For a team so often looking threatened by stormy waters, Japan's qualification for a fourth successive World Cup has ultimately been plain sailing.

Shinji Okazaki's ninth-minute winner was enough to give Takeshi Okada's side a 1-0 win in Uzbekistan to secure passage to South Africa 2010 on Saturday, and although the goal preceded a period of sustained pressure from the Central Asians, the current Group 1 standings tell their own story.

Japan sits seven points clear of third-place Bahrain with two games still to play, having won all three away fixtures so far, scoring more goals than anyone else in the group and becoming the first team in the world to clinch a berth in the finals.