Japan, South Korea celebrate World Cup qualification with big wins
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OSAKA: Crystal Palace forward Daichi Kamada scored twice for Japan and Paris St Germain’s Lee Kang-in netted for South Korea as the Asian giants rounded off successful World Cup qualifying campaigns in style on Tuesday.
Japan romped to a 6-0 thrashing of Patrick Kluivert’s Indonesia in Osaka, while South Korea cruised to a 4-0 win over Kuwait in Seoul where fans were treated to a late appearance by their idol Son Heung-min.
FA Cup winner Kamada scored with a well-placed header after 15 minutes to set Japan, preparing for an eighth consecutive World Cup after finishing as Group ‘C’ winners, on their way.
Takefusa Kubo added a second five minutes later and Kamada extended the lead just before the break, capping a move orchestrated by Kubo and Yuki Mito.
Japan continued to dominate after the break. Ryoya Morishita volleyed in the fourth in the 55th minute, and Shuto Machino added a fifth just three minutes later following a deft assist from Kubo.
Substitute Mao Hosoya completed the rout in the 81st minute, firing home after a surging run and cross from Kota Tawaratsumida as Indonesia, who came fourth in the group, moved on to a further qualifying round.
Japan coach Hajime Moriyasu has set the ambitious target of winning next year’s expanded 48-team World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
His side will play friendlies against teams from outside Asia over the next 12 months and Kamada is looking to learn from the experience.
“Playing against Asian teams and against the kind of European teams who will be at the World Cup is totally different,” said the 28-year-old. “As we play these games, we will start to see a lot of areas where we need to improve. We need to come together as a team and overcome these problems when they crop up.”
Moriyasu said his players need to keep improving “in all departments” and praised their attitude against Indonesia. “The challenge for the players is to break past their limits and grow,” he said.
Wang Yudong’s 90th-minute penalty enabled already eliminated China to avoid finishing bottom of Group ‘C’ with a consolation 1-0 win over Bahrain in Chongqing.
Second-placed Australia were facing third-placed Saudi Arabia later in Group ‘C’ in Jeddah to decide the final Asian qualifier from this round.
Iran and Uzbekistan are already through to next year’s finals from Group ‘A’ and Jordan will finish second in Group ‘B’ to South Korea, who secured qualification last week with a game to spare.
Jeon Jin-woo, who plays in the K-League for Jeonbuk, gave South Korea, who have qualified for an 11th straight World Cup, a 1-0 half-time lead against Kuwait at Seoul World Cup Stadium when he got a piece of Hwang In-beom’s corner and saw the ball went in off the left leg of defender Fahad Al-Hajeri.
The Koreans took control after the break with strikes from European-based trio Lee of PSG, Oh Hyeon-gyu of Belgium’s Genk and Lee Jae-sung of German club Mainz 05.
Tottenham’s Son, who has been struggling with injury, came on as a 75th-minute substitute to an ovation from the home fans but could not add to the 4-0 margin.
Third and fourth-placed teams in each of the three groups go into a fourth round of Asian qualifying with two more places up for grabs.
Published in Dawn, June 11th, 2025
