Japan v Iraq (1993)
Agony of Doha (ドーハの悲劇)
Miracle of Doha (도하의 기적)
Event1994 FIFA World Cup Asian qualifiers
Matchday 5
Japan and Iraq failed to qualify for the 1994 FIFA World Cup, allowing South Korea to qualify instead.
Date28 October 1993 (1993-10-28)
VenueAl-Ahli Stadium, Doha
RefereeSerge Muhmenthaler (Switzerland)
Attendance4,000

In the final round of matches of the final round of Asian qualification for the 1994 FIFA World Cup, Japan and Iraq drew 2–2 in Doha, Qatar. If Japan had won the match, they would have qualified for the World Cup for the first time. Instead, Japan finished third in their group, allowing their arch-rivals South Korea to qualify instead. The Japanese refer to the match as the "Agony of Doha" (Japanese: ドーハの悲劇, romanized: Dōha no higeki),[note 1] whereas South Koreans, because the country's national football team only qualified in the final minutes of this match, refers to it as the "Miracle of Doha" (Korean: 도하의 기적, romanized: Doha-ui gijeok).

The failure to qualify for the World Cup, and the dramatic way in which it happened, caused great disappointment for Japanese fans. Football had become very popular in Japan with the launch of the professional J.League earlier that year and the team had never been that close to qualifying for the World Cup. Although Japan has since qualified for seven consecutive World Cup finals (even co-hosting one), team members from this match are still known as the "Class of Doha" (ドーハ組, Dōha gumi) and the phrase "Never forget Doha" (ドーハを忘れるな, Dōha o wasureruna) remains a rallying cry for fans.

Before the match

Six nations (Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, and North Korea) competed in the final round of Asian qualification for two places at the 1994 World Cup in the United States. The six finalists played each other in Doha, Qatar in a round robin format of matches that were held between 15 and 28 October 1993. After four rounds of matches and with two points for a victory (instead of three) for each team, the standings were as follows:

Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
 Japan 54211523
 Saudi Arabia 54130431
 South Korea 44121642
 Iraq 44121770
 Iran 4420257–2
 North Korea 2410359–4

(Win = 2 points, draw = 1 point, loss = 0 points; tie broken by goal difference)

In the 4th round of matches, Japan defeated South Korea 1–0 taking first place in the standings going into the final match. Although just one point separated the 1st and 5th spots and only North Korea had been eliminated, Japan would have qualified for the finals with a win regardless of any other results. Japan still would have qualified with a draw as long as either South Korea or Saudi Arabia failed to win its last match and Iran did not defeat Saudi Arabia by more than four goals.

Match

Summary

The match was held on 28 October 1993, simultaneously with the rest of the fifth round of matches, South Korea vs North Korea and Saudi Arabia vs Iran, held in other venues in Doha.

Japan opened the scoring from a first-half goal by Kazuyoshi Miura, but Iraq's Radhi Shenaishil scored the equaliser just prior to half-time. Japan again took the lead with a goal from Masashi Nakayama. The 2–1 score stood as the match approached the 90th minute.

The matches at the other venues had ended earlier, with South Korea beating North Korea 3–0 and Saudi Arabia beating Iran 4–3. This meant Japan would have to hold onto the score in order to qualify for the World Cup, with the combination of results eliminating South Korea.

However, Japan gave the ball up to Iraq, and just after the match entered stoppage time, Jaffar Omran scored a goal from a corner kick, tying the score at 2–2. The referee blew the final whistle and finished the match moments after this, eliminating both teams.

Details

Japan 2–2 Iraq
Miura 5'
Nakayama 69'
(FIFA Report) Radhi 55'
Omran 90+1'
Japan
Iraq
Japan:
GK1Shigetatsu MatsunagaYellow card 84'
DF3Toshinobu KatsuyaYellow card 10'
DF4Takumi Horiike
DF5Tetsuji Hashiratani (c)
DF7Masami Ihara
MF10Ruy Ramos
MF15Mitsunori Yoshida
MF17Hajime Moriyasu
FW11Kazuyoshi Miura
FW12Kenta Hasegawadownward-facing red arrow 59'
FW16Masashi Nakayamadownward-facing red arrow 81'
Substitutes:
MF8Masahiro Fukudaupward-facing green arrow 59'
FW9Nobuhiro Takedaupward-facing green arrow 81'
Manager:
Netherlands Hans Ooft
Iraq:
GK21Ibrahim Salim Saad
DF2Samir Kadhim
DF3Saad Abdul-HameedYellow card 80'
DF4Radhi ShenaishilYellow card 23'
DF14Salim Hussein
MF12Mohamed Jassim Mahdidownward-facing red arrow 46'
MF17Laith Hussein
MF18Munthir Khalaf
MF22Bassam Raoufdownward-facing red arrow 71'
FW8Ahmed Radhi (c)
FW9Alaa Kadhim
Substitutes:
FW16Jaffar Omranupward-facing green arrow 46'
DF5Jabbar Hashimupward-facing green arrow 71'
Manager:
Iraq Ammo Baba

Results

After the final round of matches, the standings looked as follows:

Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
 Saudi Arabia 75230862
 South Korea 65221945
 Japan 65221743
 Iraq 55131990
 Iran 45203811–3
 North Korea 25104512–7

Saudi Arabia took first place with their 4–3 victory over Iran. Japan and South Korea were even on points, but South Korea held the goal difference advantage after the three-goal victory over North Korea, winning the tie-breaker.

