SEOUL — As Australia was chasing shadows last weekend in Seoul, desperately trying to keep the South Korean team at bay on a hot and humid evening at the 2013 East Asian Cup, there may have been a twinge of nostalgia for the days before the country joined the Asian Football Confederation. Life was easier in Oceania.

Australia’s former confederation is the smallest and weakest of the six that fall under the auspices of the world governing body FIFA. Victories were frequent but too comfortable. The 31-0 slaughter of American Samoa in 2001, still an international record, did not help anyone.

Even what seemed to be a relatively straightforward World Cup qualification route often was not. It involved becoming Oceania’s representative, which was usually easy, and then a two-legged playoff against a battle-hardened team from South America or Asia, which was not. It was a short, sharp shock of frantic competition and intense pressure after 3 years and 11 months of mostly gentle tests in the South Pacific.

On Jan. 1, 2006, Australia became the 46th member of the Asian Football Confederation in a bid to become a stronger soccer nation. This means it gets to participate in the quadrennial continent-wide A.F.C Asian Cup and will be host to the next edition of that tournament in 2015. It has also given the country access to the 2013 East Asian Cup, a smaller regional four-team tournament currently taking place in South Korea that includes the host, China and Japan. It has no effect on qualification for the World Cup but is a useful testing ground.