Japan Hopes to Reach the Quarterfinals

Doha, November 08 (QNA) – Despite being in a strong group, Japan hopes to reach the quarterfinals for the first time in their World Cup history when they take part in FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.
  Japan will play in Group E, which includes Germany and Spain alongside Costa Rica, in their seventh consecutive appearance in the finals after 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, and 2018.
  The Japanese team will start their World Cup campaign with a match against Germany at Khalifa International Stadium on Nov. 23. They will then meet Costa Rica at Ahmed Bin Ali Stadium four days later, before facing Spain at Khalifa International Stadium on Dec. 1.
  The Japanese Football Association chose the Radisson Blu Hotel as the teams residence. They will train on training ground No. 1 at Al Sadd Sports Club.
  The Japanese team had a terrible start in the qualifiers, losing twice to Oman and Saudi Arabia.
 Despite their difficult start to the campaign, Japan still topped group B with six victories, thanks to the great form of Yuya Osako, the team’s top scorer in the qualifiers with 10 goals, Junya Ito, and Takumi Minamino.
  Japan coach Hajime Moriyasu has always believed in his players’ abilities to get good results, strong start in the tournament will be important and that if the team give their best, they can be a threat to others.
  Japan will rely on Osako and Minamino if they are to reach the quarterfinals. Supporting them will be Maya Yoshida, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Ko Itakura, Ryo Hatate, kaoru mitoma, Ayase Ueda.
 Qualification to the last-16 was Japans best result, they did so in 2002, 2010, 2018, while it was unable to do so in 2006 and 2014.
  Japan played a total of 21 matches in the World Cup. They won five, drew five, and lost 11. They scored 20 goals and conceded 29.
  The Japanese national football team, whose football association was established in 1929 and whose country hosted the 17th edition of the World Cup in 2002 jointly with South Korea, has not missed the World Cup tournaments since their first appearance in 1998 in France.
  Although Japan has been unable to reach the World Cup for 68 years, they now have a strategy in place to win the World Cup by 2050. Japan’s investment in football in recent years has greatly contributed to the development of its players, who are playing in the biggest leagues around the world.
  In addition to playing in the World Cup seven times, they featured in the Confederations Cup four times. In Asia, Japan is the continents most successful team over the past two decades. They won four Asian Cup titles in 1992, 2000, 2004, 2011. They also reached the final of the last edition but lost to Qatar 1-3.
  Japan played 48 matches during their participation in the AFC Asian Cup. They won 30 matches, drew 12, and lost six. They scored a total of 92 goal and conceded 44.
  Some of Japanese footballs most-distinguished players are Yasuhito Endo, their most-capped player with 152 international matches. The teams all-time goal scorer is games is Kunishige Kamamoto with 80 goals. Hidetoshi Nakata for his part has played the most-capped player for Japan in the World Cup, playing in 10 matches. There is also, Keisuke Honda, Japan’s top scorer in the World Cup finals with three goals. (QNA)