Japan advances to World Cup while Chinese media hopes for Japanese victories in remaining matches: “In the remaining 3 matches…”

The Japanese national soccer team faced Bahrain on the 20th in the FIFA World Cup 2026 Asian final qualifiers (third round) and secured a 2-0 victory. With this result, Japan has secured qualification for the World Cup finals, the fastest in the world excluding the host country. Chinese media outlet “SOHU” reported on the 21st about Japan, which has secured World Cup qualification, and China, which is at the bottom of the same group.

Japan, hosting Bahrain, took the lead in the 66th minute when substitute Daichi Kamada won a one-on-one against the opposing goalkeeper from Takefusa Kubo’s final pass. Furthermore, in the 87th minute, Kubo scored an insurance goal. Japan maintained the 2-0 lead and successfully secured their 8th consecutive World Cup appearance and 8th overall.

Meanwhile, in the Saudi Arabia vs. China match held on the same day, FW Lin Liangming received a straight red card in first-half additional time. At a numerical disadvantage, China lost 0-1. With this defeat, although China has 6 points like others, they have sunk to the bottom of the group, behind 4th-place Indonesia and 5th-place Bahrain due to goal difference.

The Chinese media outlet mentioned, “Japan will face Saudi Arabia (3rd place) in their next match, while Indonesia (4th place) will play against Bahrain (5th place),” and added, “We need to pay attention to the results of Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, and Bahrain, and wait for the last two matches in June, which will be life-or-death battles for China to secure a qualification spot.” They were hoping for a Japanese victory while focusing on the matches between the two countries that are direct rivals for group advancement.

The article also stated, “At least 3 more points are needed to advance to the qualification zone (4th place). If we can secure 9 points in the remaining 3 matches, it’s possible to reverse the situation and rise to 2nd place,” suggesting that there is still a possibility of qualifying for the playoffs through a comeback or even advancing directly from the qualifiers in the remaining matches.