FUKUSHIMA, Japan (Kyodo) -- Japan dispatched Australia 8-0 in the Tokyo Deaflympics men's football tournament Friday as the multi-sport event kicked off in Fukushima Prefecture a day before the opening ceremony in the capital.

Some 3,000 athletes from 80 countries and regions will compete in 21 sports through Nov. 26 at the first Deaflympics staged in Japan, with Fukushima hosting football and Shizuoka Prefecture home to cycling.

Japan, tipped as one of the men's football favorites, got off to a sound start as the 2023 world championship runners-up took a 3-0 lead at the break and Takuya Okada went on to bag four goals in their Group A opener at J-Village.

The venue, set up in 1997 to serve as the Japan national teams' training base, was used as an operational base to deal with the 2011 nuclear crisis at the nearby Fukushima Daiichi power plant, accommodating thousands of workers engaged in disaster cleanup efforts.

Thirteen teams have been split into Groups A to D in men's football, with the top two nations from each group reaching the knockout stage. Women's football starts at J-Village on Saturday.