After beating old foes China 3-1 away yesterday, Japan is almost certain to go to their eighth straight World Cup.

The headers from At halftime, Japan was ahead 2-0 thanks to goals from Koki Ogawa and Ko Itakura. However, China scored first in the second half, thanks to a goal from Lin Liangming.

Soon after, Ogawa scored his second goal of the game, putting an end to China’s hopes of making a comeback. The 45,000 people in Xiamen were stunned.

Before the game started, there was loud booing during the Japanese national song. In the first half, the game was briefly stopped when a fan ran onto the field.

The Dutch striker Ogawa said, “It was tough at times, and we knew that the first goal would be very important.”

Japan was playing their first senior international in China in nine years. Japan and China have a long history of being rivals.

About 750 Japanese fans were planning to go to the game at the Xiamen Egret Stadium, but there were a lot of cops around.

“Everyone played a part in our win today,” Japan’s boss Hajime Moriyasu said.

“Their energy was the reason we won—those on the field, those on the bench, and those who weren’t on the bench today.”

With this easy win, Japan now has five wins and a tie in Asian qualifying Group C. They are very close to making it to the 2026 World Cup.

There will be a final in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The top two teams from each of the three groups will go there.

There is a lot of competition for second place in Group C after Indonesia beat Saudi Arabia 2-0 in Jakarta. Marselino Ferdinan scored both goals in the second half.

It meant that Australia, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, and China all had six points, while Bahrain only had five points. The Socceroos are now going to visit Bahrain later Tuesday.

Happiness that doesn’t last

Japan’s team that beat Indonesia 4-0 on Friday got a lot of changes. Kaoru Mitoma from Brighton and Daichi Kamada from Crystal Palace both came off the bench.

Ogawa scored the first goal in the 39th minute by heading a corner directly past Wang Dalei in goal.

Just before halftime, Japan scored again from a corner kick to make the score 2-0.

Koki Machida flicked on Junya Ito’s delivery and Itakura was unmarked at the back post to nod the ball home.

China played much better after falling 7-0 to Japan in Saitama in their first group game, even though they were behind.

Three minutes after halftime, the home team scored to tie the game.

Xie Wenneng cleverly dummied Wei Shihao’s pass and Lin slotted the ball past goalkeeper Zion Suzuki.

China was happy for only six minutes before Ogawa headed in another cross from Ito to give Japan a two-goal lead again.

Japan are home to Bahrain and Saudi Arabia in their next fixtures in March, with the World Cup within grasp.

“These last two games were difficult as we expected, but it was really positive to get two wins,” said Itakura.

“There are lots of things we need to improve but it was positive and we’ll get ready for the next games.” — AFP