Japan's Rio Olympic Under-23s' elimination at the Toulon Tournament was sealed on Wednesday, despite a 2-1 win over Guinea in Group B.
First-half goals from Cayman Togashi and Takumi Minamino secured Japan its first three points of the tournament, but it was too little, too late as Makoto Teguramori's men were knocked out with one game left against England on Friday.
England advanced from the group stage, a 4-0 win over Paraguay, giving the squad nine points. Portugal and Paraguay have six points each but face each other in the final round of games, meaning Japan can finish no higher than third. Guinea has lost all four of its matches.
The top teams from Group A and B meet in the final and the second-place teams face each other in the third-place playoff.
"We have one game left and hopefully we can get a good result," said Japan coach Teguramori, whose team lost its first two games against Paraguay (2-1) and Portugal (1-0).