A place in the last 16 of the Asian Cup will be at stake on Wednesday at Al Thumama Stadium when Japan take on Indonesia.
Both teams are level after two group fixtures with three points each after the Japanese were beaten 2-1 by Iraq, and Indonesia walked away with a 1-0 triumph over Vietnam.
Since June 2023, Japan have been tearing through the competition, but they were humbled by Iraq in their previous encounter, as their 11-match winning run in all competitions came to an end.
Doha was the site of their previous group stage defeat at this tournament in 1988 (3-0 versus Qatar), and over 35 years later, they lost there again on Friday.
Nineteen eighty-eight was also the last time Japan had suffered consecutive defeats in the Asian Cup finals, and they will be in danger of missing the knockout stage of this tournament for the first time since that year should they lose this fixture.
Their matchday two defeat was the first time since March 2023 (2-1 loss to Colombia) that Hajime Moriyasu had not seen his side net multiple times in a single game.
0 Comments