Japan have set themselves the ambitious target of winning next year’s FIFA World Cup, and coach Hajime Moriyasu believes they are making big strides in the right direction heading into 2026.
The four-time Asian champions have never gone past the last 16 at a World Cup, but a strong squad of Europe-based players and impressive recent results have convinced the coach that they can make history in the US, Canada and Mexico.
Japan beat Brazil for the first time last month and followed that up with convincing wins over Ghana and Bolivia to end the year on a high.
Photo: AFP
Moriyasu celebrated his 100th game in charge in Tuesday’s 3-0 win over Bolivia in Tokyo and thinks his team is shaping up nicely.
“Of course, it’s important to win when we’re on top, but the players showed tonight that we can win even when things aren’t going our way, which builds confidence,” he said. “I changed seven players from the team that started against Ghana, and we showed that we can still win and function effectively regardless of who plays.”
Japan stunned Germany and Spain at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar before losing on penalties to Croatia in the last 16.
Photo: AFP
They were the first team to punch their ticket to next year’s tournament and their only defeat in Asian qualifying came after they had secured their spot.
They have not had things all their own way this year, and a 0-0 draw with Mexico and a 2-0 loss to the US in September showed there was still work to be done.
However, they impressed in coming back from two goals down to beat Brazil 3-2 and looked assured in defense in keeping clean sheets against Ghana and Bolivia.
“I think the players have improved their ability to express the team’s playing style in both attack and defense,” Moriyasu said. “The fact that we’ve been able to spend a lot of time together over the past three months has increased our shared understanding.”
Crystal Palace’s Daichi Kamada has played a key role this year along with Eintracht Frankfurt’s Ritsu Doan, Feyenoord striker Ayase Ueda and Real Sociedad attacker Takefusa Kubo.
Wataru Endo has done his part as captain, despite getting little playing time at English Premier League champions Liverpool.
Meanwhile, goalkeeper Zion Suzuki has emerged as a steady presence after enduring a torrid time at last year’s AFC Asian Cup.
Brighton & Hove Albion winger Kaoru Mitoma has featured little as he struggles with injury, while former Arsenal defender Takehiro Tomiyasu has barely played any soccer at all for the past two years.
Tomiyasu is still without a club after leaving the Gunners in July to focus on his rehabilitation from injury, but Moriyasu said this week that he is confident Tomiyasu would return in time for the World Cup.
Japan have only one more international window before Moriyasu has to pick his World Cup squad, and it has been reported that a March trip to play England at Wembley could be on the cards.
The coach said that he would likely wait until the last minute before finalizing his squad, and urged his players to make the most of their time.
“We finished the year with consecutive wins, but I want the players to go back to their clubs now and keep trying to raise their level,” he said. “You can be sure that other teams will be analyzing us so we need to keep improving our tactics and playing style so that we can outsmart them.”
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