Japan vs China
The third round of the World Cup 2026 Asian qualifiers is about to get underway, and the Saitama Stadium is one of the best places to be, as Japan are set to host China in the opener on Wednesday night.
Japan are one of the favourites to qualify for the quadrennial meet in the United States, especially with how they’ve performed in the tournament so far, while China are probably just happy to make it here after all they’ve been through.
The Samurai Blue were one of the teams that finished the second round with a perfect record, winning all six games, recording 24 goals, and not conceding a single opponent goal.
In stark contrast, the Chinese recorded two wins, two losses, and two draws for eight points. If they hadn’t beat Thailand in November last year, they might have faced an early exit.
With that said, the World Cup 2026 odds are in favour of the hosts, although it would be better for the neutrals if China can make it tough on them.
Talking Points
Key returns for Japan
Japan will look to qualify for the World Cup as soon as possible, so they have loaded up ahead of the third round with some familiar faces.
Kaoru Mitoma, Takuma Asano, Mao Hosoya, Zion Suzuki, and Yuta Nakayama have all been called up again by manager Hajime Moriyasu after their absences in the previous international breaks.
On the other hand, Moriyasu also called up Kota Takai and Henry Heroki of Machida Zelvia to the national team for the first time ever. Takai, notably, is coming off a solid Paris Olympics stint.
The Samurai Blue will look to overwhelm their visitors by creating a ton of World Cup 2026 highlights on Wednesday, and Moriyasu will have the luxury to try different lineup combinations, particularly in the final third.
Ayase Ueda is one of the frontrunners for the Golden Boot race with six goals, while Ritsu Doan, Keito Nakamura, and Koki Ogawa aren’t far behind with three, two, and two goals, respectively.
Perhaps the only thing to nitpick about Japan is who they’ll play between the sticks, as Daiya Maekawa and Keisuke Osako have split duties during the previous international breaks. Hajime Moriyasu won’t go wrong choosing either one against China.
China set realistic goals
Given their current roster, China aren’t expected to make it to the World Cup, so they’re focused on building for the future.
Head coach Branko Ivankovic will have a youth-laden squad this time around, and gaining experience by facing the best teams in the region is their top priority.
SBOTOP football fans will have to look out for Behram Abduweli, Zhu Chenjie, and Jiang Shenglong, among others. All of them have yet to reach 25, so they could represent the Chinese’s next wave.
Centre-back Zhu Chenjie is the most experienced among the three, with one goal in 30 appearances.
The evergreen Wu Lei remains the team’s top attacking threat since he is one of the frontrunners in the Golden Boot race with five goals.
The 32-year-old striker now has 36 goals in 97 appearances, so he needs four more goals to become China’s all-time leading scorer and three more matches to reach the 100 caps threshold.
History
Wednesday will mark the 41st matchup between Japan and China in all competitions. Believe it or not, their overall head-to-heads are pretty even, with the Samurai Blue recording 16 wins and the Chinese having 15 wins along with nine draws.
However, Japan have gone undefeated against China for the last 24 years, notching nine wins and six draws in the last 15 fixtures. China’s last win over Japan was a 2-0 result during the 1998 Dynasty Cup.
The Samurai Blue will look to qualify for their seventh consecutive World Cup, and the farthest they’ve gone through was the Round of 16.
This was the case in 2022 at Qatar, when they topped Group E over Spain, Germany, and Costa Rica but eventually lost to Croatia in the knockout stage via penalties.
China, on the other hand, only made the World Cup once in 2002, losing all their group stage matches without scoring a goal.
The teams that will take the top two spots in Groups A, B, and C in the third round will finally secure their tickets to the World Cup, while the third and fourth seeds will have to go through the fourth round (and possibly the fifth round) to make it.
Meanwhile, the fifth and sixth seeds will automatically be eliminated.
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