Japan vs Qatar – Preview & Prediction (Aug. 31, 2026)

After a long time, the Akatsuki Five are fielding almost their strongest roster led by their two NBA stars Yuki Kawamura and Rui Hachimura. The only notable absence is the one of Yuta Watanabe, but with superstars like Kawamura and Hachimura, Japan don´t even need him. Ahead of this qualifying window, the Japanese team went through extensive preparations and managed to beat South Korea twice in friendly matches with a large margin. They continued in the same tone a couple of days ago in the opener against Saudi Arabia as they absolutely crushed the Saudis in Jeddah 106:78. Player like Rui Hachimura is simply a cheat code for this level as his athleticism and scoring prowess are unmatched. When we pair that with the quickness and decision-making of the NBA point guard Yuki Kawamura, Japan become one of the premiere powerhouses in this window and are simply unbeatable. Today in Tokyo, they will be facing a heavily shorthanded and experimental Qatari side that is even weaker compared to the roster of Saudi Arabia. Anything but a massive double-digit victory this Monday for Japan, would be a massive surprise for us. Qatar lost their opening game against China by a big margin, while Japan are even better than China and should demolish this poor Qatari side at home. 

Japan are not all about their NBA stars in this window as they also have a naturalized center in Joshua Hawkinson along with a very solid backbone from their domestic league. Their shooting and quickness should simply pose too big of a threat for a below average team like Qatar, who are missing their main stars and are treating these qualifying matches as friendlies. 

Qatar will host the upcoming World Cup, so they qualify automatically. However, they decided to participate in the qualifiers to build some form and momentum. However, their head coach Hakan Demir is fielding very weak and experimental lineups without two of the main star import scorers Brandon Goodwin and Kendrick Nunn. Their roster in this window is led by an average import Mike Lewis along with a couple of naturalized African players and very weak domestic players. Qatar are more than vulnerable and that was more than visible a couple of days ago, when they absorbed a heavy 26-point loss at home to China (83:57). China were playing that game with a very strong lineup led by their NBA sensation Yang Hansen, who took advantage of his superior size and skill to dominate the Qataris with 15 points and 9 rebounds. This Monday, Qatar are facing a stronger opponent compared to China that is two classes above them and should obliterate them and expose their weak team in Tokyo. 

The Qatari team is seriously outmatched and undersized in today´s matchup. Their neighbours from Saudi Arabia felt the full potential and firepower of Hachimura and company on Thursday and today we should witness a similar affair that should spiral out of control in the first half.