As a result, North Korea suffered a forfeiture game loss. Japan will win 3-0.
"FIFA has canceled the World Cup qualifying round between North Korea and Japan, which was scheduled to be held in Pyongyang on Tuesday (June 26)," the Associated Press said on Monday. "North Korea has yet to arrange an alternative venue and there is no room for postponement. FIFA has decided not to hold a preliminary match on Saturday (23rd) nor reschedule." 토토사이트 추천
The Associated Press also said, "The North Korean Football Association is expected to be referred to the FIFA Disciplinary Committee regarding the game," adding, "North Korea will receive a 0-3 forfeiture game loss."
As a result, Japan beat North Korea 1-0 at home on the 21st and won 3-0 without playing an away game. Japan, which has recorded four consecutive wins (12), became the first country to win a ticket to the third Asian qualifying round, which will be held from September, regardless of the remaining two games in June.
North Korea ranked third in Group B with one win and three losses (three points). The North is one point behind Syria (four points). As the North is scheduled to hold home games with Myanmar and Syria in June, it is highly likely that the North will fail to qualify for the second qualifying round due to the forfeited game loss.
Earlier on the 22nd, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) officially announced on its website that the match between North Korea and Japan will not be held on the scheduled date. Initially, AFC expressed its willingness to hold the match in a third country on the scheduled date despite North Korea's unexpected notification that the match will not be held.
Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Secretary-General Dato Windsor told AFP on the 22nd that the North Korea-Japan match will be held as scheduled in a neutral area without cancellation or postponement.
However, he only expressed his willingness to push ahead with the game without answering specific venues or agreements.
In the end, John's remarks became a lie a few hours later. "The issue will now be referred to the FIFA-related committee, and there will be content to be updated in due course," AFC said in an official announcement.
FIFA meant to look into the issue, and eventually delayed the date and canceled it at all and declared a 0-3 defeat to North Korea, rather than holding it in North Korea or a third country.
For North Korea, which lost 0-1 in an away match to Tokyo on the 21st, it was possible to play in the third qualifying round if it played an equal return match at Kim Il-sung Stadium, which is covered with artificial turf, taking advantage of the disappointment of losing to Japan by one goal in the enemy territory.
However, there was a commotion when North Korea suddenly announced that it could not play against Japan on the 26th, hours before the away game against Japan.
"Japan's 'malignant infectious disease' is being reported in North Korea," Japan's Kyoto News Agency said on the 21st. "It appears to be a quarantine measure to guard against streptococcal toxic shock syndrome (STS) where the number of infected people is increasing in Japan." North Korea was vulnerable to quarantine, and when COVID-19 began in China in February 2020 and spread around the world, the country closed its borders to survive. As a result, North Korean soccer has not participated in international competitions for more than three years and six months.
First of all, the cancellation seems to be a measure to prevent STSS, but even if it is correct, the North's argument was unreasonable. This is because STSS is not a big problem in the international community. With no one knowing why the cancellation was made, the North was forced to withdraw its decision to cancel the game on March 26, 0-3 defeat, and notice of disciplinary action.
The Japanese national team disbanded on Tuesday.
As the possibility of the cancellation of the game was raised, the Japanese media analyzed that the North Korea-Japan match also took out an absurd card called cancellation just before the game, fearing that North Korea would lose at home, just as North Korea held the second round of Asian qualifiers for the Qatar World Cup in October 2019 with "its own spectatorship" in Pyongyang.
He also criticized AFC for being dragged around by North Korea.
North Korea was also criticized for not continuing to show uncooperative attitude by not allowing due diligence on the AFC in a home game against Japan, the final qualifying round for women's soccer in Asia for the 2024 Paris Olympics, which was scheduled to take place at home last month. Ultimately, the AFC ended up causing the North Korean team to move to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, for a home game just days before the match.
As AFC did not come out this hard, many interpreted that North Korea hit a "hit and run" ahead of the men's World Cup qualifying match against Japan.
Japan's "Football Zone" reported on Sunday that Yuzo Kurihara, who played for the Japanese national team, was surprised by North Korea's reckless behavior and insisted on giving the penalty. He also stressed that the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has problems.
There was a voice that it was necessary to prevent North Korea from acting outside of this common sense again by imposing heavy punishment as well as confiscation games, which FIFA accurately reflected.