Japan’s place at the 2026 FIFA World Cup is already secure, but the Samurai Blue endured a frustrating night at Saitama Stadium 2002 on Tuesday when they were held to a 0-0 draw by Saudi Arabia.
Following on from his side booking their eighth consecutive appearance at the World Cup with a 2-0 win over Bahrain last Thursday, Japan manager Hajime Moriyasu made six changes to his starting line-up for the contest against fellow qualification hopefuls Saudi Arabia.
Kawasaki Frontale’s Kota Takai was one of the half a dozen players to come into the XI, making his first start for the national team and looking incredibly assured as he completed the full 90 minutes and contributed to the team’s clean sheet.
Former Nagoya Grampus full-back Yukinari Sugawara, Ao Tanaka, ex Gamba Osaka forward Keito Nakamura, Daichi Kamada - who scored Japan’s vital opener against Bahrain - and Daizen Maeda were the other five changes.
Maeda finished as the J.League’s joint top scorer with 23 goals while playing for Yokohama F･Marinos in 2021, and caused problems all evening with his pace and desire to get in behind the visitors’ defence.
His first attempt came after nine minutes, but after running onto a crisp ball in behind from former Kawasaki-F midfielder Tanaka he saw his strike cannon off the near post.
It looked as though Maeda would have another chance to open the scoring 10 minutes later, but the ball got caught under his feet after he closed down Ali Lajami and won possession just inside the Saudi Arabia half and the chance got away from him.
After surviving those early scares Saudi Arabia seemed content to pack bodies behind the ball and protect their point, and Japan’s only other meaningful chance fell Junya Ito’s way with eight minutes left on the clock.
The former Kashiwa Reysol winger opened up his body nicely after meeting a perfect through ball from ex-Sagan Tosu forward Kamada, but his curling left-footed effort was tipped over the bar by Saudi Arabia goalkeeper Nawaf Al Aqidi.
Despite not being able to secure all three points Japan remain unbeaten and 7 points clear at the top of Group C, and they will be looking to close the qualifiers out in style when they play their remaining two games against Australia and Indonesia in June.
