Sam Simmonds and Jack van Poortvliet will start for England against Japan at Twickenham on Sunday.
Eddie Jones has named five changes from the shock 30-29 defeat to Argentina last weekend as they prepare to face Japan, who he coached between 2012 and 2015.
Number eight Simmonds has not featured for England since the Six Nations in March but comes in for Billy Vunipola, who drops to the bench.
Alex Coles is replaced by debutant David Ribbans at lock while Van Poortvliet, who scored within 30 seconds of coming on the pitch against Argentina, will start at scrum-half.
Jonny May also comes in for Joe Cokanasiga and Guy Porter is the final introduction as he is chosen to start over Manu Tuilagi at outside centre.
Owen Farrell will captain England and earn his 99th international cap, while hooker Jamie George is on the bench after recovering from a foot injury.
England team to face Japan: 15. Freddie Steward, 14. Jack Nowell, 13. Guy Porter, 12. Owen Farrell (c), 11. Jonny May, 10. Marcus Smith, 9. Jack van Poortvliet; 1. Ellis Genge, 2. Luke Cowan-Dickie, 3. Kyle Sinckler, 4. David Ribbans, 5. Jonny Hill, 6. Maro Itoje, 7. Tom Curry, 8. Sam Simmonds.
Replacements: 16. Jamie George, 17. Mako Vunipola, 18. Joe Heyes, 19. Alex Coles, 20. Billy Vunipola, 21. Ben Youngs, 22. Henry Slade, 23. Manu Tuilagi.
New Zealand could contest Brodie Retallick's red card in the win over Japan on Saturday as he faces the prospect of being banned for their tour of Europe.
The towering lock was dismissed for a dangerous clean-out on loose forward Kazuki Himeno in the 65th minute of the All Blacks' 38-31 victory.
New Zealand held on to avoid an upset, but they were far from convincing at the National Stadium in Tokyo.
The Rugby Championship winners will now travel to face Wales, Scotland and England next month, with a Test against Wayne Pivac's side first up at the Principality Stadium next Saturday.
Head coach Ian Foster says the All Blacks will consider whether to lodge an appeal in a bid to prevent Retallick from being ruled out of those encounters.
He said: "We're going to have a good look at it. I certainly didn't see any intention apart from trying to move a body. That's a process we’ll have to go through."
Retallick scored the first of five All Blacks tries, while 13 points came from the boot of Richie Mo'unga.
Foster was content with the way New Zealand dug in to see off the Brave Blossoms.
"I thought it was a day where we could have panicked a little bit," he said.
"But I thought they hung in there well and did what they needed to do at the right time."
Japan will now prepare to do battle with England at Twickenham on November 12 and head coach Jamie Joseph is relishing what he expects to be a bigger challenge.
He said: "The key for us really is to go to England now and replicate that performance against a better side."
Japan stepped up their World Cup preparations with a deserved 2-0 friendly win over the United States on Friday, as Gregg Berhalter's team produced a flat performance in Dusseldorf, Germany.
With Chelsea's Christian Pulisic left out after sustaining a minor injury in training, the USA struggled from the first whistle and fell behind to Daichi Kamada's side-footed finish.
Berhalter's team were indebted to Arsenal goalkeeper Matt Turner for keeping the game alive after the break, but he could do nothing to prevent Kaoru Mitoma picking his spot to seal Japan's victory late on.
Turner got down to his right to deny Kamada with a reflex save 13 minutes in, but was beaten by the Eintracht Frankfurt man when he tucked a neat first-time finish into the bottom-right corner after 24 minutes.
The offside flag looked set to deny Japan, but the goal was awarded following a VAR review after Walker Zimmerman was shown to have played Kamada onside as he latched onto Hidemasa Morita's pass.
Turner was forced to divert another Kamada effort away from the bottom-right corner after 65 minutes, and made a fine reflex save to tip Ritsu Doan's strike over the crossbar 10 minutes later.
Brenden Aaronson's wild effort was the closest the USA came to a response, and Mitoma made Japan's win safe by curling into the bottom-right corner from long range with two minutes remaining, as Turner's resistance finally waned.
France boss Fabien Galthie was impressed with the way his youthful Bleus side performed as they made key adjustments to defeat Japan.
The visitors triumphed 42-23 in Aichi on Saturday, the first part of a two-game tour against the Brave Blossoms that follows their triumph in the Six Nations.
