Japan crushes China in a total dominance match
Japan defeated China by a resounding 9-0 in a match for the Asian qualification for the 2026 World Cup. The Japanese dominance was absolute from the first minute, reflected in the score and the statistics.
Wataru Endo opened the scoring in the 12th minute, after an assist from Takefusa Kubo. Kaoru Mitoma extended the lead in the 45th, with an assist from Ritsu Doan. Takumi Minamino scored a brace in the second half (52′ and 58′), with assists from Mitoma and Ayase Ueda respectively. Junya Ito came on as a substitute and also scored two goals (77′ and 87′), with assists from Kubo and Ito respectively. Daizen Maeda (87′) and Kubo (90′) completed the rout.
Japan’s dominance was total, with 77% possession of the ball, 16 shots on goal (9 on target), 5 corners and 20 fouls. China, for its part, barely had any chances to score, with only 1 shot off target, 2 corners and 9 fouls.
The match was played at the Saitama Stadium 2002, in Saitama, Japan. The referee of the match was Ibrahim Al-Jassim Abdulrahman, from Qatar.
Substitutions china: at minute 46 Gao Zhunyi came in and Xie Wenneng went out., at minute 61 Abduweli Behram came in and Xu Haoyang went out., at minute 61 Fernandinho came in and Zhang Yuning went out., at minute 61 Alan came in and Wu Lei went out., at minute 76 Wang Shangyuan came in and LI Yuanyi went out.
Substitutions japan: at minute 63 J. Ito came in and K. Mitoma went out., at minute 63 D. Maeda came in and R. Doan went out., at minute 71 A. Tanaka came in and W. Endo went out., at minute 71 K. Takai came in and K. Itakura went out., at minute 79 K. Ogawa came in and A. Ueda went out.
The teams lined up as follows:
Japan
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