Japan team in action©AFP
Japan look set to enter the final stages of their 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign without playing a football after FIFA said their match against North Korea will not be rescheduled. North Korea was scheduled to hold its qualifiers in the capital Pyongyang on Tuesday, but five days before the match, officials abruptly said the isolated country could not serve as host without giving a reason. On Friday, the Asian Football Confederation said the match had been cancelled, and FIFA said over the weekend it “will neither take place nor be rescheduled”, citing a lack of space on the international football calendar.
World football’s governing body added: “The matter and the outcome of the match will be referred to FIFA’s disciplinary committee.”
The result could be a 3-0 defeat for North Korea, which would send Japan into the third stage of World Cup qualifying with the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Japan beat North Korea 1-0 in Tokyo on Thursday to make it three wins in three games in Group B of the Asian Qualifiers.
Head coach Hajime Moriho, who led Japan to the last 16 of the World Cup in Qatar with wins over Spain and Germany, has been viewing the North Korean game as an opportunity to improve after a poor performance at home.
“Unfortunately, we lost the opportunity to correct the areas of concern and potential areas of improvement that were identified,” he said Friday.
“Our goal is to improve as a team on the foundation we’ve built so far.”
Last month, Japan was knocked out of the Asian Cup quarter-finals by Iran 2-1.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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