In order to do so, head coach Hajime Moriyasu’s 26-man squad — most of whom are untested on this stage — will first have to navigate past a group containing two former world champions in Germany and Spain as well as a tricky Costa Rica, representing as big a challenge as Japan has ever faced at the event since it made its debut at France 1998.
This tournament, held in November and December in order to avoid the dangerously hot summer climate of host Qatar, comes at a crucial turning point for Japanese soccer, even as its stock continues to rise globally.
This World Cup’s setting in and around the Qatari capital, where Hans Ooft’s Japan narrowly missed out on qualifying for USA 1994 in a draw with Iraq remembered even today as the “Agony of Doha,” presents an opportunity for Moriyasu — then a midfielder for the national side — to exorcise the country’s demons and take a monumental step toward the Japan Football Association’s ambitious target of winning the World Cup by 2050.
Japan’s seventh appearance on the global stage comes at the end of one of the most challenging World Cup cycles in team history. After routine wins against second-round group opponents Myanmar, Mongolia, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan in the fall of 2019, the coronavirus pandemic forced the suspension of Asian qualifying due to border closures across the region.
Despite a slow start that saw Japan lose two of its first three games — at home against Oman and away at Saudi Arabia — Moriyasu righted the ship with a 2-1 win over Australia on Oct. 12, 2021, a result followed by five clean-sheet victories that assured the four-time Asian champion of a ticket to the main event.
With uncertainty at the back and front of Moriyasu’s preferred 4-2-3-1 formation, the Samurai Blue will have to power their way via a talent-stacked midfield if they’re to make it to the knockout rounds.
In order to do that, Japan will need a small miracle to ensure most of its injured players are ready for Wednesday’s opener against Germany: central midfielders Wataru Endo (concussion) and Hidemasa Morita (calf) didn’t travel for the team’s 2-1 warmup loss to Canada in Dubai on Thursday, the same day Brighton winger Kaoru Mitoma finally entered Doha after his arrival was delayed by a fever earlier in the week.
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Though Moriyasu’s first choice for a central midfield pairing would be Endo and Morita, Gaku Shibasaki and Ao Tanaka proved serviceable against Canada, though Group E will offer a much higher class of opponents.
Where things could get trickier is the lone forward position, where talisman Yuya Osako was left at home due to poor form and either Takuma Asano, Daizen Maeda or Ayase Ueda are likely to start. An intriguing late addition to the squad is Shonan Bellmare striker Shuto Machino, who finished second among J. League players with 13 goals and could make a case for a future move to Europe with a standout performance.
As for between the posts, goalkeeping duties will fall either to Sint-Truiden netminder Daniel Schmidt — the third multiracial player to represent Japan at a World Cup — or Shimizu S-Pulse’s Shuichi Gonda, with 39-year-old veteran Eiji Kawashima expected to be the second backup.
One couldn’t help but sympathize with Moriyasu for looking somewhat shell-shocked after the final draw in Doha on April 1. After all, Japan has twice before been paired with previous champions — but never with two in the same group stage.
Yet in facing Germany, the winner in 2014, and Spain, champion in 2010, the Samurai Blue will have a rare chance to test themselves against two countries who have had an immeasurable impact on Japanese soccer’s development.
Germany’s association with the JFA goes back to 1960, when Japan’s Olympic hopefuls — including future J. League founder Saburo Kawabuchi — held a training camp in the West German city of Duisberg. Japan’s appointment of technical adviser Dettmar Cramer — who would later go on to lead Bayern Munich to two European championships — helped lay the groundwork for the host’s success at the Tokyo Olympics in 1964 as well as a historic bronze medal at the 1968 Summer Games in Mexico City.
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“There is respect for Japanese football in Germany,” television commentator Derek Rae told The Japan Times. “Japanese pros in the Bundesliga have a good reputation, they’re thought of as solid professionals who don’t let the team down.
“As the group goes, (Germany) probably believe that it could have been an easier (third opponent) than Japan. … I think Germany’s problem is, they know they are going to be the team that takes the game to Japan, for the most part — that’s the expectation, but it doesn’t always suit them, and it might actually suit Japan in many respects.”
Spanish soccer is held in similarly high esteem in Japan, with Barcelona and Real Madrid by far two of the most popular clubs in the country. A number of Japanese players — including current Japan midfielders Kubo and Shibasaki — have made their way to La Liga over the last decade.
In recent years, several Spanish coaches and players — the most prominent, of course, being Vissel Kobe midfielder Andres Iniesta, who led Spain to the 2010 title — have made their way to the J. League, leading to an increase in exchanges between the two countries.
“What Spain has to do is maintain possession on Japan’s side of the pitch and create a rhythm,” Iniesta said on his YouTube channel last month. “What will be scariest is possibly Japan’s counterattacks. … Japan has great technique, as well as lots of fast players up front.”
What’s not clear is how the team will perform at full strength, with its only pre-World Cup warmup — Thursday’s planned friendly against Iraq — called off because of a dispute at the Iraq-Kuwait border over whether players’ passports would require stamping.
That will mean the team’s presumptive starting goalkeeper — Paris Saint-Germain backup Keylor Navas — will step between the posts in Qatar despite having not made a competitive appearance since May 21.
Key Samurai Blue players
Just seven of Japan’s 26 players have previously been called up for a World Cup — with only five making an appearance in the actual competition. As the Samurai Blue prepare to fight for survival in Group E, here are four players whose presence could impact the team’s fortunes on the pitch.
The Engine: Central midfielder Wataru Endo is the embodiment of Japan’s player development cycle, having stepped up from Shonan Bellmare’s academy to the top team before upgrading to Urawa Reds and then again to Japanese-owned Sint-Truiden in Belgium, earning his way to Germany’s Stuttgart in 2019. There he’s been handed the captain’s armband and proven his ability to contribute on both sides of the ball, whether it’s pressuring opponents and winning tackles or even scoring goals, such as the one that kept his club in the top flight at the end of last season. Though a concussion sustained shortly before the World Cup break has raised concerns, the 29-year-old has returned to training and is expected to be ready for Japan’s Group E opener against Germany.
The Academic: Winger Kaoru Mitoma was so uncertain of his ability to make it as a professional that he turned down a professional contract after matriculating through Kawasaki Frontale’s academy system, instead enrolling at the University of Tsukuba. There, he was selected to three Kanto University soccer League XIs, and in 2017 helped knock out three J. League clubs on the way to a round-of-16 finish in the Emperor’s Cup. With 13 goals and 13 assists — many of them off the bench — Mitoma finished runner-up for J.League MVP in his rookie campaign at Kawasaki, and his star has only continued to rise following a promising loan spell at Belgium’s Union SG before joining Brighton & Hove Albion in the Premier League this season.
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