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FourFourTwo
FourFourTwo
Sport
Ryan Dabbs

Why Japan WON'T be happy they've become first nation to qualify for 2026 World Cup

World Cup Japan Hajime Moriyasu Oceania
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).

Japan have become the first team - not including the hosts Canada, Mexico and USA - to qualify for the 2026 World Cup, with their 2-0 win against Bahrain on Thursday confirming their progression to the main tournament next summer.

In doing so, Argentina and the winner of Oceania's automatic qualification race have been spared the paradoxical ignominy of qualifying first for a World Cup, which hasn't always been a good thing in the past.

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