Even with the first continental ranking and players with vast international experience, Hajime Moriyasu's Japanese team faces a journey into the unknown in back-to-back World Cup qualifying matches against North Korea.
Asian qualifying resumes on Thursday when Japan will host North Korea in Tokyo. Five days later, Japan will play in Pyongyang in front of a potential crowd of 50,000, almost exclusively North Koreans, at Kim Il Sung Stadium.
The Japanese Football Association's request for the match to be moved from the North Korean capital to a neutral venue amid concerns about a lack of operational transparency (including information on visas and logistics) was rejected by the Asian Confederation. soccer.
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“Probably a lot of unexpected things can happen,” said Moriyasu, the Japan coach. “We just have to be prepared.”
Japan has scored 10 goals in its first two matches against Myanmar and Syria in the second round of Asian qualifying. Back-to-back wins over North Korea, which lost 1-0 to Syria before responding with a 6-1 win over Myanmar, could secure progress to the third round as one of the top two teams in Group B.
But Japan's men's team has not played in Pyongyang since a 2011 loss to North Korea in the 2014 World Cup qualifying stages.
The last men's international match in Pyongyang was in 2019, when the visiting South Korean team complained about a lack of contact with the outside world and an overly physical approach by the host team.
When Japan beat North Korea at the Asian Games in October, players from the losing team abused the referee.
“I admit that our players were a little emotional in the match, but this is football,” North Korea coach Sin Yong Nam said at the time. “But there are confrontations in football matches… I think our behavior It is acceptable”.
Japan's head coach Hajime Moriyasu sits on the bench before an Asian Cup soccer match between Iraq and Japan in Qatar, Jan. 19, 2024. Japan will face North Korea in back-to-back qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi, File)
Moriyasu decided not to select striker Junya Ito, who has been investigated by police after being accused of sexual assault in Osaka last year. Ito has been playing for French club Reims and scored the winning goal against Metz on Sunday.
“I tried to imagine what the environment would have been like for him in Japan and I didn't think it would allow him to live and play football in peace,” Moriyasu said. “It wasn't just him; I didn't think the whole team could have gone about their business in peace.”
South Korea, which is bidding to participate in the World Cup for the 11th consecutive time, also has to deal with controversies.
The team's last match was a surprise Asian Cup semi-final loss to Jordan, which resulted in the dismissal of Jurgen Klinsmann as head coach. Since then, a fight during the tournament between star players Son Heung-min and Lee Kang-in that resulted in Son injuring his finger has been making headlines.
Lee, who plays for Paris Saint-Germain, drew fierce criticism on social media and later publicly apologized to Son, the team captain. Son later asked fans to forgive the younger player. Interim coach Hwang Sun-hong has selected both players for what will be his first game in charge against Thailand in Seoul.
“I don't think this is a problem just between the two of them,” Hwang said. “Everyone who was there, from the players to the coaches to the support staff members, has to take responsibility…we all have to be prepared to atone for our mistakes in front of our fans.”
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Asian Cup champion Qatar played in the last World Cup as the host nation but never secured a place in the world tournament through qualification. The Qataris are determined to rectify that situation and are so far 2-0 in the second qualifying round ahead of their match against Kuwait.
Also with six points at the top of their groups are Australia and Saudi Arabia.
The Socceroos, who have qualified for the last five World Cups, host Lebanon in Sydney and Canberra, and Saudi Arabia have home-and-away matches against Tajikistan.
The top two from each of the nine groups will advance to the third qualifying round. Asia's automatic World Cup allocation has increased to eight by 2026.
