Asian Games 2026 – Which Country Will Win the Most Medals?

[crwth]

+ on the part where China will win the most medals. For 2nd place, I'm thinking Japan or South Korea. Hmm. I think it should be ranked by what medal the country has as well right? Because you may rank higher if you have a lot of gold and fewer silver and bronze medals overall.

Is there some kind of home-advantage thing? Like being a host for the games? In this case, since it's in Japan, maybe the conditions and home-crowd advantage would help.

[Bitcoin Smith]

Sports is differnt kind of politics and not every deserving candidate get the opportunity to represent their country on the bigger level and that is exactly the reason why India isn't winning gold in such competitions. But China picks the best and train them since their childhood just for the exact moment because they want to keep their tradition going while other countries are just sitting within the nation to select the participants based on the influence/religion/case/financial level.

Choosing the sport athlete is about the competitiveness, and no politics shoulda involved in this thing. China fully focused on how to get their best talent while other countries are not even doing it.

Apart from that i agree with your second paragraph. As i know they have the best system to develop their spors athlete called Juguo Tizihi. They develop talents since they're still very young, and push them beyond their limit to only focus in their field. It's something that others countries don't have it who have high index of curroption. While most of countries in asia have high index of corruption.

Anyone who gamble on China to win most of medals is winning their bet, but the problem we have no market to bet on this kind of event.

Well, it seems what CHina is doing looks good from the outer side but the atheletes are forced to live a life that is not in their control and just because their government wants to have more medals on those competitions. Politics should be avoided at all cost that will help the talents from any part of the country will allow them to represent the nation.

As a government they should support them, like provide a job or source of income so they can focus on their sports but not every country can do that.

[sunsilk]

Razed has some of the asian games on its bookie for the volleyball and basketball for women's division.

Only volleyball and basketball are available? I actually dont bet too often on Razed and I wanted to bet on the Women’s Cricket final being played between India and Sri Lanka. I found the market on Stake but the betting limit isnt very high, so I was looking for alternatives of Stake. The men’s cricket matches are also starting, so I am looking for a platform with good betting limits.

Stake now has a section featuring the matches happening at the Asian Games. Just go to their sportsbook section and use the search feature to search for “Asian Games” to see the available markets. The only problem is that the betting limits they are offering on my account are very low.

That's when I've checked yesterday. But as per checking again, there's the cricket, soccer, and water polo.

I think that depends on the schedule and the bookie's information. So, you might want to check it on razed again and see if which provider and games you're interested to bet with since cricket is already added too.

It didn't took long for that to be added just as you have mentioned it.

[Darker45]

Looking at the current medal standing, it seems this is largely a battle between China, Japan, and South Korea. The rest of the participating countries are far far behind there seems to be zero chance any one of them would be able to catch up and take a spot at the top 3, although we're still in the earliest days.

What amazes me is how Hong Kong, which is just a small special region of China with a relatively small population, was able to field the fifth largest contingent. Despite its limitations, Hong Kong has always been consistent in delivering solid athletic performance in Asian Games.

[Mr. Magkaisa]

It's pretty obvious that China will lead the pack and then the second place will most like be Japan. If you look at the 2024 Olympics ranking, the order is pretty much the same when you compare only Asian countries

I still wonder why we see China getting subdivided into Macao china, Hong Kong China, Chinese Taipei...

I think the reason China, Japan and South Korea always lead is because of the high level of discipline and training they instill on players right from Childhood. We do also see those countries front their cultures so much.

Not just that, you can add the budget they are spending on their athletes, the facility they provide to boost the power at intel of their people.
Those country always take care for the best of their countrymen and not just that, they make sure that every talent will be developed.
China will lead  the Asian Games as they are the powerhouse,

[yhiaali3]

Unfortunately, I don't see my country on the list  even though we always participated in the Asian Games before the war, But now it seems we have no teams qualified to win any medals, even though we used to occasionally win some gold medals in some sports.

any way I expect that, as usual, the three major Asian countries, namely China, Japan and South Korea will win the main prizes and top the medal standings.

[Bd officer]

Just searched on Google and saw that China is at the top, they have won 50+ medals so in this case it can be said that China will be at the top. I don't know how many games our country participated in but till now our country has not won any medal. Probably our country's medal count will remain zero.

But I am a bit optimistic about Bangladesh men's cricket team, maybe they can win any medal. Probably there are still 11 days left for the Asian Games to end, and how many sports are left? I only follow cricket in this tournament.

