Football: Injured Mitoma to miss Japan’s 2 World Cup qualifiers

Brighton winger Kaoru Mitoma has been ruled out of two World Cup qualifiers due to an injury, the Japan Football Association said Wednesday.

Mitoma has joined a growing list of injury withdrawals, ahead of Japan’s second-round Group B qualifiers against Myanmar on Thursday in Suita, Osaka Prefecture, and Syria on Tuesday in Saudi Arabia. The 2026 World Cup will be jointly hosted by Canada, Mexico and the United States.

“I came over believing I could help the team, but now I can’t play at 100 percent,” Mitoma said.

He rested at the national team’s training camp Tuesday, when he was unable to pa...