Japan's route to the World Cup finals

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HOW THEY QUALIFIED

Group 1 - Asian fourth round qualifying

P W D L F A Pts

1. Australia * 8 6 2 0 12 1 20

2. Japan * 8 4 3 1 11 6 15

3. Bahrain ** 8 3 1 4 6 8 10

4. Qatar 8 1 3 4 5 14 6

5. Uzbekistan 8 1 1 6 5 10 4

* Qualified for the 2010 FIFA World Cup

** Qualified for two-legged playoff, with the winner advancing to face New Zealand for a place at the World Cup

Group 2 - Asian third round qualifying

P W D L F A Pts

1. Japan * 6 4 1 1 12 3 13

2. Bahrain * 6 3 2 1 7 5 11

3. Oman 6 2 2 2 5 7 8

4. Thailand 6 0 1 5 5 14 1

* Qualified for the next stage of the Asian World Cup qualifying competition

- - - -

QUALIFYING RESULTS

06.02.08

Japan 4 Thailand 1

In Saitama

Scorers:

Japan: Yasuhito Endo 21, Yoshito Okubo 54, Yuji Nakazawa 66, Seiichiro Maki 90+1

Thailand: Teeratep Winothai 22

- -

26.03.08

Bahrain 1 Japan 0

In Manama

Scorer: Aala Hubail 78

- -

02.06.08

Japan 3 Oman 0

In Yokohama

Scorers: Yuji Nakazawa 10, Yoshito Okubo 22, Shunsuke Nakamura 49

- -

07.06.08

Oman 1 Japan 1

Scorers: Oman: Ahmed Mubarak 12

Japan: Yasuhito Endo 53pen

- -

14.06.08

Thailand 0 Japan 3

In Bangkok

Scorers: Marcus Tulio Tanaka 23, Yuji Nakazawa 38, Kengo Nakamura 88

- -

22.06.08

Japan 1 Bahrain 0

In Saitama

Scorer: Atsuto Uchida 90

- -

06.09.08

Bah