Japan prepare to host China in FIFA 2026 World Cup qualifier

In international football, Japan coach Hajime Moriyasu is looking forward to the returns of Junya Ito and Kaoru Mitoma ahead of welcoming China to Saitama as the third stage of Asian World Cup qualifying gets underway.

Japan are aiming for an eighth consecutive World Cup appearance but it won't be easy with Australia, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, China and Indonesia in Group C in the final stage.  

Asia's automatic allocation has increased from four to eight for 2026 with the world cup in Canada, the U.S. and Mexico now hosting 48 teams.

Ito is back for the first time since sexual assault allegations were dropped against him, with the Japanese FA saying his re-call is unrelated to that case.

Brighton forward Mitoma returns after lighting up the Premier League in the first half of last season before a back injury ruled him out for the rest of the campaign.

Moriyasu is delighted to have them both in the squad as attacking threats.

"I can definitely say that both of them are great weapons for our team. I want them to maximize their weapons in their time in the game. I hope that they will be involved in scoring," said Moriyasu.

The last time China qualified was for the 2002 edition in Japan and South Korea. That was the PRC's only appearance and they have it all to do if they want to make it to another tournament after squeaking into this stage thanks to a narrow defeat to South Korea.

After this, China host Saudi Arabia in Dalian on September 10th and despite being far from favorites to get anything out these two matches, coach Branko Ivankovic says anything can happen if the team give their all.

"It's true that I did have a lot of experiences playing against Japanese team. For Chinese team to face such a strong team, the result depends on if my players can play out the requirement in our training and practices," Ivankovic said.

"Depending on if our players can demonstrate our courage and enthusiasm to football. These are the crucial element for the match. Anything could happen in the pitch, we will never give up and compete with our brave hearts," he added.