Ukraine

Japan’s World Cup preparations take a hit in loss to Ukraine

Published Mar. 27, 2018 10:53 a.m. ET

LIEGE, Belgium (AP) Japan's preparations for the World Cup took another hit Tuesday.

The Japanese team, which will face Colombia, Senegal and Poland in Group H at the tournament in Russia, lost to Ukraine 2-1 in a friendly.

Japan has won only two of its last seven games and rarely looked capable of beating a Ukrainian team which didn't qualify for the World Cup.

In a near-empty stadium in Belgium, Yaroslav Rakitskiy put Ukraine ahead in the 21st minute with a powerful shot from outside the area that took a deflection off Japan defender Naomichi Ueda.

Japan equalized in the 41st when Tomoaki Makino scored with a header from a free kick, but Oleksander Karavaev scored the winner in the 69th with his first international goal.