JAPAN qualified for a seventh straight World Cup by beating Australia 2-0 Thursday and ended the Socceroos’ chances of automatic qualification.
The result in Sydney also qualified Saudi Arabia from Group B.
Japan has 21 points in the group, two more than the Saudis ahead of their match against China later Thursday.
Australia remains in contention for a playoff spot in third place. The Aussies face a playoff against the third-place team from Group A and a possible final game against South American opposition.
Substitute Kaoru Mitoma scored two late goals for Japan after Takumi Minamino came close on five occasions.
Mitomo came on in the 84th minute and scored in 89th after a pull back from Miki Yamane. His low shot then bobbled under Australia goalkeeper Matthew Ryan in injury time.
“The win was the result of the players preparing hard and working hard and I hope the fans
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