[Zlantann]

Unfortunately, I don't see my country on the list  even though we always participated in the Asian Games before the war, But now it seems we have no teams qualified to win any medals, even though we used to occasionally win some gold medals in some sports.

any way I expect that, as usual, the three major Asian countries, namely China, Japan and South Korea will win the main prizes and top the medal standings.

Some of the sports that are included in this competition are not popular in some countries. China, Japan, and South Korea have the financial strength to support their citizens to participate in diverse sporting activities. Therefore, it's not surprising that these three nations are on top of the medal table. Kazakhstan and Thailand are not doing badly, as they maintain the fourth and fifth positions.

I am surprised that India has just won one gold, four silvers, and four bronzes. With the country's high population and financial strength, I thought they would have been in the top four positions.

[bakasabo]

Unfortunately, I don't see my country on the list  even though we always participated in the Asian Games before the war, But now it seems we have no teams qualified to win any medals, even though we used to occasionally win some gold medals in some sports.

any way I expect that, as usual, the three major Asian countries, namely China, Japan and South Korea will win the main prizes and top the medal standings.

Some of the sports that are included in this competition are not popular in some countries. China, Japan, and South Korea have the financial strength to support their citizens to participate in diverse sporting activities. Therefore, it's not surprising that these three nations are on top of the medal table. Kazakhstan and Thailand are not doing badly, as they maintain the fourth and fifth positions.

I am surprised that India has just won one gold, four silvers, and four bronzes. With the country's high population and financial strength, I thought they would have been in the top four positions.

India is showing low performance probably due to only several sport disciplines being popular in India. There are 43 different sport disciplines in Asian Games 2026, but besides cricket, and maybe soft tennis, shooting, badminton, padel and teqball I dont know where India can take medals, even though India participate in 36 different sport disciplines. I admin that I might not that good at knowing sport achievements of India, but I dont remember them being very successful besides 3-5 sport disciplines only.

[Renampun]

Even by closing our eyes we can immediately know who the winner of this championship is, and it is clearly China.. they have more athletes and they are so competitive.. even from 1982, they have been ranked 1st in the medal standings for 11 times in a row, that's just crazy to see their achievements. Then the second position is likely Japan and then South Korea.. these three countries are used to filling the first, second and third positions in the Asian Games medal tally, while for other countries they are just like complements to this event.

[AHOYBRAUSE]

Yeah the list really is an absolute no brainer. China first is like the most predictable outcome ever, same with Japan 2nd and South Korea 3rd. Japan not only because of the mass of participants but also because they are the host obviously.
These 3 are the top of the standing almost in every sport played in Asia, aside of cricket of course. So yeah, they are hard to beat since they have better financial and also other opportunities.

[Donk1]

It's obvious that China is already standing out as the top in Asian sports but still Japan obviously has a chance to challenge them if peradventure China was to trip in any of their matches. So yeah seeing that Japan is second, we can't totally rule out that fact that China has to keep winning if they really want to stay at the top. Because Japan recently proved that the winner isn't picked until the final match so yeah surprisingly, they beat China 97-78 in basketball, showing that their momentum can shift in just one game. So perhaps even with China holding the lead, Japan still has an advantage in unexpected wins. So the chances are all based on how and what China will do, that's all.....

[atookz]

I think it will be pretty much the same as most here; the top 3 countries will be China, Japan and South Korea. Really, not a big stretch, these three have been duking it out for a while now.

Looking at the results of the Asian Games, this trend has continued for 11 out of the past 13 editions. China always came in 1st! They have never fallen below 100 gold medals in one edition since 1990 and no other Asian nation has matched that. The current standings are also looking like that - China is No.1 with 32 golds, Japan has 11 and Korea has 6.

What's more interesting to me this time is the fight for 2nd between Japan and Korea. Japan's hosting and sending way more athletes than ever, while Korea sent 792 athletes, aiming for 40 golds and defending their 3rd place spot. The home advantage typically allows the team at home a slight psychological edge and know-how of the arena, which could make the Japan vs Korea spread somewhat narrow this year.

[Arenga pinnata]

China has always had talented athletes. in almost every sport( except soccer) we always see Chinese athletes competing for gold, silver, or bronze medals. even athletes from my country often fail to win gold medals because they face Chinese athletes in the finals. so I think that this time around, China will once again win the most gold medals. tthe country that will likely give China the toughest competition is Japan, since Japan also has a long history of athletic achievements.

My country, Indonesia, has only ever excelled in a few sports. So I can’t expect much. We used to have great badminton players, but I’m not sure about this time. However, it seems we have some pretty reliable rock climbers.

[Africolo]

As you guys know the Asian Games 2026 are currently taking place in Japan. So lets see which nation wins the most medals. For those who dont know much about the Asian Games, around 43 sports are being played, with almost 45 nations participating.