Damian Penaud bagged a double while Melvyn Jaminet posted a 17-point haul as the visitors outscored their hosts by five tries to two, albeit in a contest closer than the final scoreline suggested.
Galthie took the opportunity to blood some fresh faces, with Thomas Jolmes and Yoan Tanga handed debuts from the start and Thomas Lavault introduced at half-time for his first Test appearance too.
Speaking afterwards, the coach was happy to see his side deliver at Toyota Stadium, especially with the Test having been level at 13-13 at the interval.
"Our goal was to win," he said. "You have to take into account that it is a young team, with very little collective experience. They are only 25 years old on average.
"We adjusted what we wanted to do and couldn't do for a lot of reasons, including the Japanese intensity.
"We were always a little behind on collisions, on defensive substitutions, on possession - we had to stop observing and find our bearings, trigger the first offensive and defensive steps.
"We made mistakes in a place where we didn't usually make mistakes but we managed to find the solutions, a key opens all the doors."
France will face Japan again next week in the second game of their series, in Tokyo on July 9.
Brazil earned a 1-0 friendly win against Japan in Tokyo on Monday thanks to a penalty from Neymar.
Tite's side dominated for large periods in the pouring rain at the New Japan National Stadium and squandered several chances before Neymar's spot-kick finally broke the deadlock in the 77th minute.
The victory means the Selecao have won five consecutive games, and have not lost since July when they were beaten by Argentina in the Copa America final.
Both teams came into the came on the back of big wins last time out, with Japan thumping Paraguay 4-1 on Thursday, while Brazil went one better in beating South Korea 5-1 the same day.
Brazil almost took the lead inside two minutes as neat play between Vinicius Junior and Neymar ended with the latter backheeling to Lucas Paqueta, who hit the post after shooting across Shuichi Gonda in the Japan goal.
Japan had a brief period in the first half where they caused some problems for Tite's side, with Takumi Minamino getting some joy between the lines, but Brazil soon established their dominance as they created more chances.
Casemiro should have put the visitors ahead in the 26th minute but could only guide a header from a Raphinha free-kick over the crossbar, before Neymar had a shot parried away by Gonda and Raphinha bent a direct free-kick just wide of the left-hand post.
Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Jesus were introduced just after the hour and the Arsenal forward almost made an immediate impact, but could only guide his shot wide of the far post after the ball was cushioned down for him by Casemiro.
The hosts' only real chance of note came in the 72nd minute, when Junya Ito fired over with a volley at the far post.
Brazil were awarded a penalty shortly after when another substitute, Richarlison, was fouled by Wataru Endo and Neymar sent Gonda the wrong way from the spot to win it.
Hansi Flick says Germany have high expectations of making a big impact in the 2022 World Cup despite being drawn in a tough group that includes Spain.
Die Mannschaft discovered at a ceremony in Doha on Friday that they will face Spain, Japan and either Costa Rica or New Zealand in Qatar later this year.
Spain hammered Germany 6-0 the last time the two nations met in the Nations League in November 2020, while Japan reached the round of 16 in the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
Flick will take charge of his country for the first time in a major tournament and although he knows Germany's draw could have been kinder, the former Bayern Munich boss is confident his side can make a big impact.
He said: "It is an exciting and interesting group, the tasks are not easy. But we have big plans, we have to ensure that we prevail. You can't get an easy group.
"We are happy, but we will have to be ready from the beginning. We want to get as far as possible, preferably to the final. We're expecting a lot from this tournament."
Flick added: "Japan is a team that is always present at the World Cup, with many Bundesliga players. Therefore, they are of high quality. We wanted to play a friendly against Japan, but that's not going to happen now.
"All the teams [in the group] have evolved and have something special to offer."
Germany finished bottom of their group in the last World Cup and were knocked out of Euro 2020 at the round of 16 stage by England last year.
Goalkeeper Manuel Neuer is optimistic they can be a force this time around.
"It was inevitable that we were going to get a strong opponent from the pot," he said.
Neuer added: "We haven't covered ourselves in glory in recent tournaments and we want to make up for that."
Qatar 2022 is fast approaching and the anticipation will surely be at its most intense so far when Friday's draw for the group stage is completed.
The Doha Exhibition and Convention Center plays host to the milestone event, which will see eight groups drawn from pots as the eventual storylines of the World Cup begin to unfurl.
