There is a sense of optimism surrounding Japan as they look to participate in just their eighth World Cup campaign.
The Blue Samurai have emerged as a global force in recent years, surging to a historic high of 18th in the FIFA World Rankings earlier in 2026. Despite their recent victories over the world’s elite, such as impressive wins against Brazil and England in the last 12 months, and their dominance in Asia, Japan have not yet made their mark on the grandest stage of them all.
In 1998, they qualified for their first World Cup and have subsequently qualified for each successive tournament since.
After an initial baptism of fire in 1998, crashing out in the group stage with three successive losses, Japan would earn their first victory at the World Cup at the 2002 tournament with a 1-0 victory over Russia.
They had qualified for the tournament as co-hosts alongside South Korea, and utilised home advantage to finish top of Group H, before succumbing to a 1-0 defeat to Turkey in the round of 16.
While this was the Blue Samurai’s first foray in the knockout stages, it has unfortunately become a consistent trend, with Japan failing to win a knockout match on the four occasions they have progressed through the group stages.
The 2010 edition saw Japan cruelly eliminated on penalties to Paraguay, while in 2018, the Asian side put up a valiant effort against Belgium but eventually succumbed 3-2.
At the 2022 World Cup, the Blue Samurai prevailed in ‘the group of death’, defeating both Spain and Germany, however despite the historic results, Japan would once again suffer the despair of penalties in the round of 16, with Croatia inflicting yet another knockout defeat on Hajime Moriyasu’s side.
This year’s iteration will see Japan hope to dispel those demons, as they seek to continue their meteoric ascension in world football.
Road to North America
Japan were the first nation other than the co-hosts to qualify for the 2026 World Cup. Japan dominated the second round of AFC qualification, winning all six matches, scoring 23 and conceding none in a group consisting of Korea DPR, Myanmar and Syria.
The Samurai Blue would then top their group in the third round, ahead of Australia, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, China and Bahrain. A rampant start saw Japan secure qualification with three matches remaining, as they won seven of their 10 matches, and earned 23 points.
The Coach – Hajime Moriyasu
Hajime Moriyasu was capped 35 times as a player for Japan, and became manager of the national team in July 2018, replacing Akira Nishino.
Moriyasu had been an assistant to Nishino for the 2018 World Cup, providing a wealth of experience after 14 years of coaching previously, including roles as part of the Japan youth setup, as well as a five-year managerial appointment at Sanfrecce Hiroshima.
Moriyasu’s tenure has so far seen Japan as runner up in the 2019 AFC Asian Cup Final, before a penalty defeat in the round of 16 run at the 2022 World Cup.
The 57-year-old deploys a 3-4-2-1 formation, with a strong defensive foundation supported by two hard working central midfielders. The front three are aggressive in the press out of possession, with the wing-backs also operating extremely high to support the press, with Japan often aiming to turnover the ball deep in the oppositions half to initiate attacks. This allows Japan to generate lots of chances from opposition mistakes, and Japan also look to attack quickly in transition.
The system is also fluid when required, with Moriyasu also deploying a 3-4-1-2 when more stability in midfield has been required.
This approach has seen Japan play effectively against some of the higher ranked sides, with the disciplined, high-energy and counter attacking approach stifling opposition and exploiting any mistakes. However, Japan have sometimes struggled against more structured teams where the onus has been on them to break down the opposition.
Moriyasu has looked to play attacking players as his wing-backs who will provide further support when in possession, such as Keito Nakamura and Junya Ito. This allows the advanced wide players to operate with more freedom, and much will be required from Takefusa Kubo and Ayase Ueda.
In midfield, Moriyasu has a wealth of options, with Kaishu Sano, Wataru Endo and recent Conference League winner Daichi Kamada providing the core for this Japan side.
With Moriyasu leading Japan to a record high in the FIFA World Rankings, he will hope to continue this progression by earning the Blue Samurai’s first knockout stage win.
Player to Watch – Ayase Ueda
The absence of Kaoru Mitoma and Takumi Minamino have left Japan without some key attacking options. With their forward threat looking slightly light, much of the burden will fall upon Ayase Ueda to spearhead the Blue Samurai attack.
The Feyenoord striker scored 25 goals in 31 appearances, on the way to topping the scoring charts in the Eredivisie. The 27-year-old has 16 goals for Japan so far in his 39 international caps, and has established himself as the leading striker for his nation.
Ueda is a composed, clinical finisher with both feet, who excels with creating space for himself within the opposition penalty area. This enables Ueda to score a lot of goals from crosses, or pull-backs despite not being physically dominant, as his spatial awareness and elite movement helps enable him the half-yard required to fashion an effort on goal.
The Japanese striker’s strong movement also extends to runs in behind, with Ueda scoring a lot of goals through good timing of his runs enabling him to create one on one chances on goal.
Ueda is also very important in the Japan press, leading it from the front and initiating the press from the trigger points. This is key when Ueda looks to counter press and win back the ball high up the pitch which helps the Blue Samurai generate opportunities and put opposition teams under pressure.
If Japan are to progress deep into the competition, much will rely on Ueda to provide attacking contributions.
The Group
There is a strong chance Japan will progress through the group stage, as the expansion of the World Cup to 48 teams means a third-placed finish will be good enough for eight teams to advance to the first knockout round.
With the Blue Samurai currently the second highest ranked nation in Group F, Hajime Moriyasu’s side will be optimistic they have sufficient quality to progress through the tournament.
Their schedule is as follows:
Netherlands v Japan, 14th June (21:00 BST) – ITV One: Dallas Stadium, Arlington, USA
Tunisia v Japan, 21st June (05:00 BST) – BBC One: Estadio Monterrey, Guadalupe, Mexico
Japan v Sweden, 26th June (00:00 BST) – BBC Two: Dallas Stadium, Arlington, USA
Expectations
Given the expansion of the tournament to 48 teams, there has been an additional round of 32 implemented into the knockout stage. With only 16 teams being eliminated from the group stage, it would be a significant failure were Japan not to progress to the second phase of the tournament.
The additional round also presents Japan an opportunity to potentially face slightly weaker opposition in theory and prevail in a knockout match for the first time in its World Cup history.
Doing so appears to be the minimum expectation given the Blue Samurai’s recent results and dominant qualification campaign.
Therefore, expect Hajime Moriyasu to steer his side to at least the round of 16, and from there it would be no surprise to see Japan present tricky opposition to one of the world’s elites.