AFC Asian Qualifiers
Kamada netted in the 66th minute and Kubo added the second with three minutes left as the Samurai Blue moved onto 19 points from seven games to guarantee Hajime Moriyasu’s side a top two finish in Group C and confirm their progress to an eighth consecutive finals.
Bahrain, meanwhile, remain on six points with three matches to play and take on Indonesia in Jakarta on Tuesday still in contention for the second remaining qualifying spot or a place in the next phase of the qualifiers.
Dragan Talajic’s team had put their hosts under early pressure with Mahdi Abduljabbar’s speculative overhead kick clearing the crossbar in the sixth minute after Ali Madan had clipped the ball into the penalty area
Kubo’s movement saw the Real Sociedad playmaker open up the Bahrain defence two minutes later, only for Amine Benaddi’s desperate sliding block to deny the Japan winger as he latched onto Wataru Endo’s return pass into the penalty area.
The Japanese thought they had gone in front from the resulting corner when Endo pounced from close range, but referee Abdulrahman Al Jassim ruled out the strike for handball by Ayase Ueda in the build-up after consulting the pitchside monitor.
Kubo continued to threatened as he floated around in the space behind Ueda although, with the Bahrainis disciplined and organised in defence, Japan were finding it difficult to break through.
They looked set to go in front with fewer than four minutes left in the half as Kubo released Mitoma down the left and the Brighton man’s centre found Ueda 12 yards from goal. However, Waleed Al Hayam’s well-timed block steered the shot wide of the target.
Mitoma then fired over the bar with a shot on the run having been played in behind the Bahrain defence by a perfectly judged pass from Hidemasa Morita and the visitors made it to the interval without conceding.
Ritsu Doan and Takumi Minamino make way for Kamada and Junya Ito in the 63rd minute and, within three minutes, the move paid off as the midfielder struck.
Hiroki Ito’s pass from deep found Ueda in the centre circle and, using his strength to protect possession, the striker turned to find Kubo as he stormed forward to slip the ball into Kamada’s path. He coolly slotted in despite a push in the back.
Mahdi Al Humaidan almost capitalised on Zion Suzuki’s error as Bahrain sought an equaliser but Kubo put the result beyond doubt in the 87th minute, beating Ebrahim Lutfallah at his near post with a cheeky finish to spark wild celebrations amongst the Japanese.
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