Since Australia joined the Asian Football Confederation in 2006, fans have been awaiting one match in particular: Japan against the new boys from Down Under. That moment will arrive on Wednesday when Japan host Australia in a World Cup qualifier in Yokohama.

It is not quite as tense as it might have been, for the stuttering form of Bahrain and Qatar means that both should qualify anyway. Nevertheless, this is a clash whose repercussions will reverberate far beyond the preliminary group that contains it.