South Korea would tie in subsequent matches against Iraq (2–2) and Saudi Arabia (1–1) and lost a match against Japan (0–1). Had Japan won this match against Iraq, South Korea would have been eliminated even if they won the match against North Korea held on the same day. But as Japan and Iraq tied in the last minute, South Korea qualified and the match was dubbed a "miracle" by South Korean media.

Dutch coach Hans Ooft was fired weeks after the match and the elimination from the tournament effectively ended World Cup aspirations for the majority of the team, most notably legendary midfielder Ruy Ramos and the also legendary forward Kazuyoshi Miura (the 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification's top scorer). Only two Japanese players who appeared in the match, Nakayama and Masami Ihara, would go on to appear in Japan's 1998 FIFA World Cup squad.

However, the disheartening result would serve as an inspiration in future World Cup qualification campaigns and to this day, the Agony of Doha is invoked by the Japanese media and fans.

Aftermath

After missing the 1994 edition, Japan eventually qualified for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, before hosting the 2002 FIFA World Cup along with their rival South Korea. The South Koreans dramatically beat Portugal, Italy, and Spain and ended in 4th place while Japan was eliminated in the Round of 16. Both teams lost to Turkey. It was the first time for both teams to reach the knockout phase.

They also qualified for every single FIFA World Cup edition since then, reaching the Round of 16 in three editions: in 2010, 2018 and 2022. However, in each of these occasions, Japan got eliminated in dramatic fashion. They first lost to Paraguay in 2010 in a penalty shoot-out, and then lost to Belgium in 2018 by 3-2 after conceding in the fourth minute of stoppage time after a Belgian counter-attack following a Japanese corner kick; the Japanese were leading 2–0 until the 69th minute. In 2022, Japan got knocked out again in the Round of 16, this time taking the lead against Croatia but falling in another penalty shoot-out that ensued after a 1–1 draw.[1][2][3]

For Iraq, this failure is just one part of the much larger World Cup drought. In comparison to increasing success of the Japanese side, Iraq has repeatedly missed the opportunity to qualify for every World Cup. Iraq has only qualified for the 1986 edition. In addition, sectarian conflicts and internal turmoil have prevented Iraq from achieving a greater status in Asian football. Since this game as well, Iraq has never beaten Japan in a competitive match, be it friendlies or major competitions since 1982, the last time Iraq won. Iraq also suffered a losing streak to Japan since this game, starting with a 1–4 defeat in 2000 AFC Asian Cup (which was Japan's first win over Iraq), until 2017 when Iraq drew Japan 1–1 to end the country's losing streak.[4]

Japan in neutral site qualifiers

Beginning with qualifiers for the 1998 World Cup, AFC has used home-and-away round robin format for its final qualifying round, instead of the single-venue format used in 1993. However, in two of the subsequent World Cup qualifying campaigns, Japan have determined its World Cup fate in neutral site matches.

In 1997, Japan and Iran finished second in their respective qualifying groups for the 1998 World Cup and met in the third-place match on 16 November 1997 in Johor Bahru, Malaysia. The match would decide the third and last automatic qualifying spot for Asian teams and the loser would face Oceania's representative Australia in a two-legged play-off. Unlike the match four years before, Japan fell behind in the second half, but scored a late equaliser and eventually won 3–2 through a golden goal in extra time, earning the nation its ticket to France. This match was known as the "Joy of Johor Bahru" (ジョホール・バルの歓喜, Johōru Baru no kanki) in reference to the Agony of Doha.

On 8 June 2005, Japan defeated North Korea 2–0 to qualify for the 2006 World Cup in Germany. Although this match was scheduled as a home match for North Korea, it was moved to Bangkok, Thailand and held behind closed doors as a punishment for crowd violence in a previous match held in Pyongyang.[5]

Notes

  1. The word-for-word translation of Dōha no higeki would be "Tragedy of Doha", but the "agony" translation is used more commonly in English-language commentary.

References

  1. "FIFA". Archived from the original on 28 June 2018.
  2. "Croatia beat Japan on penalties to reach World Cup quarter-finals". Reuters. 5 December 2022. Retrieved 10 December 2022.
  3. Hafez, Shamoon (5 December 2022). "World Cup 2022: Japan 1-1 Croatia (1-3 on pens): Dominik Livakovic saves three penalties". BBC Sport. Retrieved 10 December 2022.
  4. "Iraq national football team: Record v Japan".
  5. "Japan qualifies for World Cup". Archived from the original on 4 February 2012. Retrieved 30 May 2006.

25°15′06″N 51°32′07″E / 25.25167°N 51.53528°E / 25.25167; 51.53528

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