Japan aim for World Cup breakthrough after high-profile wins

Japan travel to their eighth successive World Cup finals on the back of several high-profile victories and with coach Hajime Moriyasu bullish about their chances of reaching the tournament's latter stages.

The four-times Asian champions secured friendly wins over Brazil and England during the last eight months but in four appearances in the World Cup knockout rounds they have failed to register a single win, crashing out in the last 16 each time.

Defeats to Turkey in 2002, Paraguay in 2010, Belgium in 2018 and Croatia four years ago leave Moriyasu and his team with a psychological hurdle to tackle in the coming weeks.

For his part, Moriyasu is confident that his players have the work ethic and humility to remain level-headed in the pursuit of a ground-breaking result for the country.

"The players have consistently shown a strong desire to improve themselves," said Moriyasu, who will be leading Japan at a second World Cup in a row.

"Even when we beat opponents we had never defeated before — like Brazil last year or England this March — the team was of course happy, but then immediately shifted focus.

"I sense that there is joy but also a calm and steady awareness that there is another goal beyond that."

Moriyasu will be looking to build on the team's performance in 2022 when Japan registered wins over Spain and Germany to top their group, despite a surprise 1-0 defeat by Costa Rica.

The loss to Croatia came in a penalty shootout and ended a campaign that had promised so much.

But with the core of the squad from four years ago still in place, Moriyasu believes the team can build on their previous performances, starting with group-phase matches against the Netherlands, Tunisia and Sweden.

"The players, especially since so many are now active in Europe, teach me many things," said Moriyasu. "I learn from them how they are used tactically at their clubs, what roles they are given, and what coaches are teaching them.

"In that sense, I have learned a great deal from the players about global standards. More than anything, the players are full of ambition — they want to break through their limits and keep going as far as possible."