World Cup 2026 Asian qualifiers: Japan march on, Indonesia suffer 99th-minute heartbreak

Midfielder Daichi Kamada says his team can all but book their place in the finals for the eight straight time by beating Australia on Tuesday

Crystal Palace midfielder Daichi Kamada said an eighth straight World Cup appearance will be within Japan's grasp if they beat Australia next week, after extending their perfect record in qualifying.

Japan beat Saudi Arabia 2-0 in Jeddah on Thursday to make it three wins out of three in the decisive third round of Asian qualifying.

Japan have pulled five points clear at the top of Group C, ahead of a chasing pack led by the Australians, who moved ahead of Saudi Arabia on goal difference after a 3-1 win in Adelaide over China in Tony Popovic's first game since replacing Graham Arnold as coach last month.

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The top two teams secure direct passage to the 2026 World Cup and the third- and fourth-placed countries facing another qualifying phase. The bottom two teams are eliminated.

Japan face second-place Australia in Saitama on Tuesday and Kamada said they can all but book their place at the finals in the United States, Canada and Mexico with a win.

"We're playing our next game at home in front of lots of fans, and we have to win," he was quoted as saying by Japanese media.

"If we win the next game, the World Cup will start to feel very close for us, so we want to work hard."

Kamada scored Japan's first goal against the Saudis in front of more than 56,000 fans at King Abdullah Sports City, before substitute Koki Ogawa cemented the win with a header eight minutes from time.

Indonesia, meanwhile, were denied victory by hosts Bahrain deep into stoppage time when Mohamed Marhoon scored his second of the game to earn his side a 2-2 draw with the Southeast Asians, who have now drawn their three matches.

South Korea defeated Jordan 2-0 in Amman to move top of Group B as goals from Lee Jae-sung and Oh Hyeong-gu gave coach Hong Myung-bo his second win in a row and lifted the Koreans to seven points from three matches.

A header from Lee gave South Korea, missing injured captain Son Heung-min, the lead in the 38th minute and Oh doubled the advantage 23 minutes into the second half when he wrong-footed Yazeed Abulaila to score from inside the area.

Iraq joined the Koreans on seven points but trail on goal difference as Aymen Hussein's left-foot shot in the 31st minute secured Jesus Casas' team a 1-0 win over Palestine.

Oman, meanwhile, eased to a 4-0 win over Kuwait in Muscat to move off the bottom of Group B with Abdulrahman Al Mushaifri scoring twice for Rashid Jabar's side.

In Group A, Uzbekistan were unable to find a way past Iran's defence despite the visitors having only 10 players for the final 35 minutes of their top-of-the-table clash as they played out a 0-0 draw in Tashkent.

Defender Saleh Hardani was shown a red card 10 minutes into the second half for a dangerous tackle on Uzbekistan captain Eldor Shomurodov.

Asian champions Qatar won their first game of the third round with a 3-1 victory over Kyrgyzstan to draw level with the United Arab Emirates on four points as Paulo Bento's side were held to a 1-1 draw by North Korea.

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This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (www.scmp.com), the leading news media reporting on China and Asia.

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