2014 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers: North Korea Have Baton Japan

PRK 1-0 JPN

Pyongyang

Asian champions Japan have seen their 20-match unbeaten run ended on Tuesday, following a 2014 FIFA World Cup Qualifying (AFC Third Round) defeat away to North Korea. The defeat also marks coach Alberto Zaccheroni’s first competitive defeat since he took over the Japanese national team in 2010.

A solitary goal from Pak Nam Chol (50′) was enough to give the North Koreans the win, and while they were already eliminated from contention to qualify for the Fourth Round (meaning they cannot repeat their feat of qualifying for the 2010 FIFA World Cup), they will take great pride in this victory (as the 124th-ranked team in the world beating the 17th) and have the consolation of confirming 3rd Place in their Group. Japan slip to in 2nd Place in Group C, and will have to beat 1st Place Uzbekistan in the final game in February if they reclaim top spot, although both are already assured of progression.

North Korea’s victory has also given them the unlikely title of ‘Unofficial Football World Champions’. While this is not some outlandish claim made by the relatively secluded nation (or their eccentric dictator Kim Jong-Il), the UFWC is an unofficial ongoing ‘tournament’ monitored online that awards the title to the national team that can beat the current holder (one of a number of websites dedicated to this idea, such as the Virtual World Championship and Natazzi’s Baton). The most successful nation in the history of this award has been Scotland.

North Korea taking the ‘crown’ is a result of these rules for the UFWC (as Japan had beaten Argentina in 2010, who themselves had beaten Spain, etc.), and their next ‘title’ match will be their final 2014 FIFA World Cup Qualification match away to Tajikistan in February, which would have been irrelevant to the Group standings aside from the World Ranking and UFWC perspectives. Will the title be retained by the North Koreans?

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