Japan
World Cup on football starts on November 20 with a match between Qatar and Ecuador. The hosts will be the first Asian team at the start of the World Cup, but the Japanese team will soon start playing. The Blue Samurai have always performed at the World Championships with dignity, showing disciplined football, and many strong European players have always been present in the roster. The current generation of the Japanese national team led by Hajime Moriyasu is no exception.
Moriyasu, 54, has led the Japanese national team since 2018, his first major team. But the coach has no achievements with the Japanese yet. Moriyasu is lucky for the 2022 World Cup, a fusion of youth and experience, with a number of distinguished veterans and some bright young players in the roster.
Japan 2022 World Cup Stars & Leaders
Speaking of stars. The Japanese definitely don’t have bright players like Nakata now, but there are enough promising players. What is only Kubo, for whom Barcelona and Real Madrid fought at the age of 15. Of particular note is Tomiyasu, who helps the London Arsenal to successfully perform in the Premier League. Our editors have compiled an application for the Japanese national team for World Cup 2022 matches, taking into account performances in the new season.
| Goalkeepers | Shuichi Gonda, Jerzy Kawashima, Daniel Schmidt |
|---|---|
| Protection | Hiroki Ito, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Yuto Nagatomo, Hiroki Sakai, Shogo Taniguchi, Maya Yoshida, Aumu Shoko, Yuta Nakayama |
| Midfield | Wataru Endo, Hidemasa Morita, Reo Hatate, Ao Tanaka, Daichi Kamada, Genki Haraguchi, Gaku Shibasaki |
| Assault | Takumi Minamino, Daizen Maeda, Kaoru Mitoma, Takefusa Kubo, Ritsu Doan Kogo Furuhashi, Ayase Ueda |
Goalkeepers
Gonda will take the place at the base on the gate, he spent almost without replacements the entire qualifying tournament for the World Cup in Qatar and earned the status of number 1. 39-year-old Kawashima will go to the world championship as a talisman, who will help the debutant with experience.
Protection
In defense, in addition to Tomiyasu, there are names familiar to European fans. Of course, we are talking about Nagatomo, who at one time played at the heart of Inter Milan. We can also recall Sakai, who successfully played in the Bundesliga, and defensive leader Yoshida from Schalke with vast experience in the Premier League. Sakai and Nagatomo returned to their homeland, but their experience will help the Japanese in important matches.
Midfield
In the center of the field are collected strong players of European leagues of middle age. Endo from Stuttgart, Morita from Sporting, the leader of the attacks of the Japanese Kamada from Eintracht, Hatate from Celtic. Efficient, disciplined players are important to Moriyasu. All of the above have such qualities, so they play in Europe.
Assault
The attack is the flanks in the form of Minamino (Monaco) and Kubo (Real Sociedad), Maeda (Celtic) and Doan (Freiburg). The abundance of great flank players of the Japanese national team at the World Cup will force Moriyasu to focus on the edge of the attack. In the center of the attack, the competition is weak, except for Furunashi (Celtic) there are no worthy players.
Japanese national team: the history of performances at the World Cup
The Blue Samurai qualified for the main tournament of the four-year period 6 times, and reached the playoffs three times: at the home World Cup in 2002, in South Africa in 2010 and in Russia in 2018. For the first time in history, the Japanese team reached the ⅛ finals at the last World Cup thanks to fair play : Fewer yellow cards than Senegal. In the playoffs, the Japanese lost to the Belgians 3-2 in a spectacular match.
History of Japan’s entry to the 2022 World Cup
The traditionally weak AFC qualifying group surprised for the first time in many years: the first place was taken not by the Japanese team, but by Saudi Arabia. But despite this, the Japanese were 7 points ahead of Australia, which took 3rd place. Traditionally, Moriyasu’s wards played closed: 10 matches, only 2 defeats and a goal difference of 12-4.
Japan Team: 2022 World Cup Group, Prospects
The Japanese got the toughest Group E at the World Championships. They will come to Qatar to play with Spain and Germany - this leaves them with minimal chances of getting into the playoffs of the Fifa World Cup. The match with Costa Rica in the second round will give hope to the fans.
Our world cup prediction for the Japanese team - 3rd place and elimination from the tournament. Despite the discipline and strong line-up, the Blue Samurai will not be able to fight the giants of world football. Let Spain have problems, they must beat the Japanese. The only chance for the Japanese team is a game from defense and individual actions of the leaders Minamino, Kubo and Tomiyasu.
FAQ
The “Table” section will present all the group tables at the World Championships in Qatar. Users will be able to see the position of the Japanese national team and past matches of the Fifa World Cup. Schedule calendar and predictions for top matches are also on our website!
Hajime Moriyasu will play in a 4-2-3-1 formation. Our forecast for the Japanese team for the first matches of the World Cup: Gonda-Nagatomo-Tomiyasu-Ito-Sakai-Tanaka-Endo-Morita-Kubo-Miminamino-Mitoma-Furunashi.
The victory of the Japanese at the World Cup is estimated at 350-400. The victory is already in group E - from 15, you can bet on the Japanese national football team entering the playoffs with odds from 4.5 to 5. 3rd place in the group is the most likely outcome with odds in the region of 1.75-1.8.
