AL RAYYAN, QATAR - JANUARY 19: Japan head coach Hajime Moriyasu looks on with Daizen Maeda and Reo Hatate during the AFC Asian Cup Group D match between Iraq and Japan at Education City Stadium on January 19, 2024 in Al Rayyan, Qatar. (Photo by Etsuo Hara/Getty Images)
Scotland have still to play their first World Cup qualifier, they won’t know the full list of their opponents until Sunday but already Japan have qualified for the expanded 2026 Finals in the USA, Canada and Mexico.
A 2-0 win over Bahrain was enough to secure qualification for Reo Hatate and Daizen Maeda although the Celtic duo were left on the bench for Thursday’s match
In total 48 countries will take part in the event next year which is twice the number that took part in Spain 82 when FIFA started to expand their showcase competition.
The competing nations will be split into 12 groups of four, the top two in each group plus eight third placed nations will advance to the next stage with just 16 teams eliminated.
A total of 106 matches will be played over 39 days as the competition drifts further away from the well established format that began in Qatar where teams were playing three matches in seven days to fit in to a five week break in the European fixture schedule.
???They are the first country to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup??? pic.twitter.com/IQ4ZT4L0Dn
— ???Naru??Japanese Bhoy Studios? (@CelticStudio_JP) March 20, 2025
Whether Hatate and Maeda are still at Celtic in the summer of 2026 is open to question, there could well be interest this summer with the Japanese link broken by the transfer of Kyogo Furuhashi in January.
At the last World Cup Celtic were represented by Aaron Mooy, Cameron Carter-Vickers, Josip Juranovic and Maeda.
Following the tournament Alistair Johnston was signed from Montreal with the Canadian going from strength to strength since his transfer.
(Photo by Etsuo Hara/Getty Images)
A 48 team World Cup will be as boring as a Bank Holiday weekend in the cells. International football is on a long slide into irrelevance after the club game gained the upper hand in every respect years ago. 48 teams means 4 or 5 genuine contenders playing shooty-in against 40+ diddy teams there just to make up the numbers, park the bus and generally lower the tone of the tournament and the sport with negative tactics and a dearth of world class talent. You can just imagine it, dozens of teams who are the international equivalent of Ross County or Falkirk – teams like Scotland. It will probably feel like it goes on for months.