Japan beat China 7-0 at home to begin their 2026 World Cup final-round Asian qualifiers on Thursday, Sep. 5.

This result marks a successful turnaround as Japan had lost in this fixture in their last two final-round campaigns.

Japan are ranked 18th in the Fifa rankings.

Goals from Wataru Endo and Kaoru Mitoma gave the home team a 2-0 lead at the break at Saitama Stadium.

Japan opened the scoring in the 12th minute when a corner found unmarked captain Endo, who buried a header.

The next goal came in first-half stoppage time from a header as well.

Japan's third and fourth goal in the 52nd and 58th minute were courtesy of Takumi Minamino.

Junya Ito scored in the 77th minute after coming on as a substitute after more than an hour into the game.

Late goals from Daizen Maeda and Takefusa Kubo completed the rout in the Group C opener.

China, ranked 87th, had one shot all game.

The top two teams from the group qualify automatically for the finals in Canada, Mexico and the United States. Japan next play on Tuesday away to Bahrain, who won 1-0 at Australia.

Top photo via AFC Asian Cup YouTube