Among the narratives that will start being mapped out on Friday is France's title defence, with Les Bleus hoping to become the first team since Brazil in 1962 to successfully defend their World Cup crown.
Ahead of the draw, Stats Perform provides a lowdown of all the key information…
How will the draw work?
Most of us have seen a draw and understand the general premise, but there's a lot of detail to consider before we end up with our completed group stage.
For starters, the draw (19:00 local time) will only include 29 qualified teams, with the other three spots to consist of a couple of intercontinental play-off slot placeholders and one UEFA play-off slot placeholder, with those nations to be determined later in the year.
The qualified teams will be sorted into four pots of eight, with their FIFA world ranking determining which they enter – joining Qatar in pot one will be the top seven teams, while the nations ranked eight-15 will be in pot 2, and so on. The three play-off slot placeholders will be drawn from pot four.
There will also be eight pots representing the groups, A to H. Each group pot contains four balls with position numbers, ranging from one to four, which correspond to the teams' respective starting position in the tables and subsequently impact their fixture schedule.
Team pot one will be the first to empty, with Qatar automatically drawn into slot A1. The other sides from pot one will go straight into position one of the remaining groups.
From then on, a ball is drawn from a team pot and followed by one from a group pot, determining that team's position – for example, the second nation drawn into Group A could be placed in slot A4. The process continues until each team pot is emptied, with pot four the last to be drawn.
Where possible, no group will contain more than one team from the same qualification zone, with the exception of Europe – so anyone hoping for an encounter like Brazil v Uruguay will have to wait for the knockout stage.
Thursday's release of the latest world rankings confirmed the make-up of the respective pots, so, without any further ado, let's take a look through them…
The Pots
Pot One:
Qatar (hosts)
Brazil
Belgium
France
Argentina
England
Spain
Portugal
Pot Two:
Denmark
Netherlands
Germany
Mexico
USA
Switzerland
Croatia
Uruguay
Pot Three:
Senegal
Iran
Japan
Morocco
Serbia
Poland
South Korea
Tunisia
Pot Four:
Cameroon
Canada
Ecuador
Saudi Arabia
Ghana
Intercontinental play-off placeholder 1
Intercontinental play-off placeholder 2
UEFA play-off placeholder
Luck of the draw!
It goes without saying that, theoretically, being in pot one means you would be favourites to win your group. But that's the beauty of football; practically anything can happen once you're on the pitch.
If we look back to the last World Cup four years ago, defending champions Germany were top of the FIFA rankings and in pot one, but then failed to get through the group stage for the first time ever.
But just as being in a higher pot is no guarantee of going deep into the tournament, who's to say how eventual 2018 champions France would have fared had they been in pot two?
Les Bleus were ranked seventh at the time so squeezed into pot one ahead of Spain. While that arguably gave them a trickier route to the final in the knockout phase, perhaps the tests posed by Argentina, Uruguay and Belgium were what kept them sharp all the way to the end?
This time around, Spain do appear in pot one. Portugal do as well, with Fernando Santos' men benefiting in that regard from European champions Italy's shock absence.
Nevertheless, there are some powerful teams in pot two. The Netherlands and Germany are undoubtedly the pick of the bunch there, both of whom will provide a stern test for any of the teams in pot one. Brazil v Die Mannschaft in the group stage, anyone?
There's a chance we could even see a repeat of the 2018 final in the group stage, with Croatia (pot two) able to come up against France in the opening round, while an England v United States showdown would surely capture the imagination of fans on both sides of 'the pond'.
We can expect to see plenty of quality in pot three as well, especially with Serbia, Robert Lewandowski's Poland and African champions Senegal present.
Among those in pot four are Canada. They may only be competing in their second World Cup and first since 1986, but John Herdman's team have won plenty of admirers en route to winning the CONCACAF qualifying section ahead of Mexico and reaching a record high of 33rd in the rankings.
Excitement, expectations and exoduses as Ronaldo and Messi look likely to bow out
Whether watching football on TV or from the stands, it can often be easy to forget that our heroes are just ordinary people as well. They are individuals who in all likelihood had the same hopes and dreams as many of us as children.
The glitz and glamour surrounding professional football can lead us to put footballers on a pedestal, but behind the sport's shiny facade, our teams are made up of – and coached by – people who are just as obsessed with the idea of the World Cup as anyone else.
