JAPAN : HOW THEY QUALIFIED

Japan won its Asian preliminary group with a 6-0-0 mark and finished atop Group B (5-1-0, 15 points) over Iran (4-1-1, 13), which also qualified. With the exception of host country Germany (which received an automatic berth when they got the World Cup bid in 2000), the Japanese became the first country to clinch a berth with a 2-0 win over North Korea in Bangkok, Thailand. Atsushi Yanagisawa and Masashi Oguro scored in the second half. The match was played behind closed doors.

QUALIFYING RESULTS
2/18/04 Japan 1, Oman 0
3/31/04 Singapore 1, Japan 2
6/9/04 Japan 7, India 0
9/8/04 India 0, Japan 4
10/13/04 Oman 0, Japan 1
11/17/04 Japan 1, Singapore 0
2/9/05 Japan 2, North Korea 1
3/25/05 Iran 2, Japan 1
3/30/05 Japan 1, Bahrain 0
6/3/05 Bahrain 1, Japan 0
6/8/05 North Korea 0, Japan 2
8/17/05 Japan 2, Iran 1