North Korea-Japan North, Central America World Cup Qualifier

North Korea-Japan North, Central America World Cup Qualifier Ends Up Being Disrupted... We will not Open on the 26th

AFC, website announcement... “North Korea notifies holding of neutral zone due to unavoidable circumstances”

The 2026 FIFA North and Central America World Cup Asia second qualifying match between North Korea and Japan, due to controversy over the venue, was ultimately unable to be held on time.

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) announced on its website on the afternoon of the 22nd, "The North Korea-Japan North Korea-Japan World Cup 2nd qualifying match scheduled to be held on the 26th will not be held as scheduled due to an unexpected situation."

He said, "It was decided after consultation with FIFA and other officials. 카지노

This decision was made following notification from North Korea on the 20th that the match venue must be moved to a neutral area due to unavoidable circumstances."

Previously, AFC Secretary-General Dato Windsor John expressed his intention to hold the North Korea-Japan match as scheduled through the media, but it appears that the venue issue could not be resolved.

A few hours before the announcement on the website, Secretary-General John said in an interview with AFP that the match would be held in a third country.

It has been stated that “must be specified.”

It has not been decided how to proceed with the World Cup qualifying schedule, which was problematic due to North Korea's sudden notice that 'home games are not possible'.

While it is unclear whether they are postponing the 'North Korea-Japan Match' or canceling the game itself, AFC only added that they will discuss this situation with a committee under FIFA and announce the decision at a later date.

This match was originally supposed to be held in Pyongyang.

North Korea and Japan were grouped together in Group B of the 2026 North and Central America World Cup Asian second qualifying round group stage.

The day before, in the third game held at the New National Stadium in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan, Japan defeated North Korea 1-0.

The fourth game on the 26th was scheduled to be held at Kim Il-sung Stadium in Pyongyang according to the home-and-away format, but North Korea suddenly announced that it would be difficult to host the home game.

It is not known why North Korea expressed difficulty in attending the home game.

Secretary General John also kept silent, and in the AFC notice, it was only mentioned as an ‘inevitable circumstance’.

During a local inspection this month, AFC determined that there were no problems with playing at Kim Il-sung Stadium.

In relation to this, Japan's Kyodo News said, "Japan's 'malignant infectious disease' is being reported in North Korea," and analyzed, "It appears to be a quarantine measure to guard against Streptococcal Toxic Shock Syndrome (STSS), which is increasing the number of infections in Japan."

On February 24, the first round of the 2024 Paris Olympics women's soccer Asian final qualifying match between North Korea and Japan was also held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, not Pyongyang.

As concerns continued over the possibility of insufficient flights and unclear game management, the AFC requested North Korea to find an alternative venue, and the venue was eventually changed.

Japan (9 points), which ranks first in Group B of the World Cup Asian Preliminaries by winning all three matches, is on the verge of advancing to the third round of the North and Central America World Cup.

On the other hand, North Korea (3 points), with 1 win and 2 losses, desperately needs one win.

The top two from each group will advance to the third preliminary round.

Currently, North Korea is in third place in the group after Syria (1 win, 1 draw, 1 loss, 4 points).