Japan Unleashes Fury in ‘Group of Death’: 12 Goals in 2 Games, Including 5-0 Thrashing of Bahrain
Japan Dominates Bahrain 5-0 in World Cup Qualifier
Japan’s national soccer team, led by coach Hajime Moriyasu, secured a convincing 5-0 victory against Bahrain in the second match of Group C of the 2026 FIFA World Cup North and Central America Asia 3rd qualifying round.
The match, held at the National Stadium in Ifa, Bahrain, saw Japan’s European players take center stage, including Ayase Ueda (Feyenoord), Takumi Minamino (AS Monaco), Ritz Doan (Freiburg), Kaoru Mitoma (Brighton & Hove Albion), Daichi Kamada (Crystal Palace), Hidemasa Morita (Sporting CP), Shogo Taniguchi (Sint-Truiden), Wataru Endo (Liverpool), Go Itakura (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Koki Machida (Union Saint-Gilloise), and goalkeeper Jion Suzuki (Parma).
Japan threatened Bahrain early on, with Doan taking a cross from Mitoma and hitting the goal post with a threatening shot just 8 minutes after kickoff. Ten minutes later, Minamino connected with a right-footed shot from Doan’s pass, putting Bahrain on the back foot.
The breakthrough came in the 33rd minute of the first half when a cross from Kamada led to an opponent’s handball, resulting in a penalty kick. Ueda stepped up as the kicker and calmly succeeded, scoring the first goal.
Japan finished the first half with one goal, but in the second half, they started to fire off a frightening goal firecracker. In the third minute of the second half, Japan’s unique passing play was clearly displayed, with Mitoma, Kamada, and Ito combining to set up Ueda for a smooth turning shot.
Bahrain, who had regrouped at halftime, lost their fighting spirit after conceding an early goal. Japan, seeing this, stepped on the accelerator even more, and in the second half, Junya Ito (Stade de Reims) joined in with an effective shot, pushing Bahrain further.
As Japan created a one-sided pace, even the defensive midfielder Morita exploded. In the 16th minute of the second half, Morita exchanged a 2-on-1 pass with Ueda in front of the goal and made it 3-0 with an accurate shot. Three minutes later, Mitoma broke through the left and connected with a ground cross, pushing it in again to quickly increase the score to 4-0.
Japan continued to shake Bahrain’s goal net. In the 35th minute of the second half, when Keito Nakamura (Stade de Reims)’s powerful shot was blocked by the goalkeeper, Koki headed it in to finish the game with a 5-0 victory.
Group C, which Japan is in, is called the group of death in the third round of qualifying. Top-seeded Japan, Australia, and Saudi Arabia are all there, along with dark horse Bahrain from the Middle East and Indonesia, whose power has been rapidly improved by coach Shin Tae-yong. China is the only one with the weakest power, and the rest are expected to have similar close matches.
