Japan booked their place at the Qatar World Cup with a game to spare following a dramatic victory in Australia. Two last-gasp goals from substitute Kaoru Mitoma in Sydney sparked wild celebrations from the visitors, who would end up second in their qualifying group behind Saudi Arabia. The Japanese have now reached seven World Cup finals in a row since 1998. “I knew it was going to be a close match so when I was on the bench all I was thinking was, when I got on the field of play I just had to do my job and score a goal,” said Mitoma after the match. “I feel really happy for the players and people back in Japan, and everyone who is a Japanese fan.” In Qatar, Japan were drawn in Group E alongside Spain, Costa Rica and Germany. <b>November 23 </b>Germany v Japan – Khalifa International Stadium (5pm) <b>November 27 </b>Japan v Costa Rica – Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium (2pm) <b>December 1 </b>Japan v Spain – Khalifa International Stadium (11pm) <b>Second round (Group F)</b> September 10, 2019 <b>Myanmar 0 Japan 2</b> (Nakajima 16', Minamino 26') October 10, 2019 <b>Japan 6</b> (Minamino 22', Yoshida 29', Nagatomo 33', Nagai 40', Endo 57', Kamada 82') <b>Mongolia 0</b> October 15, 2019<b> Tajikstan 0 Japan 3</b> (Minamino 53', 55', Asano 82') November 14, 2019 <b>Kyrgyzstan 0 Japan 2</b> (Minamino pen 41', Haraguchi 54') March 30, 2021 <b>Mongolia 0 Japan 14</b> (Minamino 13', Osako 23', 55', 90+2', Kamada 26', Morita 33', Tuya og 39', Inagaki 68', 90+3', Ito 73', 79', Furuhashi 78', 87', Asano 90+1') May 28, 2021 <b>Japan 10</b> Minamino 8', 66', Osako 22', pen 30', 36', 49', 88', Morita 57', Kamada 84', Itakura 90+1') <b>Myanmar 0</b> June 7, 2021 <b>Japan 4</b> (Furuhashi 6', Minamino 40', Hashimoto 51', Kawabe 71') <b>Tajikstan 1</b> June 15, 2021 <b>Japan 5 </b>(Onaiwu pen 27', 31', 33', Sasaki 72', Asano 77') <b>Kyrgyzstan 1</b> (Murzaev pen 45+2') <b>Third round (Group B)</b> September 2, 2021 <b>Japan 0 Oman 1</b> (Al-Sabhi 88') September 7, 2021 <b>China 0 Japan 1</b> (Osako 40') October 7, 2021 <b>Saudi Arabia 1</b> (Al-Buraikan 71')<b> Japan 0</b> October 12, 2021 <b>Japan 2</b> (Tanaka 8', Behich og 85') <b>Australia 1</b> (Hrustic 70') November 11, 2021<b> Vietnam 0 Japan 1</b> (Ito 17') November 16, 2021 <b>Oman 0 Japan 1</b> (Ito 81') January 27, 2022<b> Japan 2</b> (Osako pen 13', Ito 61') <b>China 0</b> February 1, 2022 <b>Japan 2</b> (Minamino 32', Ito 50') <b>Saudi Arabia 0</b> March 24, 2022 <b>Australia 0 Japan 2 (</b>Mitoma 89', 90+4') March 29, 2022 <b>Japan 1 </b>(Yoshida 55') <b>Vietnam 1</b> (Nguynn Thanh Bình 19')