England manager Gareth Southgate encapsulated the excitement earlier this week, as he said: "[The World Cup evokes] a different sort of feeling, but it's still a tournament we all watched as kids, we all filled our wallcharts out, we all hoped and followed when England were there that we would do well. And it's a unique chance to make history, so that of course is massively exciting."
Of course, that innocent excitement harbours expectation and hope for many, for others there will be a feeling of responsibility to amend the wrongs of the past.
This time around, that's arguably truest when looking at Germany, with Manuel Neuer fully appreciating he may not get another opportunity to put things right.
"I know that I will probably not get to play many more World Cups, so after crashing out in 2018 in Russia and our exit against England [at Euro 2020], it's important that we show a new version of ourselves and visualise success," the experienced goalkeeper said.
That finality Neuer alluded to is another key aspect of the World Cup. Given the four-year cycle of the tournament, every time we bid a fond farewell to a few greats of the game who opt to take advantage of the cyclical nature and end their international careers.
This time it looks as though Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo – who for so long battled out their own personal 'Greatest of All-Time' rivalry – may be among those appearing on the World Cup stage for the last time.
"Goal achieved, we're at the Qatar World Cup. We're in our rightful place!" Ronaldo's Instagram post after Portugal's play-off success focused on the positive, but at 37, Qatar 2022 will surely be his final appearance at the tournament.
As for Messi, he said last week: "I don't know, the truth is I don't know. Let's hope [Argentina's preparations] go the best way possible. But for sure after the World Cup many things will change."
Exoduses after major international tournaments are common as teams reset or rebuild, but given what Messi and Ronaldo have represented on the pitch and the fact they've appeared at each of the previous four World Cups, their appearances at Qatar 2022 need to be savoured.
It all begins with Friday's draw, when narratives and talking points that'll live longer than any of us will start to take shape with the unscrewing of a few shiny plastic balls.
It's nearly four years since Didier Deschamps became only the third man to win the World Cup as a player and coach, as he guided France to their second success on football's grandest stage.
The target now for Les Bleus is to become the first nation since Brazil in 1962 to retain their crown, and that journey begins on Friday with the draw for the group stage of Qatar 2022.
Four years is a long time to wait for anything, but the draw for the World Cup is always a milestone event that sees the anticipation taken up a notch.
The eyes of the football world will be on the Doha Exhibition and Convention Center, where the eight groups will be drawn and potential routes to December's finale can start being plotted.
But there is a little more to the draw than that…
How will the draw work?
Most of us have seen a draw and understand the general premise, but there's a lot of detail to consider before we end up with our completed group stage.
For starters, Friday's draw (19:00 local time) will only include 29 qualified teams, with the other three spots to consist of a couple of intercontinental play-off slot placeholders and one UEFA play-off slot placeholder, with those nations to be determined later in the year.
The qualified teams will be sorted into four pots of eight, with their FIFA world ranking determining which they enter – joining Qatar in pot one will be the top seven teams, while the nations ranked eight-15 will be in pot 2, and so on. The three play-off slot placeholders will be drawn from pot four.
There will also be eight pots representing the groups, A to H. Each group pot contains four balls with position numbers, ranging from one to four, which correspond to the teams' respective starting position in the tables and subsequently impact their fixture schedule.
Team pot one will be the first to empty, with Qatar automatically drawn into slot A1. The other sides from pot one will go straight into position one of the remaining groups.
From then on, a ball is drawn from a team pot and followed by one from a group pot, determining that team's position – for example, the second nation drawn into Group A could be placed in slot A4. The process continues until each team pot is emptied, with pot four the last to be drawn.
Where possible, no group will contain more than one team from the same qualification zone, with the exception of Europe – so anyone hoping for an encounter like Brazil v Uruguay will have to wait for the knockout stage.
Thursday's release of the latest world rankings confirmed the make-up of the respective pots, so, without any further ado, let's take a look through them…
The Pots
Pot One:
Qatar (hosts)
Brazil
Belgium
France
Argentina
England
Spain
Portugal
Pot Two:
Denmark
Netherlands
Germany
Mexico
USA
Switzerland
Croatia
Uruguay
Pot Three:
Senegal
Iran
Japan
Morocco
Serbia
Poland
South Korea
Tunisia
Pot Four:
Cameroon
Canada
Ecuador
Saudi Arabia
Ghana
Intercontinental play-off placeholder 1
Intercontinental play-off placeholder 2
UEFA play-off placeholder
Luck of the draw!
