The third round of Asian qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup kicks off this week, and while Japan’s chances of missing out on a place at the expanded 48-team tournament are vanishingly slim, it will be keen to avoid similar slipups to those experienced in its opening games at this qualifying stage for the last two FIFA showpieces.
Samurai Blue lost 1-0 at home to Oman three years ago, and also went down 2-1 to the UAE in front of their own fans in their maiden third-round qualifier for the 2018 tournament in Russia.
On each of those occasions, Japan did recover to secure a smooth passage to the main competition, and with eight full World Cup slots now available for AFC countries it would take an absolute catastrophe for Hajime Moriyasu’s men to miss out on the next edition, which will be held in Canada, Mexico and the U.S.
Of course, Japan’s opponents will have a lot to say about that. Samurai Blue are in a group that includes China, Thursday’s opponent in the opener in Saitama, Bahrain, who they travel to face next Tuesday, a strong Saudi Arabia, old rivals Australia, and a rapidly improving Indonesia. Still, their status as favorites to progress to North America is indisputable — if not via an automatic berth as one of the top two finishers in this stage, then certainly from the subsequent rounds of qualifiers available.
With 20 of the 27 players called into the squad for the coming week’s games playing their club soccer in Europe, some of the talent Moriyasu has at his disposal must make him the envy of coaches across the continent.
For reasons on and off the pitch, the headline inclusion this time around is Junya Ito, who is returning to the squad for the first time since being forced to leave during the Asian Cup at the start of the year amid accusations that he had sex with two women who were too drunk to give consent.
Ito vehemently denied those allegations and sued his accusers citing a false complaint. In August, prosecutors decided not to indict the Stade de Reims player due to a lack of evidence. Moriyasu and national team director Masakuni Yamamoto both stated when announcing this month’s squad that they felt the timing was right to reintroduce the winger with a penchant for scoring crucial goals to the national team set-up.
Kaoru Mitoma’s selection offers another huge boost to the side, with the Brighton and Hove Albion star not having started for his country since a 4-1 friendly win over Germany in September last year.
Injuries have restricted the 27-year-old to a couple of substitute appearances at the Asian Cup for his country since then, but he has looked back to his very best in the early stages of the Premier League season, playing a key role for Brighton and contributing a goal and an assist as the club has gone undefeated in its opening three games to sit third in the nascent table.
While the increasing number of players moving to top European leagues has naturally had a positive effect on Japan’s strength in depth, it does also bring with it certain challenges for Moriyasu and his staff — which now includes former captain Makoto Hasebe, who has assumed a national team coaching role alongside his duties for Eintracht Frankfurt’s under-21 side.
The bulk of the squad now requires long-haul flights in order to convene with the national team back in Asia, which takes a physical toll on the players and also limits the amount of time the entire group is able to train together in the days leading up to games as they arrive in dribs and drabs from various locations.
Injuries to key players also leave Moriyasu with issues to resolve, especially in defense.
Arsenal’s Takehiro Tomiyasu is once again unavailable, leaving a large hole to be filled at center back, while Hiroki Ito remains out with a fractured metatarsal suffered in one of his first friendly appearances after signing for German giant Bayern Munich this summer.
In addition to that, it remains unclear who the first choices are in the full back positions. FC Tokyo’s soon-to-be-38-year-old Yuto Nagatomo remains in the picture due to a lack of standout candidates emerging, while at the other end of the experience spectrum, the promising-but-raw 22-year-old Henry Heroki Mochizuki has been handed a first call-up after impressing in his debut professional season for J. League surprise package Machida Zelvia.
There is also — as ever — a slight question mark at center forward.
Feyenoord’s Ayase Ueda looks as though he is still Moriyasu’s preference to lead the line but can blow hot and cold, while neither of the other out-and-out strikers included in this month’s squad, Koki Ogawa and Mao Hosoya, have so far been able to stake serious claims for starting berths.
Of course, elsewhere there are plenty of positives for Japan, including the goalkeeping situation.
Keisuke Osako, Kosei Tani and Zion Suzuki provide the team with a trio of talented stoppers to choose from, while Leo Brian Kokubo, who shone at the recent Olympics, can perhaps feel a little hard done by not to have been called into this month’s squad himself.
Japan is most blessed in attacking midfield though, and as well as the aforementioned Mitoma and Ito the likes of Takefusa Kubo, Ritsu Doan, Takumi Minamino, Daichi Kamada and Keito Nakamura provide a wealth of talent capable of both creating and scoring goals.
It is that quality which should ensure Japan comfortably makes sure of a place at an eighth consecutive World Cup finals, and the team will be determined to assert its dominance with a couple of statement wins in the coming days.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.