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      • Afghanistan

      • American Samoa

      • Armenia
      • Australia
      • Azerbaijan
      • Bahrain
      • Bangladesh

      • Bhutan

      • Brunei

      • Cambodia

      • Central Asia
      • China
      • Cook Islands

      • Cyprus
      • East Asia
      • East Timor
      • Fiji

      • French Polynesia

      • Georgia

      • Guam
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      • Hong Kong
      • India
      • Indonesia
      • Iran
      • Iraq
      • Israel
      • Japan
      • Jordan
      • Kazakhstan
      • Kiribati
      • Kuwait

      • Kyrgyzstan
      • Laos
      • Lebanon
      • Macau
      • Malaysia
      • Maldives
      • Marshall Islands
      • Micronesia

      • Mongolia

    • Column Three
      • Myanmar

      • Nauru

      • Nepal

      • New Caledonia

      • New Zealand

      • Niue
      • North Korea

      • Northern Marianas
      • Oceania
      • Oman

      • Pakistan

      • Palau
      • Palestine

      • Papua New Guinea
      • Philippines
      • Qatar

      • Samoa
      • Saudi Arabia
      • Singapore

      • Solomon Islands

    • Column Four
      • South Asia
      • Southeast Asia
      • South Korea
      • Sri Lanka
      • Syria
      • Taiwan
      • Tajikistan
      • Thailand
      • Tibet
      • Tokelau
      • Tonga
      • Turkey

      • Turkmenistan

      • Tuvalu
      • United Arab Emirates
      • Uzbekistan
      • Vanuatu
      • Vietnam
      • Wallis and Futuna
      • West Asia
      • Yemen
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Photos: Even Fielding Only Three Teams, Asia Catches World Cup Fever

June 17th, 2014
In Kolkata on June 15, 2014, a Hindu priest (C, bottom) performs a special religious prayer organized by Indian fans of Argentina ahead of Argentina's first match at the 2014 World Cup. (Dibyangshu Sarkar/AFP/Getty Images)
An elephant plays with students during a friendly match in honor of the 2014 FIFA World Cup at an elephant camp in Ayutthaya province, Thailand on June 9, 2014. (Pornchai Kittiwongsakul/AFP/Getty Images)
A man walks past graffiti celebrating the 2014 World Cup in Kuala Lumpur on June 12, 2014. (Mohd Rasfan/AFP/Getty Images)
An Indian mechanic (L) sits in front of a house painted with the Brazilian national flag and and an image of the FIFA World Cup in Kolkata on June 15, 2014. (Dibyangshu Sarkar/AFP/Getty Images)
A woman kisses a paper soccer ball during an event wishing for the South Korean team's success in the 2014 World Cup on June 12, 2014 in Seoul. (Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)
India football enthusiasts Nilesh Kadam (L) and Abhijit Chavan (R) have World Cup-inspired scenes and the trophy logo painted into haircuts at a salon in Mumbai on June 9, 2014. (Indranil Mukherjee/AFP/Getty Images)
A Pakistani fan demonstrates his skills in front of a mural celebrating the World Cup painted on the wall of a house in Karachi on June 12, 2014. (Asif Hassan/AFP/Getty Images)
Japanese fans react after Japan is defeated during the 2014 World Cup match between Japan and Cote d'Ivoire during the public viewing event at Tokyo Dome on June 15, 2014. (Keith Tsuji/Getty Images)
The national flags of countries competing in the FIFA World Cup are flown above rooftops in the Bangladeshi town of Bardi, northwest of Dhaka, on June 10, 2014. (Munir Uz Zaman/AFP/Getty Images)
An Indonesian voter (R) wearing colors of a World Cup soccer team votes in a booth during the legislative election in Surabaya in eastern Java island on April 9, 2014. (Juni Kriswanto/AFP/Getty Images)
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With only three teams playing in Brazil, the world's largest continent isn't realistically positioned to make a significant impact in this year's World Cup. However, even outside of soccer-crazed Iran, Japan, and South Korea, Asians across the continent are joining the celebrations to commemorate this quadrennial sporting competition.

Cricket may dominate the headlines in South Asia, but fans have turned to soccer in droves with the start of the 2014 World Cup. Without their own national team to root for, South Asians have solidified allegiances to the top teams from Latin America and Europe. After fans in western Bangladesh draped tens of thousands of Brazilian and Argentinian flags in public to honor their favorite teams, government officials appealed for the removal of all these foreign flags.

In Indonesia, local bureaucrats have created a soccer-themed election to urge citizens to vote in the state's legislative election, which just happens to coincide with the World Cup.

Asia's growing fascination with soccer and the World Cup hasn't been lost on FIFA, the governing body that operates the competition. According to its most recent estimates, more than a third of the world's soccer players reside in Asia. While television screens may show a sea of green and yellow from inside Brazil after each goal by the home team, millions more may be rejoicing throughout the streets of Asia.

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About the Author

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Asia Blog contributor Saahil Desai is a junior at Pomona College, and a native of Cincinnati, Ohio.
 @Saahil_Desai
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