25 games, seven wins, six draw, 12 losses. 25 goals scored, 33 conceded. In their seven participations at the FIFA World Cup, those are the numbers that Japan accumulated – getting to the knock-out stage in four different occasions, in three different continents. And the clear aim is now getting past that hurdle, although the 48 teams-edition – a sick joke if you ask me – will add one extra-game to past through.
In those 25 games, Japan faced 22 different sides, with two who had the fate of encounter the Samurai Blue twice – Belgium (2002, 2018), and Colombia (2014, 2018) – while one played Japan three times – Croatia (1998, 2006, 2022). Japan faced 13 times teams from UEFA, five times from CONMEBOL, twice from CONCACAF, four times from CAF, and once against an OFC side. And this time, the national team will face two sides from UEFA and from CAF.
To talk about these opponents – the Netherlands, Tunisia, and Sweden – we arranged a small round table with pundits who are closely following each of those teams. Their hopes and dreams, the pressure behind the pre-WC run, and the players to closely watch. Specifically, for this round table – not the first from JLR – we sat down with:
- Edoardo Battaglion (EB), video scout who worked for PEC Zwolle and Dinamo Tblisi, who filled us in about the Netherlands.
- Alex Cizmic (AC), a true expert of CAF-related things and the author of “Kura Tawila”, a man to listen to when it comes down to African football, and in this case Tunisia.
- Siavoush Fallahi (SF), sports journalist in Stockholm and on-air moderator, who covered our questions around the Swedish national team.
What’s the atmosphere around your national team?
EB: Well, I have to say that this squad is one of the most complete of the last years. On paper, from no. 1 to upfront, there’s depth and several excellencies. I think the injuries of Xavi Simons and Schouten will have an impact, though. Furthermore, Kluivert, Timber, Emegha and de Ligt are still a maybe for the tournament. As usual, though, this squad is decimated by injuries and tired after a long season.
The atmosphere isn’t exactly the best, no joy as you would imagine: Koeman plays a type of football which is a bit lazy and repetitive. It’s not a manager who convinces me a lot, often he can’t fix the recurring problems of this national team – which is very bad in defending transitions when they’re too up the pitch.
I think “Rambo” is generally a coach well-beloved from the group, who recently understood his limits, and there were several experiments on some offensive plays I like. The last two games were good news: a win against Norway – depicted from a certain country like a mashup between the Golden Hungary and the Barcelona from Guardiola – was a very mature one. I liked as well the resilience for the whole game against Ecuador despite being one man down.
AC: Well, the atmosphere is definitely pumped up, despite the results from the last editions of the AFCON. Many Tunisian fans remember still the 1-0 win against France in Qatar – a victory that almost put the national team to the Round of 16. They’re aware that, at least on paper, the roster is stronger than four years ago.
On the other hand, though, there’s also some worry about the continuous innuendos that the local football federation is provoking. The last one is about the roster for the 2026 FIFA World Cup: a reportage by the independent publisher Inkyfada showed that the managers had imposed to the head coach, Sabri Lamouchi, to call up certain players from the local championship, at least one for each of the most significative clubs. It’s something that inevitably hinders their credibility.
SF: It’s been very much up and down. It reached really toxic levels the last few matches with Jon Dahl Tomasson as manager. Graham Potter came on with some enthusiasm but didn’t get the best start. That said Alexander Isak and Viktor Gyökeres were involved in lengthy transfer sagas last summer and missed out parts of the pre-season which clearly effected the first qualifiers.
However, we always knew that this team had won the Nations League and when Martin Dahlin got Sweden one of the best possible draws there was hope. The squad announcement led to some question marks, but overall, the euphoria in the country after Gyökeres decided the game and sent the whole country into happiness with the thoughts of a world cup in the Summer makes for great enthusiasm.
Any point in common between Japan’s football culture and the one from your country?
EB: I remember so well the game between the two teams in 2013. It was a show by Arjen Robben and then the Netherlands fell a bit of a cliff in terms of pace. Oranje and Samurai Blue have always been connected: I remember how the VOC was the only commercial concession that Japan had throughout the Sakoku period. I always like to remember that, almost like these two countries – so different on so many aspects – are connected by a red thread.
From a football perspective, instead, they are a good match for each other. A squad-first, light football, which mashes well with the Japanese utilitarianism. I don’t want to dwell on stereotypes, but Japan produces midfielders, full-backs and wingers – often double-footed, with tactical acumen and the quality of absorbing fast collective concepts – find their ideal habitat in the Eredivisie, where dynamism, space awareness, and immediate counter-attacks are the everyday bread.
