Dissolved Japanese National Team

The North Korea-Japan match scheduled to be held in Pyongyang on the 26th was canceled.

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) announced on its official website on the 22nd (Korea Standard Time) that "the match between North Korea and Japan, which will be held as the second Asian qualifying match for the 2026 FIFA North and Central America World Cup and the 2027 AFC Saudi Arabia Asian Cup, was scheduled to be held on the 26th, but it will not be held due to unexpected developments."

The match between North Korea and Japan, which was scheduled to take place on Wednesday, was highly sought after as it was the first match between the national teams to be held in Pyongyang in about three years. The move came after AFC made an on-site inspection decision this month that the North could hold the second qualifying round at Kim Il Sung Stadium in Pyongyang. The North had participated in the 2022 World Cup qualifying round in Qatar but had not held an A-match citing the novel coronavirus infection disease (COVID-19). Then, the North started playing again for the second qualifying round for the 2026 World Cup from November 2023, only to have played away matches so far.

However, North Korea suddenly expressed its intention that it would not be able to hold the second preliminary match at Kim Il Sung Stadium ahead of the Pyongyang match. On the 20th, North Korea requested that the match against Japan be played in a neutral zone due to unavoidable circumstances through AFC. Local media speculated that it was a quarantine measure against streptocococcal toxic Gyork syndrome (STS), which has recently been reported as a deadly infectious disease in Japan, but the exact reason has not been revealed.

AFC has decided to postpone the schedule. Currently, there is not much time left for the team to play normally on Wednesday by designating a stadium in a neutral zone. In addition to simple mobility issues, AFC also has issues such as finding lodging and training grounds there.

AFC said the decision was made after discussions with FIFA and officials, adding, "The matter will be referred to a committee dealing with related issues at FIFA and further information will be delivered in due course."

Japan decided that it could no longer maintain the national team to wait for the match, so it disbanded the national team as of Tuesday. In the third round of the second qualifying round held on the 21st, the team beat North Korea 1-0, and planned to depart for Beijing on the 22nd for training before entering North Korea before the match.

Some media predicted that FIFA may declare North Korea's forfeiture as North Korea is responsible for the second qualifying round.

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