It goes without saying that, theoretically, being in pot one means you would be favourites to win your group. But that's the beauty of football; practically anything can happen once you're on the pitch.
If we look back to the last World Cup four years ago, defending champions Germany were top of the FIFA rankings and in pot one, but then failed to get through the group stage for the first time ever.
But just as being in a higher pot is no guarantee of going deep into the tournament, who's to say how eventual 2018 champions France would have fared had they been in pot two?
Les Bleus were ranked seventh at the time so squeezed into pot one ahead of Spain. While that arguably gave them a trickier route to the final in the knockout phase, perhaps the tests posed by Argentina, Uruguay and Belgium were what kept them sharp all the way to the end?
This time around, Spain do appear in pot one. Portugal do as well, with Fernando Santos' men benefiting in that regard from European champions Italy's shock absence.
Nevertheless, there are some powerful teams in pot two. The Netherlands and Germany are undoubtedly the pick of the bunch there, both of whom will provide a stern test for any of the teams in pot one. Brazil v Die Mannschaft in the group stage, anyone?
There's a chance we could even see a repeat of the 2018 final in the group stage, with Croatia (pot two) able to come up against France in the opening round, while an England v United States showdown would surely capture the imagination of fans on both sides of 'the pond'.
We can expect to see plenty of quality in pot three as well, especially with Serbia, Robert Lewandowski's Poland and African champions Senegal present.
Among those in pot four are Canada. They may only be competing in their second World Cup and first since 1986, but John Herdman's team have won plenty of admirers en route to winning the CONCACAF qualifying section and reaching a record high of 33rd in the rankings.
Excitement, expectations and exoduses as Ronaldo and Messi look likely to bow out
Whether watching football on TV or from the stands, it can often be easy to forget that our heroes are just ordinary people as well. They are individuals who in all likelihood had the same hopes and dreams as many of us as children.
The glitz and glamour surrounding professional football can lead us to put footballers on a pedestal, but behind the sport's shiny facade, our teams are made up of – and coached by – people who are just as obsessed with the idea of the World Cup as anyone else.
England manager Gareth Southgate encapsulated the excitement earlier this week, as he said: "[The World Cup evokes] a different sort of feeling, but it's still a tournament we all watched as kids, we all filled our wallcharts out, we all hoped and followed when England were there that we would do well. And it's a unique chance to make history, so that of course is massively exciting."
Of course, that innocent excitement harbours expectation and hope for many, for others there will be a feeling of responsibility to amend the wrongs of the past.
This time around, that's arguably truest when looking at Germany, with Manuel Neuer fully appreciating he may not get another opportunity to put things right.
"I know that I will probably not get to play many more World Cups, so after crashing out in 2018 in Russia and our exit against England [at Euro 2020], it's important that we show a new version of ourselves and visualise success," the experienced goalkeeper said.
That finality Neuer alluded to is another key aspect of the World Cup. Given the four-year cycle of the tournament, every time we bid a fond farewell to a few greats of the game who opt to take advantage of the cyclical nature and end their international careers.
This time it looks as though Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo – who for so long battled out their own personal 'Greatest of All-Time' rivalry – may be among those appearing on the World Cup stage for the last time.
"Goal achieved, we're at the Qatar World Cup. We're in our rightful place!" Ronaldo's Instagram post after Portugal's play-off success focused on the positive, but at 37, Qatar 2022 will surely be his final appearance at the tournament.
As for Messi, he said last week: "I don't know, the truth is I don't know. Let's hope [Argentina's preparations] go the best way possible. But for sure after the World Cup many things will change."
Exoduses after major international tournaments are common as teams reset or rebuild, but given what Messi and Ronaldo have represented on the pitch and the fact they've appeared at each of the previous four World Cups, their appearances at Qatar 2022 need to be savoured.
It all begins with Friday's draw, when narratives and talking points that'll live longer than any of us will start to take shape with the unscrewing of a few shiny plastic balls.
Kaoru Mitoma scored a last-gasp double to confirm Japan's place at the Qatar 2022 World Cup at the expense of their hosts Australia with a 2-0 win in Sydney on Friday.
The Union SG winger came off the bench to snatch two late goals and break Socceroos hearts with a second-half cameo that proved priceless for the visitors.
Introduced in the 84th minute for Liverpool forward Takumi Minamino, Mitoma notched his first effort five minutes later after tucking a cut-back beyond Mathew Ryan at close-range.
