Japan

Japan, nicknamed the Samurai Blue, are Asia's most decorated national team, having won the AFC Asian Cup a record four times and qualified for every FIFA World Cup since 1998. Under coach Hajime Moriyasu, they have become one of the world's top-20 sides and a consistent force at the knockout stage of major tournaments.

Japan's football history stretches back to 1917, though the Japan Football Association was not formally established until 1921. For most of the 20th century the program remained firmly amateur, competing in the Olympics and Asian competitions without ever qualifying for a World Cup, and the team's biggest early achievement was a bronze medal at the 1968 Mexico Olympics.

The turning point came with the founding of the professional J.League in 1993, which transformed domestic standards almost overnight. Japan won the inaugural AFC Asian Cup in 1992 and went on to claim three more titles in 2000, 2004 and 2011, making them by far the continent's most successful nation in that competition. They qualified for the 1998 World Cup — their first — and have appeared at every edition since, reaching the Round of 16 in 2002, 2010, 2018 and 2022.

The modern Samurai Blue have grown into a genuinely global force, with a generation of players based at top European clubs propelling them to an 18th-place FIFA ranking by April 2026. At the 2022 World Cup in Qatar they famously defeated both Germany and Spain in the group stage, underlining their status as serious contenders heading into the 2026 tournament.