Jakarta, CNN Indonesia —
Japan will face hosts Saudi Arabia in the third round 2026 World Cup Qualification. Can Japan continue its scoring spree again?
The Samurai Blue team, which has the highest ranking among other Asian countries, showed a different level when undergoing the first two matches in the third round of the 2026 Asian Cup Qualification. Japan not only wins, but always holds goal parties.
Japan successfully picked up six points from wins against China and Bahrain. Japan beat China with a score of 7-0 in front of their supporters. After that, Japan recorded a spectacular 5-0 victory when they visited Bahrain.
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Even if we go back further, Japan’s scoring spree has been going on since last March when they were still competing in the second round of the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers. Japan beat North Korea (3-0), Myanmar (5-0) and Syria (5-0).
Thus, Japan recorded 25 goals in the last five matches. This means that the Blue Samurai has scored an average of five goals per match.
However, this frightening trend will face a tough test when Japan visits Jeddah on Thursday (10/10) local time. Saudi Arabia will be a difficult opponent for Japan.
In the last two meetings at Saudi Arabia’s headquarters, namely in the 2018 and 2022 World Cup Qualification events, Japan always lost. In these two matches, Japan lost with a narrow score of 0-1.
This meeting history is what makes it difficult for Japan to continue the trend of big wins in this match. Moreover, Saudi Arabia also has strong motivation to win the match in order to displace Japan from the top of the standings.
Saudi Arabia currently has four points from the first two matches. Saudi Arabia drew 1-1 against Indonesia then won 2-1 against China.
[Gambas:Video CNN]
(nva)
