Japan beat China in WC qualifiers

Yuya Osako's first-half goal helped Japan beat China 1-0 in the final round of the FIFA World Cup Asian Zone qualifiers here on Tuesday, reported Xinhua.

China came into the game on the back of a 3-0 defeat to Australia, while Japan was stunned by Oman 1-0 in its opener of the final qualifying round. Both teams were eager to get their qualification campaign back on track.

But the Chinese team suffered an early setback as veteran defender Zhang Linpeng had to be stretched out just five minutes into play and Zhu Chenjie filled his place.

Japan took control from the kickoff and hit the woodwork twice before Junya Ito raced down the right flank and found Osako inside the box, who tapped in the ball to put his side 1-0 ahead in the 40th minute.

After the restart, China managed to keep Japan at bay but was unable to level the score despite making four substitutions in a bid to strengthen counter-attack.

China was drawn into Group B of the final round with Australia, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Vietnam. The top two will qualify for Qatar 2022 directly. The third finisher will play a home-and-away playoff with its counterpart in Group A, and the winner will go into a continental playoff.

Elsewhere on Tuesday, Australia beat Vietnam 1-0 to top the group, while Saudi Arabia led Oman 1-0 at halftime.