Determine the first team in the world to win a ticket to the 2026 World Cup

Japan players celebrate against Bahrain

In the 7th match of the 3rd qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup in Asia, the Japanese team defeated Bahrain with a score of 2-0 at home. The "Samurai Blue" encountered many difficulties against Bahrain's dense defense and failed to score in the first half. However, the precise changes made by coach Moriyasu at the beginning of the second half brought results.

In the 66th minute - just 3 minutes after entering the field, midfielder Kamada opened the scoring for Japan from Kubo's assist. In the 87th minute, it was Kubo's turn to shine with a shot from a tight angle that fooled the Bahrain goalkeeper to seal a 2-0 victory for Japan.

With this victory, Japan has 19 points after 7 matches, taking sole possession of the top spot in Group C and officially qualifying for the 2026 World Cup with 3 matches to go. At this point, Japan is 13 points ahead of the 3rd place team Saudi Arabia. Even if the “Samurai Blue” lose all 3 remaining matches, they are still sure to be in the top 2 of the group.

Not only is Japan the first Asian team to qualify for the 2026 World Cup, it is also the first team in the world to do so, excluding the three host countries (USA, Canada, Mexico). This is a worthy achievement after Japan's outstanding performance in the past two qualifying rounds.

Of course, Japan’s achievement of becoming the first team in the world to qualify for the 2026 World Cup is partly due to the Asian schedule. In 2022, the team that won that ticket was Germany. Currently, the 2026 World Cup qualifying round in Europe has just begun.

A Phi