Japan

7 entrants predicted Japan to win the World Cup

89 entrants are supporting Japan

Top 10 Japan supporters

Pos	Name	Po
1	Samurai Blue  Japan	100
2	kenken   Fortaleza	95
2	Frank Nakamura   Embra	95
4	Masa Australia	91
5	Kris Davus Belgium	90
5	a-ki  Sagamihara	90
7	michael doherty glasgow	89
7	Stevie Airlangga Indonesia	89
9	Kg   Bangkok,Thailand	88
10	Murfinho   Eire	87

Group matches

Team profile

• Coach: Zico, (2002-)
• World Cup appearances: 3
• First World Cup: 1998
• Best performance at World Cup: Round 2, 2002

The Japan national football team is the national football team of Japan and is controlled by the Japan Football Association. It is currently the highest-ranked Asian (AFC) national team in the official FIFA World Rankings. After being overshadowed for years by baseball and sumo wrestling, football has been rapidly growing in popularity in Japan. The nation's first World Cup appearance was in 1998, where they lost their first two fixtures 1-0 to Argentina and Croatia, despite playing well in both games. Their campaign ended with a surprise 2-1 defeat by rank outsiders Jamaica. Four years later, they co-hosted the 2002 World Cup with South Korea. Despite being held to a 2-2 draw by Belgium in their opening game, they advanced to the second round with an impressive 1-0 win over Russia and a comfortable 2-0 victory against Tunisia. However, they subsequently exited the tournament in disappointing fashion, giving a poor performance as they lost 1-0 to eventual third-place finishers Turkey. The Japanese team has had considerably more success in the Asian Cup, taking home the winner's trophy in three of the last four finals. Their principal continental rivals are Iran, and South Korea. On June 8, 2005, Japan qualified for their third consecutive World Cup by beating North Korea 2-0 in Bangkok, Thailand. For the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Japan is in Group F along with Australia, Brazil, and Croatia.

World Cup record

• 1930 - Did not enter
• 1934 - Did not enter
• 1938 - Withdrew
• 1950 - Did not enter
• 1954 - Did not qualify
• 1958 - Did not enter
• 1962 - Did not qualify
• 1966 - Did not enter
• 1970 to 1994 - Did not qualify
• 1998 - Round 1
• 2002 - Round 2
• 2006 - Qualified

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