Japanese fans were reveling in victory Wednesday, a day after their team's surprise win against Colombia in its first match in the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
Hopes of a win were low for the Japanese national soccer team, ranked 61st in the FIFA rankings, against Colombia, a formidable squad that is currently ranked in 16th place.
However, almost half of the nation was watching by the second half of the game, according to the ratings agency Video Research Ltd., with television viewer ratings in the Kanto area averaging 42.8 percent for the first half and 48.7 percent for the second.