their three opponents may be stronger than them in terms of foundation and strength-Cameroon, Nigeria, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, all teams that have participated in the World Cup. However, it is too difficult to expect Gabon to break out from the siege of the three strongest African teams. And don’t forget, even if you break through this level, there will still be cross-continental play-offs. Gabon has no advantage. Therefore, at the node of the 2026 World Cup and the number of participating teams in the World Cup, there is a high probability that the score between Asia and Africa will remain at 15:14. However, I think African football has greater potential than Asian football. In the future, there will be more "Gabons" popping up.