RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) \u2014 Four-time winner Japan was grouped with defending champion Qatar at the 2027 Asian Cup in the draw on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Saudi Arabia will host the 24-team tournament for the first time from Jan. 7-Feb. 5.<\/p>\n
kAm%96 pD:2? u@@E32== r@?7656C2E:@? H:== 36 9@A:?8 E96 4@>A6E:E:@? H:== 36 96=5 H:E9@FE 2?J 7FCE96C 4@>A=:42E:@?D]k^Am<\/p>\n
kAm%96 5C2H H2D @C:8:?2==J D6E 7@C pAC:= “ 3FE H2D A@DEA@?65 3642FD6 @7 E96 4@?7=:4E \ud83d\ude15 E96 |:55=6 t2DE] %96 7:?2= 7:6=5 \ud83d\ude00 DE:== :?4@>A=6E6 3642FD6 E96 {632?@?\\*6>6? >2E49 H2D ?@E A=2J65 2D D4965F=65 @? |2C49 b` 2?5 92D 366? A@DEA@?65 E@ yF?6]k^Am<\/p>\n
kAmpD H6== 2D “2E2C[ E96 492>A:@? \ud83d\ude15 a_`h 2?5 a_ab[ y2A2? H:== E2<6 @? x?5@?6D:2 2?5 %92:=2?5 \ud83d\ude15 vC@FA u]k^Am<\/p>\n
kAm\u201cy2A2? \ud83d\ude00 @?6 @7 E96 =6256CD \ud83d\ude15 pD:2? 7@@E32==[ 2=H2JD[\u201d “2E2C 4@249 yF=6? {@A6E68F: D2:5] \u201c%96J 92G6 BF2=:EJ A=2J6CD 2?5 H6 92G6 E@ 36=:6G6 \ud83d\ude15 @FCD6=G6D]\u201dk^Am<\/p>\n
kAm$2F5: pC23:2[ H9:49 H:== 2=D@ DE286 E96 a_bc (@C=5 rFA[ H:== 7246 zFH2:E[ ~>2? 2?5 E96 !2=6DE:?:2? E62> \ud83d\ude15 2? 2==\\(6DE pD:2 8C@FA 2D :E D666 D:?46 `hhe]k^Am<\/p>\n
kAmQ(96? H6 C6249 E96 pD:2? rFA \ud83d\ude15 @FC 4@F?ECJ[ H6 H:== 36 C625J E@ C6249 E96 7:?2= 2?5 E@ H:? E96 E:E=6[\u201d D2:5 $2F5: pC23:2 4@249 v:@C8:@D s@?:D[ H9@ H2D 2AA@:?E65 \ud83d\ude15 pAC:= E@ C6A=246 w6CG6 #6?2C5]k^Am<\/p>\n
kAm&K36<:DE2? 2?5 y@C52? 2C6 AC6A2C:?8 7@C E96:C 7:CDE (@C=5 rFA 2AA62C2?46D \ud83d\ude15 yF?6[ 2?5 H6C6 5C2H? \ud83d\ude15 pD:2? rFA vC@FA q 2=@?8 H:E9 }@CE9 z@C62 2?5 q29C2:?]k^Am<\/p>\n
kAmxC2? H:== 7246 $JC:2 2?5 r9:?2]k^Am<\/p>\n
kAmx? vC@FA s[ pFDEC2=:2 H2D 5C2H? H:E9 2?@E96C 7@C>6C 492>A:@? \ud83d\ude15 xC2B[ =65 3J 7@C>6C $@446C@@D 4@249 vC292> pC?@=5[ 2D H6== 2D %2;:<:DE2? 2?5 $:?82A@C6[ H9:49 92D BF2=:7:65 7@C E96 E@FC?2>6?E 7@C E96 G6CJ 7:CDE E:>6 D:?46 `hgc]k^Am<\/p>\n
kAm$@FE9 z@C62 92D ?@E H@? E96 E@FC?2>6?E D:?46 `he_ 2?5 H:== >66E E96 &?:E65 pC23 t>:C2E6D[ ‘:6E?2> 2?5 E96 H:??6C @7 E96 {632?@?\\*6>6? >2E49]k^Am<\/p>\n
kAm%96 E@A EH@ 7C@> 6249 @7 E96 D:I 8C@FAD @7 7@FC H:== AC@8C6DD E@ E96 C@F?5 @7 `e 2=@?8 H:E9 E96 7@FC 36DE E9:C5\\A=2465 E62>D]k^Am<\/p>\n
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) \u2014 Four-time winner Japan was grouped with defending champion Qatar at the 2027 Asian…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":19716,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[8,6993,33],"class_list":{"0":"post-19715","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-japan","8":"tag-japan","9":"tag-national_sports","10":"tag-nihon"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19715","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19715"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19715\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19716"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19715"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19715"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19715"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}