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FourFourTwo
FourFourTwo
Sport
Chris Nee

Japan are the first team to qualify for the 2026 World Cup – are they an outside bet to succeed next summer?

Japan World Cup Hajime Moriyasu Samurai Blue Tomoki Iwata Wataru Endo Yuto Nagatomo Bahrain Birmingham City Celtic
SAITAMA, JAPAN - MARCH 20: Japanese players pose for photographers as they qualified for the World Cup 2026 during the FIFA World Cup Asian qualifier Group C match between Japan and Bahrain at Saitama Stadium on March 20, 2025 in Saitama, Japan. (Photo by Kaz Photography/Getty Images).

The 2026 World Cup has its first qualified team. Japan will travel to the tournament in Canada, Mexico and the USA next summer.

Samurai Blue clinched their qualification with a 2-0 win against Bahrain in Saitama, putting them out of reach of Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia and China in their group.

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