Sugawara's Japan become first nation to qualify for World Cup
Southampton defender Yukinari Sugawara has helped Japan become the first country to qualify for next year’s FIFA World Cup.
A 2-0 victory over Bahrain in Saitama on Thursday morning gave Japan an unassailable 13-point lead ahead of third-placed Saudi Arabia in Group C of the Asian qualifying campaign.
Japan, for whom Crystal Palace’s Daichi Kamada opened the scoring, are also nine points ahead of Australia in second with three qualifiers remaining.
Sugawara was an unused substitute for the game, but has featured in four of Japan’s World Cup qualifiers and scored two goals in that time.
Next up is another home game against Saudi Arabia, who will be hoping to leapfrog Australia, on Tuesday 25th March (10.35am GMT). The top two will qualify automatically for next summer’s tournament in Canada, Mexico and USA.
