North Korea reportedly told Japan that it cannot host the World Cup qualifier scheduled for next Tuesday in Pyongyang. 

Japan’s Kyodo News issued the report on Thursday quoting an official from the Japan Football Association, adding that North Korea appears to be canceling the match due to concerns about rising cases of streptococcal toxic shock syndrome, or STSS, in Japan. 

North Korean officials reportedly told Japan that the North cannot host the planned match after the two sides played a first qualifier in Tokyo on Thursday, which Japan won one-zero.

Japan was scheduled to play North Korea in Pyongyang on Tuesday in the second game of a double-header in the second round of the Asian qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup. 

The team had planned to depart for the match on Friday and stay in China before entering Pyongyang on Monday. 

Last month, the first leg of two qualifying games for the 2024 Paris Olympics between the two nations in women’s soccer was moved from Pyongyang to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.