Targeting historical world No. 1, Asia crazy squad for 21 European players...March A Match List Announced
Mar 13, 2025
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Japan's national soccer team, led by coach Hajime Moriyasu, announced 25 players on the 13th to play in Group C 7-8 of the third Asian qualifying round for the 2026 North-China World Cup. Japan will hold two consecutive home games against Bahrain on the 20th and Saudi Arabia on the 25th.
The atmosphere is good. Japan ranks first in the group with five wins and one draw (16 points) in six games. The gap has widened significantly with Australia (7 points) in second place and Indonesia (6 points) in third place. Japan will confirm its advance to the World Cup finals if it wins just one game in Games 7-8. Except for the host country, it is an opportunity to win a ticket to the World Cup finals as the No. 1 player in the world.
Japan is the best. As many as 21 of the 25 finalists are European. Only two goalkeepers and two defenders belong to the J-League. Japan has selected all key players, including Itakura Ko (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Hiroki Ito (Bayern Munich), Takumi Minamino (AS Monaco), Kaoru Mitoma (Brighton), and Takefusa Kubo (Real Sociedad). However, some of them, including Koki Machida (Louyal Winion Saint-Jillouaz), Takehiro Tomiyasu (Arnall), and Shogo Taniguchi (Sintriwydon), were out due to injuries.
Japanese media Nikkan Sports confirmed Japan's advance to the World Cup as the world's No. 1 if Japan beats Bahrain. However, Moriyasu denied the optimism, the report said.
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▶ Goalkeepers (3 players) = Keisuke Osako (Sanprecce Hiroshima), Kosei Tani (Machida Zelvia), and Zaion Suzuki (Parma Kalcho)
▶7 defenders = Yuto Nagatomo (FC Tokyo), Itakura Ko (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Hiroki Ito (Bayern Munich), Ayumu Seko (Grathhofer), Yukinari Sugawara (Southampton), Hiroki Sekine (Stad Reims), Kota Takai (Frontale Kawasaki)
▶Midfielder+striker (15 players) =Wataru Endo (Liverpool), Junya Ito, Kyogo Furuhashi, Keito Nakamura (Stard Reims), Takumi Minamino (AS Monaco), Hidemasa Morita (Sporting), Daichi Kamada (Crystal Palace), Kaoru Mitoma (Brighton), Daizen Maeda, Leo Hatate (Celtic), Doan Ritz (Freiburg), Ayase Ueda (Feyenoord Rotterdam), Ao Tanaka (Liz United), Takefusa Kubo (Real Socieda)
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