He then doubled his tally in injury-time to seal victory, coasting into the box on a glorious solo run before forcing a fumble from Ryan to finish.
Victory means the Samurai Blue move six points clear of Australia, to confirm both themselves and Saudi Arabia as the latest AFC teams to qualify after Iran and South Korea previously booked their place.
Graham Arnold's third-place side will still get a chance to reach Qatar through the AFC's fourth-round playoff, against either the United Arab Emirates, Lebanon or Iraq.
Australia won their fifth consecutive game after opening their end-of-year tour with a 32-23 win over Japan on Saturday.
Not since October 2015 had the Wallabies enjoyed a five-game winning streak but they ended that drought by holding off Japan in Oita.
Despite a disappointing second half, Australia snapped their run of five straight Tests without a win away from home, having outscored Japan five tries to two.
The Wallabies – winners of all five previous encounters against Japan by an average of 39 points per game – raced out to a 14-3 lead on the back of tries from Tom Wright and Jordan Petaia before Lomano Lemeki hit back for the hosts.
Taniela Tupou added to Australia's lead early in the second half and after Lemeki landed himself in the sin bin for a shoulder charger, Robert Leota also crossed over to make it 27-13 with 28 minutes remaining.
Just as Dave Rennie's men looked as if they would run away with victory, Japan closed within a converted try in pursuit of their first win over the Wallabies.
But Australia – who benefited from two conversions and a penalty from Quade Cooper – withstood some immense pressure on the road to stretch their unbeaten streak.
The Club World Cup will be held in the United Arab Emirates in early 2022, FIFA has confirmed.
The annual tournament featuring the champions of six global confederations, along with the hosts' national champions, was originally scheduled for Japan in 2021.
The Japan Football Association (JFA) were preparing to stage the competition for the first time in five years, but a rise in coronavirus cases in the country led to questions as to whether hosting would be profitable.
The JFA subsequently pulled out following discussions with FIFA in September, with president Gianni Infantino announcing on Wednesday that the UAE - who have staged the tournament four times before - will instead play host to the tournament.
The exact dates of the rearranged Club World Cup are still to be announced, though FIFA indicated the competition will be staged in 2022, with Champions League winners Chelsea set to feature.
Thomas Tuchel's Blues will face Egyptian side Al Ahly and New Zealand's Auckland City, who are part of a 10-team roster for FIFA's showpiece club event.
FIFA, in 2020, had already selected Japan as host for the seven-club event after an expanded 24-team tournament - originally scheduled for China in June 2021 - was delayed due to coronavirus issues.
Australia's perfect record in World Cup 2022 qualifying was ended in a 2-1 defeat to Japan on Tuesday.
The Socceroos had won all 11 games on the road to Qatar – setting a record in the process – and each of their last 12 games stretching back into the last campaign.
But Ao Tanaka's early strike in Saitama and a late own goal from Aziz Behich, either side of Ajdin Hrustic's leveller, inflicted a first competitive defeat on Australia since January 2019.
Graham Arnold's side could now see top spot in Group B relinquished to Saudi Arabia, who play later on Thursday. Only the top two sides will qualify automatically for the World Cup.
Japan entered the game unbeaten in seven meetings with Australia and they were ahead inside eight minutes when Tanaka drilled a low shot into the bottom-left corner.
Australia went close to equalising before half-time as Adam Taggart's shot was tipped onto the upright and Aaron Mooy's effort was blocked in front of goal from the follow-up.
The visitors then had a penalty overturned as the officials felt Hidemasa Morita's challenge on Hrustic was outside the box, but the fouled player still made Japan pay as his powerful free-kick crashed in off the underside off the crossbar.
But it was Japan who snatched a winner with five minutes remaining.
Mat Ryan could only parry substitute Takuma Asano's deflected shot into the air and Behich, in an attempt to clear the ball from under the crossbar, turned it into his own net.
Japan will no longer host the 2021 Club World Cup due to ongoing problems with coronavirus.
After hosting the 2020 Olympics, Japan were set to put on the international club football tournament – usually held in December – but have decided to relinquish its right to the event after discussions with FIFA.
The Japan Football Association (JFA) were preparing to stage the competition for the first time in five years, but with coronavirus-related issues still lingering fears grew as to whether the decision would be profitable.
According to Japanese outlet Kyodo News Agency, the JFA chief executive Kiyotaka Suhara revealed the decision in a virtual press conference following a board meeting on Thursday.
