Korean soccer in the round of 16 Realism, setting different goals to see if it can catch up with the strongest Japan, and winning the World Cup

Jun 12, 2025

Japan is now saying that they won the World Cup

On the 12th, the Japan Football Association announced part of its A-match schedule for October on its official website, saying, "'It has been decided that Japan will face Paraguay in the Kirin Challenge Cup to be held at Panasonic Stadium Suita in Osaka on October 10, 2025'

After the match against Paraguay was completed, the Japanese Football Association added the feelings of Japanese coach Hajime Moriyasu. Surprisingly, Hajime talked about winning the World Cup. "I'm grateful that we're going to play against powerhouses in September, from the U.S. and Mexico to Paraguay. In order to reach the top of the world in the World Cup, we have to win against South American countries with excellent performance"He showed a strong will for the upcoming A match.

Coach Hajime said, `This game will also be an important game in preparation for next year. After the away game in the U.S. in September, he will play four consecutive games in Japan starting with this game. I want more people to come to the stadium, and I want to see the best scenery together as Japan becomes one for the World Cup," he said, asking for the support of his Japanese fans.

No one in the world would think Japan was the favorite to win the World Cup. However, Japan's goal is gradually moving toward winning the World Cup. Japan has already established a long-term plan to win the World Cup at the association level.

Right now, it may seem like a futile bid, but Japan's goal is great in that it is now not the round of 16 or the quarterfinals, but the World Cup championship. This is because it is really not easy for an Asian country to say that it will win the World Cup. In the history of the World Cup so far, no Asian country has ever reached the final. Korea's semifinals at the 2002 World Cup were the first semifinals of an Asian country. Since then, no country has come close to Korea's performance.

However, Japan is gradually narrowing the gap with Europe, although its best record is only the round of 16. Japan reached the round of 16 in 2018 and 2022 World Cups in a row. In particular, his advance to the round of 16 at the last World Cup was highly praised. This is because Japan met Spain and Germany in the group stage. Japan won against Germany and Spain, leading the group to the round of 16.

Japan is close to the quarterfinals, although it has suffered a lot every time in the round of 16. In the round of 16 at the 2018 World Cup, it took the golden generation of Belgium to the brink of elimination, and in the last World Cup, it was eliminated after a penalty shootout against Croatia. Now, if Japan advances to the quarterfinals, no one will think it's an upset. In this way, Japan has not been able to step on the eighth, but it is already setting its goal of winning.

It is inevitable that it will be compared to Korea. South Korea is still aiming for only the round of 16 when the World Cup is held. If you go to the round of 16, you will succeed, and if you don't go to the round of 16, you will fail. Looking only at the results and looking at the process within them, they are not looking at where the problem was. Japan is moving forward with its goal step by step, but South Korea only looks at the round of 16 at this World Cup.

Will South Korea have better players than those in Japan like Son Heung-min, Kim Min-jae, and Lee Kang-in forever. If there are no other exceptional players in Korea in this trend, the gap with Japan will widen further. Japan will be an eternal rival to Korea, but it should be able to surpass Japan someday in search of something to learn while clearly acknowledging that Japan is ahead.

This article was translated by Naver AI translator.