Japan will play Iran on Oct. 13 in a friendly at Tehran, the Japan Football Association announced Thursday.
The game, scheduled to start at 5 p.m. local time (10:30 p.m. in Japan), will come five days after Japan faces Syria in Oman for its fourth game of the second round of 2018 World Cup qualifiers.
Japan got off to a tepid start to the campaign in Group E with a scoreless draw at home against Singapore in June. Manager Vahid Halilhodzic's Japan squad will have another home game against Cambodia at Saitama Stadium on Sept. 3, before it travels to Iran to take on Afghanistan on Sept. 8.
Japan has no qualifying match scheduled on Oct. 13, when Syria plays Afghanistan and Singapore hosts Cambodia.