Suhara explained "we had to make a decision at this time", and the news follows on from the JFA president Kozo Tashima claiming that the federation had to "dip into savings" due to the absence of supporters at national team fixtures throughout the year.
FIFA is yet to comment or announce an alternate location or dates for the Club World Cup, but the announcement further compounds Japan's problems after they were forced to cancel a friendly match with England earlier in 2021.
USA football star Megan Rapinoe got to see her fiancee Sue Bird complete a stellar Olympic career with a fifth basketball gold medal - despite all crowds being banned in Tokyo.
Bird, 40, signed off her Games career in the United States' 90-75 win over Japan on Sunday.
At courtside was Rapinoe, who won a bronze on Thursday when she scored twice as the USA beat Australia 4-3 in the football third-place match.
Rapinoe, who won the Golden Boot and Golden Ball at the 2019 World Cup, first met Bird in the run-up to the 2016 Rio Olympics.
They became a couple later that year and announced their engagement in October 2020.
When the USA clinched the basketball gold medal, Bird went to the side of the court and kissed Rapinoe, later revealing how her 36-year-old partner managed to gain access to the Saitama Super Arena.
"I'm very lucky," Bird said. "Obviously when your partner or your fiancee is also in the Olympics you would love to be able to go and support them, be around them, to give any kind of support possible.
"Megan somehow finagled a media credential and got herself in this arena today. We didn't really know it was going to happen until two days ago, it got confirmed. So I do I feel very lucky she was here to witness it, to share it with me."
Spectators have been blocked from attending venues at the Olympics due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with families of overseas athletes unable to travel to Japan for the Games, meaning Rapinoe was among the fortunate few to be in the arena.
"I just went over and obviously told her I loved her and told her I was tired," said Bird. "That was pretty much the extent of the conversation, and she told me she was happy and proud of me.
"Of course I'm so proud of her and her team for winning that bronze medal. The Olympics is hard. It's really hard. There's so much pressure involved and so to have both of us medal is something that I know we'll take that memory with us forever."
Rapinoe wrote on Instagram: "I am so proud of you @sbird10. As if I could love you any more. Congrats baby!"
Bird has ruled out playing on to Paris 2024, happy to settle for five gold medals, the first of which came in Athens at the 2004 Games.
"It really is hard to wrap your head around it, to grasp what it is," said the Seattle Storm star.
"Twenty years of staying true to the game, making sure you're at the top of your game, so much sacrifice.
"The only thing about getting older, you know all the bad stuff that can happen. We lost in 2006 [to Russia at the World Championship]. We tasted that and that's always been the driver.
"So when we actually have the medal around our necks, it just feels so good. It's a sense of relief in a lot of ways."
Sue Bird signed off her Olympic career with a fifth gold medal as Team USA landed a seventh successive women's basketball title, scuppering the hopes of hosts Japan in the final.
At the age of 40, Bird has declared Tokyo 2020 will be her final Games, and she helped the latest incarnation of the mighty United States team to a 90-75 win in the Saitama Super Arena.
Brittney Griner set a new USA record of 30 points in a women's Olympic final, while Diana Taurasi joined Bird in landing a fifth gold, the two longest-serving members of the team each finishing the game with seven points. Taurasi, 39, could yet play on until the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
A'ja Wilson scored 19 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the field in Sunday's final, while Breanna Stewart added 14 points and grabbed 14 rebounds.
Maki Takada led Japan with 17 points. Her team-mate Nako Motohashi drained four of five three-point shots but was far less clinical when nearer the net.
Japan made just 36 per cent of their field-goal attempts (28 of 77) and the 54 per cent success rate of the US team (37 of 69) proved a decisive factor.
The home team never led and trailed 50-39 at half-time, then 75-56 after the third quarter, and by that point the contest was all but over.
Taurasi said of her fifth gold: "It's 20 years of sacrifice, of putting everything aside and just wanting to win. It's never easy playing on this team [with] the pressure, but this group found a way to win and I'm just happy this group got to enjoy it."
Griner, who was also on the Rio 2016 team, recalled the efforts of the triumphant teams of years gone by, with this winning streak having begun at the 1996 Atlanta Games.
"Seven in a row, I mean that's just amazing. That just goes to show everything USA basketball's about," Griner said.
"Japan's hard to guard. They can shoot it anywhere on the court. They're a tough guard, they're a really good team. I'm just glad we've got this gold."
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