Japan Faces Tough Opponents in Asia's World Cup Qualifiers

Japan, a four-time Asian champion, has been drawn in Group C to compete with Australia, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, China, and Indonesia for the 2026 World Cup qualifiers. The preliminaries commence on September 5, concluding on June 10, with top teams advancing to the finals in North America.

Four-times Asian champions Japan have been drawn to take on Australia, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, China and Indonesia in Group C of the third round of Asia's qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup in Kuala Lumpur.

South Korea will meet Iraq, Jordan, Oman, Palestine and Kuwait in Group B while Iran take on Qatar, Uzbekistan, the United Arab Emirates, Kyrgyzstan and North Korea in Group A. The preliminaries begin on Sept. 5 and run until June 10, with the winners and runners-up in each group qualifying automatically for the finals in Mexico, the United States and Canada.

The third and fourth place finishers in each group will advance to a fourth round, which will determine the continent's two remaining guaranteed qualifiers.

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