Moriyasu's Japan Squad Takes Some Shine Off the World Cup Story

When Japan's squad came out, the loudest part was not the list of names.

It was the empty spaces.

Kaoru Mitoma is not there. Takumi Minamino is not there. Hidemasa Morita is not there either. For a team that has spent years being described through clean passing, sharp wide play and those famous World Cup upsets, the list removes a layer of shine before the tournament has even begun.

Supporters have grown used to picturing Japan from the left touchline, where Mitoma slows a defender down before cutting the match open. They know Minamino's habit of appearing between lines, close enough to goal to make one touch matter. They know Moriyasu can usually build order from familiar pieces.

But a World Cup rarely keeps the cast intact just because the story feels neat.

Hajime Moriyasu has still taken Yuto Nagatomo. Wataru Endo remains the spine of the side. Younger names have been pushed closer to the light. The most interesting thing about this squad is not that it is cautious or dramatic. It asks a harder question: if the prettiest exit is gone, can Japan still make the match look like Japan?

Nagatomo's name carries memory.

He has seen too many Japanese World Cup nights to feel like a normal squad player. South Africa, Brazil, the painful collapse against Belgium in 2018, then the wild victories over Germany and Spain in Qatar. He is no longer the fullback who can decide a match by running the same flank again and again. What he brings now is a room that remembers how cruel the tournament can be after the 88th minute.

Endo brings a different weight.

Japan are often praised for their feet, their passing angles, their ability to escape pressure. In tournament football, the thing that keeps a team from falling apart is often less elegant. Endo has to be near the second ball. He has to cover the fullback who was just pushed back. He has to decide whether to foul, drop or step forward after a young attacker loses possession.

Takefusa Kubo may carry more of the blade.

Without Mitoma, Japan lose a natural magnet on the left. Kubo's turns between the right side and the middle stop being decoration. He must move defenders' eyes, delay a pass just long enough, then cut a diagonal ball into a match that is beginning to look too flat. Structure keeps a team alive. Sharpness wins the night.

That is the real gamble inside Moriyasu's selection.

Japan have already shown they can hurt elite teams in one game. Germany knows it. Spain knows it. Belgium knows it too. They still have to prove they can turn that pain into control across knockout rounds. Without Mitoma and Minamino, the job looks harder, but also closer to what a World Cup really is.

The tournament almost never offers a perfect squad. It gives you injuries, arguments, form swings, and a player who should have been starting but is watching from home. Then it asks one simple thing.

Can you still play?

Japan can. This time the test feels more mature. Not whether they can spring another upset, but whether they can connect pressing, midfield cover, wide progression and the last touch in the box when a few of their most familiar answers are missing.

The current frame is clear: Nagatomo carries tournament memory, Endo protects the middle, Kubo takes on heavier creative work, and the back line needs players like Takehiro Tomiyasu and Ko Itakura to give the team body and judgment. Mitoma, Minamino and Morita being absent makes the squad less familiar. It also leaves Japan with fewer places to hide.

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