Despite China's efforts, Japan still won 3-1 away from home. This result helped Japan gain 16 points, leading Group C, 9 points ahead of the second-placed Australia. With the current situation, Japan can soon qualify for the 2026 World Cup if they win one more match in March 2025.
“Although we won the match, it was a difficult match. We defended for a long time, and then we scored two goals through set pieces. I am very happy to win.
“This Chinese team is completely different from the team that lost 0-7 in the previous match against Japan in the first leg. They showed great potential from the beginning of the match,” said Japan coach Hajime Moriyasu.
The Japanese team is in good form, winning 9/10 recent matches, scoring 22 goals, conceding 2 goals in 6 matches in the 3rd qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup. With that strength, the team from the land of the rising sun is likely to be undefeated at this stage, soon winning a ticket to the 8th consecutive World Cup.
“Although we may qualify for the World Cup in March, our goal is to win the World Cup,” Moriyasu stressed.
Japan started participating in the World Cup in 1998 and has been participating in this tournament continuously since then. They are ranked 15th in the world and have received a lot of praise for their playing quality and potential. However, in the history of this tournament, the best achievement of the Japanese team is only reaching the round of 16, never reaching the quarterfinals.
At the 2022 World Cup, Japan beat both former World Cup champions Germany and Spain, but then lost to Croatia in the round of 16 after a penalty shootout. Japan's ambitions are huge, but to achieve their goal of winning the World Cup, they will clearly face many challenges.
Under the guidance of coach Hajime Moriyasu, the Japanese team played 88 matches, of which 62 were won, 10 were drawn and 16 were lost. The team scored 222 goals and conceded 65.
