The Japan Football Association on Wednesday confirmed that the country’s national team will play Syria in a friendly on June 7.

The match at Chofu’s Tokyo Stadium will serve as an important warm-up for the Samurai Blue ahead of their scheduled 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier at Iraq.

“Syria play similarly to Iraq and we know from our encounters in the second round that they are a high-quality team,” coach Vahid Halilhodzic said. 

“We chose to hold this match in Tokyo with our qualifier against Iraq in mind. We want to prepare and train well before we travel for that match.”