Japan playmaker Takefusa Kubo is a major doubt for his nation’s upcoming AFC Asian Qualifiers – Road to Qatar meetings with Saudi Arabia and Australia after injuring his knee playing for Real Mallorca.

The 20-year-old, who is on loan at Mallorca from Real Madrid, has already established himself as a key player in Hajime Moriyasu’s side as the Samurai Blue look to secure a place at the FIFA World Cup Finals for the seventh straight time.

But, in a post on Instagram, the former FC Tokyo midfielder revealed he is likely to miss the games on October 7 and 12 after sustaining the injury in a 6-1 loss to his parent club Real Madrid on Thursday.

“I hurt my knee while playing in yesterday’s match and will have to spend a little time off the pitch,” Kubo wrote.

“I’m very disappointed that I won’t be able to help my (Spanish) team and national team during this important time, but I will be offering support from off the pitch.

“I will focus on what I can do so that I can rejoin the team and play my part as soon as possible.”

Kubo did not start Japan’s 1-0 loss at the hands of Oman in their opening game in the Asian Qualifiers Final Round for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 last month but was a member of the starting line-up for the win over China PR five days later in Doha.

After the opening two games, the Japanese are in fourth place in Group B of the final phase of qualifying with only the top two nations guaranteed to advance to the Finals. Japan play Saudi Arabia on October 7 before taking on Australia five days later.