Goals in each half from Yusuke Minagawa and Tsukasa Shiotani earned Sanfrecce Hiroshima a deserved 2-0 win over Auckland City to book their spot in the Club World Cup quarter-finals.
The J.League champions, making their second appearance in the tournament, had too much quality for the New Zealanders in Thursday's play-off contest in Yokohama.
Sanfrecce's opener was somewhat contentious as Minagawa was seemingly offside when following up Gakuto Notsuda's saved shot.
Hajime Moriyasu's side can now look forward to a last-eight tie with TP Mazembe.
Sanfrecce were rewarded for a bright start when Minagawa tapped home after Jacob Spoonley made a hash of Notsuda's curving effort as Auckland's claims for offside fell on deaf ears.
Auckland, who enjoyed a fine third-placed finish in last season's competition, sought a swift response and Joao Moreira stole the ball deep in the opposition half and forced Takuto Hayashi into a save from the edge of the box.
But Sanfrecce remained a threat and Spoonley did well to foil Minagawa when one-on-one, while Shiotani wasted a free header from Yoshifumi Kashiwa's inviting right-wing cross.
Sanfrecce almost had a third when Douglas leapt high to meet a cross from the right, but Spoonley made a fine low stop to keep out the Brazilian's header.