AC: Well, talking about the call-ups, I’d say those football cultures are pretty antithetical. On the technical and individual side, Tunisia has nothing to envy compared to Japan; but the better organization by the JFA and their decisively more programmatic vision have always let them to obtain good results against better opponents.
SF: I’d say both Japan and Sweden are at their best when they’re defensively organized, but both of the teams have better players on paper in the offensive parts of the field. Japan has an amazing number of options up front and the same goes for Sweden, but shouldn’t both these nations thrive on defensive football instead of offensive? I think so, and that’ll be interesting to follow when they face off.
What should we expect from your nation at the upcoming FIFA World Cup?
EB: I wouldn’t call it a transitional World Cup. Depay and van Dijk won’t be there in the future, but the core is there – Reijnders, Gakpo, Dumfries, Gravenberch and Frenkie de Jong are present and they will be there at least for three more tournaments.
Let’s say that calling de Vrij is something really Koeman-esque: the Inter Milan defender often finds minutes because Timber is constantly injured, despite being one of the best five defenders in the EPL, and van Hecke had some slumps. De Ligt should also make the cut, and his season until December was solid.
The Netherlands are a good team, but they don’t realize it. They have a terrible relationship with games against the big ones, but from time to time you can see the Oranje making great performances in those settings – take the 0-0 draw against France or the double game against Spain in the UEFA Nations League. Problem is they play an old brand of football – classical 3.5 centre-backs defence, plus Dumfries going forward to constantly attack.
There’s no real floor general, but rather two “regista” in Gravenberch and de Jong. A “10” or an offensive midfielder, which could be either Reijnders or Kluivert, depending on the games. Gakpo is the focal point of the offense, with Malen who should be the no. 9, and there’s a riddle on the right flank – with an inevitable solution, called Summerville. And then you have some the defensive line with Verbruggen, J. Timber, van Dijk and van der Ven.
To be frank, I’m sincerely worried about how much Japan could punish us in transition, and maybe the physical advantage for the European side doesn’t work anymore like in the past. I can see a match with a high intensity, especially in the second part of the game, but I can see Weghorst scoring an equalizer in injury time.
AC: No one really knows what to expect from this squad. Lamouchi joined after the AFCON from last Winter and had just one international break to experiment something. The roster is basically the same from January and the pre-World Cup friendlies will definitely tell us something more. There are two big new names and we have to see how they’ll integrate themselves into the team.
One is Rani Khedira, the other is the class 2005 from PSG, Khalil Ayari. The latter is a big hope for the future, while Khedira could immediately leave his mark, given his decade-long experience in the Bundesliga. That said, the Tunisian fans are very moody and a positive result against Sweden in the opening match of the tournament could give great moral looking at the second game against Japan.
SF: I think we should expect a Swedish team where the defense goes first and counterattacking with Isak, Gyökeres and the others will be at focus. Furthermore, I think the first game against Tunisia will affect Sweden’s football. If they win that game, they’re likely to approach the second game with a defensive mindset in order to secure four points which should be enough to make it through the group.
The J.League corner: do you see any players from your current national team coming to Japan? And if so, who?
EB: At the current time, no. I mean, surely not for the technical project. But the classic player who’s on the last leg of his career, with the will of exploring new horizons and discover a new reality, could be a solid case. Steven de Vrij, for example, could spend a year or two at Gamba Osaka (I’m mentioning randomly the club) to extend his career. It’s possible. But it’s even more probable to see an over-30 player from Curacao or Suriname doing this move.
AC: The number of Tunisian players coming to the Old Continent has slightly increased, and generally the ones who are able to play in the best European leagues. Others, though, prefer the Gulf countries, due to economic reasons and the linguistic and cultural similarity. Japan, on the contrary, is perceived as a far away destination, not so palatable. I don’t think that many would choose the J.League, and even if it happened, it would probably be a lone case rather than a trend.
SF: I think both ways around are interesting to follow and it seems a lot of Swedish players can find themselves in Japan to play as pros. It’s difficult to say who could be the next player to make the move because it’s usually Allsvenskan players who make that move and even though there are some in the squad, the best of them like Stroud should make a top five league move and Taha Ali might stay.
Tough to nail a prediction, but I have to ask: how is the game ending?
EB: I see a 1-1 draw, with goals by Ayase Ueda and Weghorst.
AC: I think Japan are overall superior to Tunisia and they’ll be able to win – I can see a 2-1 win for the Samurai Blue.
SF: I’d say a draw which sends both teams to the next round. 1-1?
Thanks to our panellists for taking part into this round table! You can find Edoardo, Alex, and Siavoush at their respective accounts.
It’s gonna be an exciting group for Japan, very balanced and opened to different outcomes. Brace yourselves for the eighth FIFA World Cup for Japan.
