Japan scored a single goal against hosts Vietnam Thursday, marking the latter’s fifth defeat in the final World Cup qualification round.
As it is the fifth consecutive defeat of the team, Vietnam have yet to collect any points and stand at the bottom of Group B.
The only goal of the match was scored by Ito Junya in the 17th minute.
Ito doubled Japan’s lead just minutes to the interval, but the goal was ruled out for offside after a thorough video assistant referee (VAR) check.
With this victory, Japan moved to the third spot in Group B with nine points, narrowing their gap with Saudi Arabia and Australia.
Vietnam are to host first-placed Saudi Arabia on November 16.
This is the first time that Vietnam has played in the final qualifying round. They are in the same group with Japan, Australia, Saudi Arabia, China and Oman, Vietnam News Agency reported.