Currently these are the standings after Day 2:



I think this time as well, China, South Korea and Japan will win most of the medals. They are really exceptional in these types of tournaments. Maybe this is because these nations identify talented athletes from a young age and train them to compete at the highest level.

China has won 11 gold medals so far while some of the other nations havent even secured their first medal yet. So China is definitely playing 1 vs. All at the moment.
I would love to hear your predictions. Which country do you think will finish at the top of the medal table? And which is your favourite sportsbook for placing bets on this tourney?

I will update the final medal table once the tournament concludes.

I think the first three teams that are topping the Asian game are likely going to win most of the gold medals this year because looking at their team performances they have been really exceptional and have really improved in their games so it's possible they will win majority of the gold medals. But on a second thought the least teams cannot be underrated when it comes to league games and they can also perform magic and win.

China are very good and talented in every aspect of athletes and they must always compete for gold in every giving year so I'm routing for them to win so the Chinese are a team to look out for. There are teams that I can't even mention will contend for gold which is Indonesia because they easily get knocked out so I'm seeing China as the winner though it might turn out not to be them that will will as it's unpredictable but with their performances I'm sure it will their team.

[CucakRowo]

+ on the part where China will win the most medals. For 2nd place, I'm thinking Japan or South Korea. Hmm. I think it should be ranked by what medal the country has as well right? Because you may rank higher if you have a lot of gold and fewer silver and bronze medals overall.

Based on the history since 1982, China's always been sitting at the top of the medal table. Pretty damn wild, tbh.

Meanwhile, Japan and South Korea have basically been trading 2nd and 3rd place back and forth. So yeah, I don't expect the result to be much different this time either.

Is there some kind of home-advantage thing? Like being a host for the games? In this case, since it's in Japan, maybe the conditions and home-crowd advantage would help.

Back in 2014, South Korea was the host and somehow ended up 2nd. So if this home advantage thing is actually real, Japan might just take 2nd place this time. Let's see.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Asian_Games_medal_table

[yhiaali3]

~snip~

...
I am surprised that India has just won one gold, four silvers, and four bronzes. With the country's high population and financial strength, I thought they would have been in the top four positions.

India is showing low performance probably due to only several sport disciplines being popular in India. There are 43 different sport disciplines in Asian Games 2026, but besides cricket, and maybe soft tennis, shooting, badminton, padel and teqball I dont know where India can take medals, even though India participate in 36 different sport disciplines. I admin that I might not that good at knowing sport achievements of India, but I dont remember them being very successful besides 3-5 sport disciplines only.

Yes, I agree with you that cricket is the most popular sport in India and that there is not enough interest in the rest of the sports, so we do not see India winning important medals or competing with strong countries.

The reason for India's poor performance in the Asian Games compared to the leading countries is due to several factors, including weak long-term youth training and development programs, There are no strategic plans or advanced academies to hone the skills of athletes from a young age, in addition to India's lack of sports infrastructure that is commensurate with its huge population.

[acroman08]

Your doubt had about Eumir Marcial turned out to be true in the end.

He did win his pro fight by knockout but Philippine team ultimately withdrew him from Asian Games due to very short recovery time. Although Martial himself expressed he was ready to play but team determined not to field him, taking his long term fitness into consideration.

Thanks for the article, and to be honest, I kind of expected it, even if Asian Games is not as taxing as a professional fight, it would still be a lot for his body to fight in the Asian Games with little to no recovery time.

BTW competition for subdivision 1 concluded just few minute ago. Carlos Yulo and his brother produced outstanding performance & securing first and second place respectively.

subdivision 1 is a qualification round for the indivisual apparatus, so they did great advancing.

edit: I just saw on asian games website that both brothers will be competing in the men's floor exercise finals. Hopefully, both of them get medals. Also, floor exercise is Carlos Yulo's speciality (apart from vault), so I have high hopes.

If anyone is interested, the floor exercise finals are happening on Sept 24th.

[fullfitlarry]

It's very easy to predict who are going to win again, based on it's history,



https://asiad.com.in/winners-list/

At the start of the Asian games, it was Japan who are the powerhouse, but then China started it's domination in the 80's.

And decades later, they are still on top, specially with the advancement of the country becoming a superpower.

[Cointikka]

~

Look how the Chinese suddenly started dominating this game from the 80s. They explicitly modeled their sports infra like the Soviet Union. The reason was political at that time. Now it is giving them recognition globally. They are dominating most of the events after Russia was removed due to the war against Ukraine. A classic example of why every country that is developing or is developed should modestly follow their model if they want sports to be uplifted in their society.