With three games still to go in the third round of Asian qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Japan have already sealed qualification — the first team to do so all across the globe apart from co-hosts United States, Mexico and Canada.

On Thursday, with a 2-0 win over Bahrain, the Samurai Blue are assured of a top-two finish in Group C and a guaranteed berth at the World Cup, which will be their 8th consecutive appearance since debuting in 1998.

Given their track record, and the fact that they have spent over the last couple of decades widely regarded as one of the continent’s powerhouses, it should come as no surprise that the Japanese are once again marching on the football’s biggest stage.

Yet, the manner in which they have dominated their competition, in a group that was widely regarded to be the toughest, was impressive.

Here, we take a look back at their all-conquering journey over the past year and a half.

SECOND ROUND: 6 wins from 6, 24 goals scored, none conceded

Entering the qualifiers in the second round, a team like Japan was always expected to breeze through but the luck of the draw dealt them potential banana skins in Syria and North Korea.

But from the moment they swept aside Myanmar 5-0 in their campaign opener, there would be no looking back for the Samurai Blue as they racked up six straight wins — including a 3-0 walkover win over the North Koreans — while scoring 24 goals in the process and conceding none.

Japan saved their best for Syria, who have come close to qualifying for the World Cup themselves in recent times, as they twice put five goals past them with no reply — against the team meant to be their closest competitors.

There were standouts all over the park but it was perhaps Ayase Ueda who sparkled the brightest with a six-goal haul, as he gave even more evidence as to why coach Hajime Moriyasu has put his faith in him to be the spearhead of the Japanese attack.

Ritsu Dōan, Keito Nakamura and Kōki Ogawa also had multiple goals to their names.

THIRD ROUND

Sept. 5, 2024: Japan 7-0 China

Just as they did in the previous round, Japan had no intention to start slowly as they put seven goals past China — a staggering result that also led to repercussions over the sorry state their neighbouring opponents were in.

A 2-0 deficit was not the worst of halftime margins but the Samurai Blue completely stepped it up after the break.

Takumi Minamino put the result beyond doubt before the hour mark with a seven-minute double before Junya Itō, Daizen Maeda and Takefusa Kubo got in on the act in the final 13 minutes.

Sept. 10, 2024: Bahrain 0-5 Japan

While not as emphatic as five days earlier, a 5-0 rout of Bahrain also made many take notice given it came away from home in Riffa.

After firing a blank against the Chinese, Ueda returned to scoring ways with a brace to put his side in control, while midfielder Hidemasa Morita — who only had three previous international strikes to his name — also emerged as a surprise two-goal hero.

Oct. 10, 2024: Saudi Arabia 0-2 Japan

Coming up against Saudi Arabia — one of two teams seen as Japan’s fiercest competitors — Japan issued a statement of intent as they were relatively untroubled despite finding themselves in the intimidating away arena that Jeddah’s King Abdullah Sports City Stadium.

Daichi Kamada settled any nerves with a 14th-minute opener but it was not until Ogawa struck a second nine minutes from time that the Samurai Blue could breathe a little easier.

It is also worth nothing that up till this stage, Japan have yet to concede while taking their goal tally up to a staggering 38 from just nine matches.

Oct. 15, 2024: Japan 1-1 Australia

Finally, Japan’s perfect record had to come to an end — and it was Australia, their other expected top-of-the-table rivals, who would deal the first blemish.

In a peculiar game that didn’t exactly produce many clear scoring opportunites, especially in the opening 45, Japan were initially headed for defeat courtesy of a Shōgo Taniguchi own-goal — only for Australia’s Cameron Burgess to return the favour as both sides settled for a share of the spoils.

Nov. 14, 2024: Indonesia 0-4 Japan

After dropping their first points, would Japan be in an ideal position for the high-flying Indonesia to pull off an almighty upset?

That is what the Indonesians would have been hoping for, especially given they had — up to that point — claimed creditable draws against Saudi Arabia, Australia and Bahrain, and had only just suffered a first defeat at the hands of China.

Even after suffering a big blow a week or so earlier with Ueda ruled out for the rest of 2024 through a hamstring injury, the Samurai Blue barely looked bothered despite being on the receiving end of a villain’s reception from the majority of the 60,304 gathered at Gelora Bung Karno.

After surviving a few close shaves early on, Japan would be helped to the lead through a Justin Hubner own-goal and, when it was followed by a Minamino strike shortly after, it was always going to be their day — with Morita and Yukinari Sugawara chipping in after the break.

Nov. 19, 2024: China 1-3 Japan

The big question ahead of this tie — were Japan about to deal China another humbling defeat?

Not quite, but neither did China pose any sort of greater resistance than in their previous meeting.

In the absence of Ueda, however, Ogawa proved to Moriyasu he could potentially be a viable alternative as the focal point in attack — causing the Chinese defence all sorts of problems with his strength and aerial prowess en route to netting a double.

March 20: Japan 2-0 Bahrain

Which brings us to Thursday. After a four-month hiatus, the Asian qualifiers returned.

Japan were the only team heading into the round with a chance of progressing and, at the first attempt, they succeeded.

Despite Bahrain coach Dragan Talajić’s bold prematch talk that his side would be celebrating come the final whistle, it was a slight tepidness to Japan’s play — rather than anything the visitors produced — that led to a dour goalless first half.

Nonetheless, with Kubo stepping up to deliver a masterclass, the job got done.

A determined burst down the middle, after good hold-up work from Ueda, and a inventive reverse pass would release Kamada to finally break the deadlock in the 66th minute.

With three minutes remaining, a short corner routine with Itō saw Kubo advance into the area and, faced with an acute angle, almost all of the 58,000 or so people gathered at Saitama Stadium 2002 would have been expected him to deliver in a cross.

Everyone except himself, as he whipped in a shot just as Bahrain goalkeeper Ebrahim Lutfalla stole a step off his line – with the effort sneaking in at the near post and leaving all marvelling at Kubo’s stroke of genius.

Japan’s remaining qualifiers

– March 25: vs. Saudi Arabia (H)
– June 5: vs. Australia (A)
– June 10: vs. Indonesia (H)