The third round of Asian qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup kicks off this week, and while Japan’s chances of missing out on a place at the expanded 48-team tournament are vanishingly slim, it will be keen to avoid similar slipups to those experienced in its opening games at this qualifying stage for the last two FIFA showpieces.
Samurai Blue lost 1-0 at home to Oman three years ago, and also went down 2-1 to the UAE in front of their own fans in their maiden third-round qualifier for the 2018 tournament in Russia.
On each of those occasions, Japan did recover to secure a smooth passage to the main competition, and with eight full World Cup slots now available for AFC countries it would take an absolute catastrophe for Hajime Moriyasu’s men to miss out on the next edition, which will be held in Canada, Mexico and the U.S.
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