2026 World Cup Team Chronicle·Japan: From Almost to One Step Ahead

That night in Doha, the first thing Japanese fans heard was an unbelievable gasp in the stands.

In the 2022 match against Germany, in the 75th minute, Ritsu Doan scored a supplementary shot to equalize; in the 83rd minute, Takuma Asano blasted the ball into the near corner from a small angle on the right rib. That kick was not "inspiration", it was courage. It was pushing the game forward when the whole world agreed that you should keep the tie.

Four days later against Spain, in the 51st minute, Kaoru Misaki saved the ball that almost went out of the baseline, and Tanaka Aoi scored with a push shot. That ball was later judged by numerous magnifying glasses. The Japanese team doesn't care about camera arguments, what they care about is: two strong team games, six points, and qualifying.

But the Japanese team’s World Cup memories have never been made solely by high-light lenses.

In 1998, they participated in the World Cup for the first time; in 2002, Junichi Inamoto scored a key goal and entered the knockout round for the first time. In 2010, in Rustenburg, South Africa, Japan beat Denmark 3-1. Keisuke Honda's free kick was like a declaration. Yasuhito Endo then sealed the game with another free kick. That generation taught everyone that Japan was not just an "Asian team that could pass the ball."

Then came 2018, the most painful stab. Rostov, Japan vs. Belgium, Haraguchi Genki scored in the 48th minute, and Inui Takashi scored again in the 52nd minute, 2-0. It looks like history is about to be rewritten. Vertonghen recovered one with a header in the 69th minute, and Fellaini equalized in the 74th minute. In the 94th minute of stoppage time, Japan's corner kick failed. De Bruyne advanced with the ball and Shazli pushed the ball in front of the goal. 2 to 3. Those are five minutes that many Japanese fans still dare not rewatch in full.

They grow up every time, but every time they are a little bit worse.

So in 2026, the real question Japan has to solve is not "can it still be upset?" but "how to turn the knockout rounds into a game that it can control."

The core of this team is also clear.

Hang Endo is the anchor of the midfield and backcourt. When the rhythm was messed up, he wanted to level the game again; when confrontation started, he wanted to snatch the second point first. Takeshi Kubo is the sharpest knife in the right half-space. His value is not just dribbling, but his ability to cut "a seemingly flat round" in depth. Kaoru Misaki is still the most direct game-breaker on the left. One-on-one breakthroughs, continuous changes of direction, and the final cross or inverted triangle determine whether Japan can create chaos in the penalty area in front of a strong team.

In the backcourt, the combination of Kenyo Tomiyasu and Koji Itakura determines the ceiling of Japan's defense. One is responsible for physical confrontation and point control, and the other is responsible for ball delivery and route prediction. As for the goalkeeper position, Aya Suzuki's growth over the past two years is crucial: Japan used to be said to have a "good system, but not enough hardness in front of the goal." If you want to go far this time, the last goal must withstand the most difficult shots.

Another character that cannot be ignored is the "dirty work role" of the forward line. Chiyo Ueda is responsible for the finish, and Daran Maeda is responsible for the first line of oppression and sprint containment. Many fans only look at the number of goals scored, but the most expensive job of a Japanese forward is often to drag the opponent's center back out of his comfort zone and free up half a second for the group of second-line attackers behind him.

This is what makes the Japanese team the most like the Japanese team: it is not one hero dragging the whole team, but 11 people who take a set of order to the extreme.

They are really just one layer away from the quarterfinals or even deeper rounds. But this layer of paper often takes four or even eight years to poke.

Recently, they have tried to poke this layer of window paper in the warm-up match.

March 28, 2026, Glasgow, Hampden Park, Japan 1-0 Scotland. The game dragged on until the 84th minute, when Junya Ito scored the winning goal. This kind of tough away game, not rushing or letting up in the first 80 minutes, but taking the game away in the last ten minutes, is a typical signal before a big game. Three days later, on March 31, at Wembley, Japan defeated England 1-0. Kaoru Misaki counterattacked and scored in the 23rd minute. They only won one goal in both games, but this is exactly what the Japanese team is like now: they don't rely on luck to score twice in a row, but rely on structure to endure the intensity until the end.

2026 Japan list (organized by position)

Note: The following is the current observation list compiled as of April 2026 based on the official competitions and regular call-ups of the national team in the past two years. The final 26 people are subject to the official registration of the Japan Football Association.

• Goalkeepers: Ayane Suzuki, Keisuke Osako, Daniel Schmidt
• Defenders: Kenyo Toyasu, Itakura Koji, Hiroyuki Ito, Akigo Taniguchi, Hiroki Machida, Yuse Sugawara, Daiki Hashioka
• Midfielder: Endo Hang, Morita Hidemasa, Tanaka Aoi, Kamada Daichi, flag bearer Reio, Sano Kaishu, Minamino Takumi
• Forwards: Kaoru Mikasa, Takehide Kubo, Ritsu Doyasu, Junya Ito, Keyo Ueda, Dairan Maeda, Torugo Furuhashi, Takuma Asano

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