The European sojourn of the title was brought to an end when Argentina beat Spain 4–1 in a September 2010 friendly, and after beating the Argentines in a friendly, Japan brought the title to the Asian Cup for the first time in 2011, and remained unbeaten throughout the tournament. Scheduled defences of the title were cancelled after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, and they held the title for over a year before relinquishing it to North Korea, ranked 124th in the world by FIFA, the lowest ranking of a UFWC champion since the rankings were introduced in 1993. North Korea continued to hold title through their successful campaign in the 2012 AFC Challenge Cup, where low-ranked nations Philippines, Tajikistan, India, Palestine, and Turkmenistan challenged, the last of whom almost pulled off a major upset. North Korea's reign was memorable for the fact that so many low-ranking teams challenged to become holders of the crown – as well as the aforementioned AFC Challenge Cup, low ranking nations competing in the 2013 EAFF East Asian Cup second preliminary round such as Kuwait, Indonesia, Chinese Taipei, Guam, and Hong Kong all unsuccessfully attempted to take the title away from North Korea.