Japan edge hosts Scotland in World Cup warm-up thanks to late Ito winner

Early opportunities arose for both teams at Hampden Park, where Scott McTominay was stopped by an impressive save from Zion Suzuki after only eight minutes. John McGinn's hard work along Scotland's right flank opened the chance for the Napoli forward right on the six-yard line, yet Suzuki's quick reflexes diverted his close-range poke onto the post.

In the first half-hour, Japan's attacks were mostly limited to long-range attempts, with Daizen Maeda and Kodai Sano both blocked, until Ao Tanaka of Leeds United struck the crossbar from 15 yards out on 38 minutes.

At the break, Japan introduced several substitutes to push for a goal, including Brighton and Hove Albion's winger Kaoru Mitoma under Hajime Moriyasu, and the Seagulls player nearly assisted Keisuke Goto just on 53 minutes.

This sparked an immediate reply from Scotland, as a diving Suzuki denial halted captain Andy Robertson moments later, leading to end-to-end action throughout the match.

Mitoma kept influencing play for Japan, with a clever pass setting up another opportunity, which substitute Ito squandered, before Japan's number seven had a shot heading goalward cleared off the line by Kenny McLean on 68 minutes.

Scotland aimed to hold firm in the final moments, yet their backline was breached with six minutes remaining, when Mitoma sharply found the overlapping Junnosuke Suzuki, whose low delivery was nudged in from near range by the recovering Ito.

This home loss concludes Steve Clarke's undefeated run at Hampden after three matches, and Japan have now prevented his side from netting in their most recent six games.

Scotland's next fixture is against the Ivory Coast at Everton's Hill Dickinson Stadium on March 31st, while Japan face England at Wembley.