"South Korea only tries to surpass Japan. But Japan tries to surpass the world. Which side has a stronger sense of purpose?"

On the 20th (Korea time), Japan secured a 2-0 victory over Bahrain in the 7th match of Group C in the 3rd round of the Asian qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup (co-hosted by Canada, the United States, and Mexico) at Saitama Stadium 2002 located in Saitama, Japan, with Daichi Kamada's opening goal in the 21st minute of the second half and Takefusa Kubo's additional goal in the 42nd minute of the second half.

With this victory, Japan, leading Group C, recorded 19 points with 6 wins and 1 draw.

With three matches remaining, the point gap with Saudi Arabia, the 2nd place team in Group C that has played one match less (6 points), has widened to 13 points.

Even if Japan loses all three remaining matches, they have secured at least 2nd place in Group C, earning the World Cup qualifying ticket granted to the top 2 teams.

Thus, Japan has successfully qualified for the World Cup for the 8th consecutive time and became the first team from countries other than the host nation to secure a spot in the 2026 World Cup.

Kubo contributed to Japan's victory with 1 goal and 1 assist.

In the Asian 3rd round qualifiers for the World Cup, the 6 teams that finish in 1st and 2nd place in the three groups directly qualify for the finals. Afterwards, the 6 teams that finish in 3rd and 4th place in each group will split into 2 groups and go through the 4th round qualifiers, where the 1st place teams in each group will additionally qualify for the finals.

The two teams that finish in 2nd place in the 4th round qualifiers will undergo playoffs, and the winner will enter the continental playoffs for the final attempt at qualifying for the World Cup.

Japan, excluding the co-host nations USA, Canada, and Mexico, is the first nation to secure a spot in the World Cup finals, where the number of participating countries increases to 48.

Previously, Japan had consistently named itself as the 'first World Cup qualifying nation' for three consecutive tournaments from the 2006 Germany World Cup to the 2014 Brazil World Cup.

Additionally, Japan has achieved 8 consecutive World Cup qualifications since first appearing on the main stage at the 1998 France World Cup. Japan's best World Cup performance includes reaching the Round of 16 three times (2002, 2018, 2022).

Coach Hajime Moriyasu, who has been at the helm of the Japan national team since 2018, became the first Japanese coach to lead the team to the World Cup finals for two consecutive tournaments.

Coco Cara reported on the 21st, "Korean football has postponed its chance for direct World Cup qualification to June due to a painful draw. Korean citizens are also unable to hide their disappointment."

He continued, "South Korea will face Jordan at home. The tiger of Asia aims to reach the highest peak, but the battle at the cliff's edge continues."

In the comments section of the article, Japanese netizens asserted that South Korea is no longer a rival to Japan.

"Japan and Iran are the strongest nations in Asia. Only South Korea, Australia, Uzbekistan, and Iraq are competing for the 3rd place position," it was stated.

Moreover, "There is no need to compare South Korea with Japan. Japan is the only team among Asian teams reaching a world-class level. The only teams capable of defeating Japan, aside from European teams, are the strong teams from South America and Africa. South Korea is also an Asian team, so why can't it perform like us?" it further explained.

"South Korea must realize that they are not at the top level in Asia. Now, 30 years after the establishment of the J-League, the positions of Japan and South Korea have completely changed. They are no longer our rivals," it was evaluated.

Meanwhile, it was noted, "South Korea only tries to surpass Japan. But Japan tries to surpass the world. Which side has a stronger sense of purpose?"

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