Japan secure World Cup berth with Australia win

Saitama, Japan: Takuma Asano and Yosuke Ideguchi were on target as Japan beat Australia 2-0 at home Thursday to qualify for their sixth successive World Cup.

Asano steered home a left-foot volley four minutes before half-time and Ideguchi sealed the victory with a stunning long-range strike after 82 minutes as Japan became the fourth team to reach next year's finals in Russia.

The result dealt a major blow to Australia's chances of being one of the two automatic qualifiers from Group B after their first defeat in the final round of Asian qualifiers.

The Asian Cup holders get a second bite at the cherry at home to Thailand on Tuesday when they need to better Saudi Arabia's result against Japan in Jeddah on the same night.

Japan survived a scare after 38 minutes in Saitama when a Mathew Leckie shot deflected off Maya Yoshida against post before Asano struck a psychological blow shortly before the break.