How Can the Japanese National Team Become the Strongest in Asia?

The Indonesian national team had to return with their heads bowed after being defeated 0-6 by the Japanese national team in the third round of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, on Tuesday (11/6/2025) at the Suita City Football Stadium, Osaka Prefecture, Japan. This victory not only reaffirmed Japan's dominance over Indonesia but also demonstrated that Japan is one of the greatest football powers in Asia.

In the standings of the third round of the 2026 World Cup qualification, Japan occupies the top position in Group C, alongside South Korea at the top of Group B, and Iran at the top of Group A. Japan and Iran have both accumulated 23 points, while South Korea has 22 points. However, Japan is superior to Iran due to a goal surplus of 27, whereas Iran has only a surplus of 11 goals.

When facing Indonesian players, most of whom are naturalized and play in European leagues, Japan continues to have faith in its local players. Many players from the yellow race also compete in major European leagues, such as the English Premier League, the German Bundesliga, the Italian Serie A, and Ligue 1 in France.

What makes the Japanese national team so strong when performing in Asia and even at world level?

It all began in 1991 when the Japanese football federation, Japan Football Association (JFA), dissolved the semi-professional league Japan Soccer League (JSL) as it was deemed not to contribute to the advancement of football in the land of the cherry blossoms. In 1992, the JFA launched a 100-year vision stating that Japan must become the champion of the World Cup within the next 100 years.

To realize its vision, JFA undertakes two simultaneous actions. The first is launching the J-League as a professional league and developing a structured football training and competition system at the grassroots level.

Before launching the J-League, the JFA studied various professional leagues from different countries, including Indonesia. The J-League replaced the JSL because the JSL was a league comprised of clubs owned by large corporations in Japan. The players were employees of those companies.

In the J-League, clubs must stand alone, and their players are professional athletes. Clubs typically have a "godfather" in the form of a large company in the city where the club is established, serving as the main sponsor, but they are not owned by any specific company, thus maintaining independence. Supporting sponsors also originate from the same city or prefecture, creating a strong bond between the business world and local football clubs.

The bond between the club and local supporters is also well established. Supporters provide support in various ways, including financially, by purchasing tickets and merchandise. The club's players reciprocate the love of the supporters by playing wholeheartedly and avoiding bribery and match-fixing.

At the beginning of the J-League's establishment, the JFA opened the recruitment of top players and coaches from Europe. Zico, Gary Lineker, Dragan Stojkovic, and coach Arsene Wenger were brought in by Japanese clubs at the onset of the J-League.

Their presence is necessary to enhance the prestige of the J-League and simultaneously transfer knowledge to Japanese coaches and players. Japanese players are also working hard to improve their skills in order to compete with the foreign players who arrive.

The enthusiasm of J-League spectators has skyrocketed, from around 1,600 spectators per match during the JSL to more than 20,000 spectators per match due to the improving quality of the games. This enhancement in game quality is attributed to the increasingly better skills of local Japanese players.

The improvement in the abilities of local Japanese players is evidenced by Hidetoshi Nakata and Kazuyoshi Miura's success in breaking into the Italian League. Nakata joined Perugia in 1998, and Miura moved to Genoa in 1994. Since then, many Japanese players have been sought after by European clubs up to the present day.

Unlike Indonesia, which focuses solely on the national team and professional leagues, the Japanese football federation places great importance on youth development at the school level, from elementary schools to universities. The football training curriculum as an extracurricular activity is structured very well in a tiered manner. Furthermore, tiered competitions from the city level to the national level are also held regularly.

Physical education teachers are trained to become football coaches, according to the level of the school they teach. Thus, they can teach the basic techniques of football for elementary school teachers and design competitive game tactics for high school teachers.

One of the figures behind Japan's success in early childhood development is Tom Byer. Tom Byer is a former soccer player from the United States who has been living in Japan since 1980. Byer teaches two key aspects in soccer coaching: the joy of playing the game and the techniques of play.

Children aged 8-10 should be taught to enjoy playing soccer. If they are happy while playing, the techniques of the game will be easier for them to learn.

Children and teenagers are very interested in football in Japan because of two things, namely the achievements of the Japanese national team and comics or manga that tell stories about football. Captain Tsubasa manga greatly inspired Japanese children and teenagers in the 1990s to 2000s to play football. The manga sold 90 million copies.

As they grow older, teenagers must master gameplay techniques more effectively and begin to understand team play tactics. By high school age, they are ready to compete competitively.

The competition at the high school level is organized in stages, starting from the city level to the national level, known as the All Japan High School Soccer Tournament. This school-based competition attracts a significant number of spectators and is held in stadiums. The number of spectators for high school matches can draw a total of up to 10 million people in a single season.

After high school, quality players have two options: to join a club academy of the J-League (whether J1, J2, or J3) or to enter a university club. Many players choose to join university clubs because they offer high-quality training and competition. On the other hand, they can continue their studies, providing them with knowledge for the future in case they do not succeed as professional players.

The quality of football competition at the university level in Japan is considered equivalent to the J2 competition, which is the second tier of the J-League. It is not surprising that many university players receive contracts as professional players from J-League clubs after graduating.

In competitions at the high school and university levels, talent scouts from all clubs will be present to monitor the emerging outstanding talents. Thus, the players who join the clubs are high-quality players.

The high quality of Japanese players has led many of them to be recruited by European clubs after two or three seasons competing in the J-League. From the list of players currently and previously representing the Japanese national team for the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, there are 35 players who are affiliated with European clubs. This number is greater than that of South Korean players in Europe, which stands at 19.

Japanese players competing in Europe include Wataru Endo (Liverpool), Takefusa Kubo (Real Sociedad), and Zion Suzuki (Parma). The large number of players competing in Europe means that only seven out of the 23 members of the Japanese national team squad are playing in the J-League. The rest are representing European clubs.

The high quality of Japanese players, resulting from a structured development system and intense competition, along with some players trained in Europe, has enabled Japan to qualify for the World Cup since 1998 and has not missed a tournament since then. In their seven World Cup participations, Japan has advanced from the group stage four times and reached the round of 16.

At the Qatar 2022 World Cup, Japan topped the group standings after defeating Germany and Spain with identical scores of 2-1. Both teams, which have previously been world champions, were rendered powerless due to underestimating Japan's clever gameplay.

In the Asian Cup, Japan is the team that has won the highest number of championships in the premier tournament in Asia. Japan has been crowned champion four times, specifically in 1992, 2000, 2004, and 2011. Japan surpasses Saudi Arabia and Iran, which have each won the championship three times. South Korea and Iran lag behind, having only won the championship twice.