You were worse than Korea, but you won the Japan World Cup? Be humble and aim for the quarterfinals

Sep 16, 2025

You were worse than Korea, but you won the Japan World Cup? Be humble and aim for the quarterfinals
Sportschosun DB



In Japan, it is also pointed out that winning the World Cup is an absurd goal.

Japan's crisis theory is spreading after this September's A-match. Even considering that there were so many injury variables in the center back and midfield, it is true that the performance of one draw and one loss did not meet expectations.

Public opinion is inevitably worse in Japan because it is being compared to South Korea, which went on an expedition to the U.S. together. When Korea recently faced Japan, it showed weak power compared to Japan, which has won three consecutive games, but unlike Japan, it won 2-0 against the United States. It also drew unfortunately just before the victory against stronger Mexico.




Compared to Korea, Japan was disappointing. At a time when Japanese coach Hajime Moriyasu and his players openly talk about the goal of winning the World Cup, they failed to score a goal against Mexico and the United States. Coach Hajime even apologized to Japanese soccer fans after the U.S. match.
You were worse than Korea, but you won the Japan World Cup? Be humble and aim for the quarterfinals
Sportschosun DB
As expected, the atmosphere inside Japan is not good. Sergio Echigo, a Japanese soccer critic, claimed that Japan's goal of winning the World Cup after the A-match in September was absurd.

Echigo said in Japanese media Sportiva on the 16th, `What on earth have we been doing in the three years since the 2022 World Cup in Qatar?It is a frank appreciation that ' In Asia, you can win, but when your opponent's level goes up, it's hard to take a victory for sure. The biggest harvest in the two A-match games is the confirmation that the players are thin. It can be said that it is the evil of playing by fixing the starting members in the Asian qualifying round, where anyone could take the lead"He began to raise his voice of criticism against the Japanese national team.

Echigo said "Moriyasu and his players will also win the World Cup again", but neither Mexico nor the U.S. is a team seeking to win the World Cup. At best, they are in the round of 16 and quarterfinals, and they were also not at their best this time. It was a draw and a loss to such an opponent, plus it was scoreless in two games"In this way, it is not right to say the goal of winning the World Cup."
You were worse than Korea, but you won the Japan World Cup? Be humble and aim for the quarterfinals
Sportschosun DB
Japanese players also said that it would be difficult to discuss winning the World Cup if Japan did not show its strength against the U.S. and Mexico. Japan's core power, Takefusa Kubo, once said ahead of the September A-match, "'If we say we win, wouldn't it be impossible to win the World Cup if we couldn't show what we wanted to do against this level of opponent?' In other words, both the contents and the results have been as Kubo feared.

Echigo "In the beginning, Japan also lost in the quarterfinals of last year's Asian Cup. The World Cup Asian qualifiers also failed to show a difference to Australia or Saudi Arabia. Nevertheless, there is too little evidence to aim to win the World Cup. Japan is still a challenger, and first of all, they should aim modestly for the quarterfinals"It is realistic for Japan to lower its goal," he said.



This article was translated by Naver AI translator.