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During the qualification rounds for the 1994 FIFA World Cup, Japan and Iraq played to a 2–2 draw 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 and arch-rival South Korea qualified instead. The Japanese media refers to the match as the "Agony of Doha" (ドーハの悲劇 ''Dōha no higeki''),〔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.〕 whereas in South Korea, it is known as the "Miracle of Doha" (도하의 기적/도하의 奇跡 or ''Doha ui Gijeok''). The failure to qualify and the dramatic way in which it happened caused great disappointment for Japanese fans. Football had become wildly popular in Japan with the launch of the professional J. League earlier that year and the team had never been this close to qualifying for the World Cup. Although Japan has since qualified for five consecutive World Cup finals (even co-hosting one), team members from this match are still known as and remains a rallying cry for fans. ==Leading up to the match== Six nations (Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, and North Korea) competed in the final round of Asian zone qualifying for two places in the 1994 World Cup finals in the United States. The six finalists played each other in Doha, Qatar in a round robin format of matches held between October 15 and October 28, 1993. After four rounds of matches and with one match remaining for each team, the standings looked as follows. (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. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「1993 Japan v Iraq football match」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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