North Korea's cancellation of the World Cup qualifiers at home forced the Japanese men's football team to temporarily disband, and Japanese media analyzed the reasons for the cancellation by the North Korean side
The Japanese national football team, which was canceled in the second phase of the 2026 World Cup Asian qualifiers, announced its early dissolution due to a sudden notification from North Korea. The Japan Football Association said through its website on the 22nd, "Discussions were held with FIFA through the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and as a result, the second round of the World Cup qualifiers scheduled to be held in Pyongyang or a neutral area on the 26th will not be held." According to this decision, the Japanese men's national football team will conclude its March A-level competition (a competition between national teams) on the 22nd. What measures will be taken for this match will be announced at a later date. ”
On the 21st, at the Tokyo National Stadium, the Korean Federation of Koreans (KK) cheering group wearing red shirts was cheering for the North Korean men's football team participating in the World Preliminary Championships.
The head coach of the Japanese men's national team, Hoichi Moriyasu, said through the Japan Football Association: "I didn't get a chance to make up for the problems that arose in the first match [with North Korea]. It's also a shame to lose the opportunity to use more players. Thank you to the players who accepted the call-up under difficult circumstances. ”
AFC officially announced through its website on the afternoon of the same day that the fourth round of Group B of the second stage of the 2026 North Central American World Cup Asian Qualifiers between North Korea and Japan on the 26th will not be held as scheduled. "The decision (above) was made on the 20th of this month after being notified by the North Korean side that the venue of the competition must be moved to a neutral area due to unavoidable circumstances," the AFC said. ”
Prior to the announcement, AFC Secretary General Dato Windsor John said in an interview with the media that the match between North Korea and Japan would be held as originally planned, but it seemed that the venue issue had not been resolved. It is unclear how the World Cup qualifiers schedule will be played due to North Korea's sudden announcement that it is "unable to play home games".
On the 21st, the Tokyo National Stadium was plastered with posters related to the World Cup qualifiers between the Japanese men's football team and the North Korean men's football team.
Some Japanese media believe that if it is postponed for a while, it will be difficult to schedule additional matches during the A-division competition in June, so they also predict that their home country will win directly.
The match was supposed to be held in Pyongyang. North Korea and Japan are drawn in Group B of the second phase of the 2026 North Central American World Cup Asian Qualifiers. In a match in the third round of the group stage held at the Shinjuku New National Stadium in Tokyo, Japan, Japan defeated North Korea 1-0.
According to the home-and-away format, the fourth round was originally scheduled to be held at the Kim Il Sung Stadium in Pyongyang on the 26th, but the North Korean side suddenly said that it would be difficult to hold a home game. It's unclear why North Korea is embarrassed about the home game. Secretary-General John was also silent about this, and the AFC announcement only mentioned "inevitable circumstances".
In this regard, Japan's Kyodo News Agency analyzed: "North Korea reported Japan's 'malignant infectious disease'. This may be an anti-epidemic measure to warn the increasing number of people infected with streptococcal toxic shock syndrome (STSS) in Japan. ”