However, China's style of football stifles creativity and individual skills in coaching and training. So even introducing a new system to grow the game won't help the national team grow if they don't change their ways. 

It was evident in the game against Italy that they had one way of playing and were going to stick to it. Despite seeing why a high line wouldn't work since Australia tried the same tactic, they pushed on. They also continually put soaring crosses into the box despite not having the height advantage to get to them. 

Coach Jia Xiuquan knows there is a gap between them and the opponents they faced in France.

“In the last three games, we realised the gap between us and these strong teams.”

Australia, China and Japan have been the giants of women's football in Asia but there are two countries making strides in their development.

The WK League is the only fulltime competition out of the five with a 28 game season between eight teams from April to October.

Players are able to solely focus on football because housing, food, and other expenses are all paid for and train almost every day to develop and hone their skills.

At a national level, the team is currently in what has been dubbed their Golden Generation but their performance in France left something to be desired. South Korea didn't secure a single win in Group A falling to Norway, France and Nigeria and only scored one goal. 

For nations like Thailand, its been a slow process to just have a women's league.

From 2013 to 2016 there was no national league which meant players had to play for a University team. But after reaching their first ever Women's World Cup in 2015, they wanted to build upon their success so in 2017 it was re-launched. 

The League includes the U-19 and U-16 national teams in a format that sees a round robin in the two groups. 

Thailand impressed at the Women's Asian Cup in 2018, taking the Matildas all the way to a penalty shootout and qualified for their second consecutive World Cup. While they didn't win a game in France, they showed potential and can only improve if the Thai federation put more investment and development into women's football.

Between these five nations, it's a real mixed bag of what is needed to grow and reach the heights that they know they can. But if nothing is done to improve women's football in this region then the rest of the footballing world will simply pass them by.