Japan First To Qualify For 2026 World Cup

Samurai Blue reach 8th consecutive Finals; Australia beat Indonesia to inch closer

- 

SAITAMA - Japan became the first team to qualify for the 2026 World Cup as substitute Daichi Kamada and Takefusa Kubo struck in the second half to earn Hajime Moriyasu's side a 2-0 home win over Bahrain on March 20.

Midfielder Kamada came off the bench to put the Samurai Blue in front after 66 minutes at the Saitama Stadium and Kubo added the second three minutes from time to keep them in pole position in Group C of Asia's preliminaries.

The victory guarantees Japan a top-two finish in the standings and sees them qualify for an eighth straight World Cup.

The first two in each of Asia's three qualifying groups are certain to progress to the Finals in the United States, Canada and Mexico in 2026, with the third- and fourth-placed teams advancing to a further round of play-offs.

After an underwhelming first half, Moriyasu introduced Crystal Palace midfielder Kamada in the 63rd minute and, within three minutes, he had put his side ahead, in front of nearly 60,000 fans.

The 28-year-old finished off a fine move that started with defender Hiroki Ito finding Ayase Ueda in the centre circle, and his pass released Kubo to set up Kamada to score.