Australia and Saudi Arabia are among the Asian Football Confederation heavyweights aiming to secure a spot in the next stage of World Cup qualifying with wins Tuesday, while Japan´s bid to advance will have to wait after North Korea cancelled a home game in Pyongyang. Just hours after a 1-0 loss to Japan in Tokyo last week, the North Koreans informed tournament organizers that they could not host the return match. FIFA, the sport´s world governing body, later canceled the qualifier after deciding the game “shall neither be played nor rescheduled” because North Korea couldn´t come up with an alternative venue and there was no room in the calendar for a postponement. “The matter and match outcome will be referred to the FIFA disciplinary committee,” FIFA announced, which indicates North Korea will be sanctioned with a 3-0 forfeit. North Korea has so far only one win from three games – all away from home – in Group B of Asia qualifying. Japan has nine points from three consecutive wins. The top two teams from each of the nine groups will advance to the third round, where Asia´s allocation of eight automatic World Cup slots for 2026 is available. Like Japan, Saudi Arabia has won all three games so far and can secure its spot in the next stage if it can complete back-to-back wins over Tajikistan in Group G following its win at Riyadh last week.