A spectator with patriotic slogans written in Chinese on his t-shirt and body ran onto the field and briefly disrupted the China-Japan soccer World Cup qualifier in China's eastern city Xiamen on Tuesday.

XIAMEN -- China conceded three headers and lost to Japan 3-1 in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier here on Tuesday. In the first leg clash between the two teams in September, the Japanese team thrashed China 7-0. The Chinese side started the match with high-quality defending, until the 39th minute, when Koki Ogawa headed home in a corner cross.

Japan is within touching distance of an eighth successive World Cup appearance after beating China 3-1 in Xiamen put the team 10 points clear in its Asian qualifying group.

Japan moved to the cusp of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup on Tuesday as a 3-1 win over hosts China coupled with Australia's 2-2 draw in Bahrain took Hajime Moriyasu's side nine points clear in Group C of the third round of Asia's preliminaries.

Koki Ogawa scored on a pair of headers as Japan took another step toward the 2026 World Cup with a 3-1 win away to China that

Saudi Arabia's troubled 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign hit a new setback as they were beaten 2-0 by Indonesia in Jakarta on Tuesday. Marselino Ferdinan, who plays his football in England with Oxford United,

Japan's march to the 2026 World Cup continued on Tuesday as Hajime Moriyasu's side handed China a 3-1 defeat in Xiamen while Iran eked out a late 3-2 win over Kyrgyzstan and South Korea were held to a 1-1 draw by Palestine.