Japan under coach Hajime Moriyasu became the first team to qualify for the 2026 tournament in the US, Canada and Mexico when they defeated Bahrain 2-0 last week.
After securing a ticket, they continued to have a 0-0 draw at home with Saudi Arabia, thereby earning 20 points after 8 matches, scoring 24 goals and conceding only 2 goals.
Japan are 15th in the FIFA rankings and Moriyasu and his players are confident that they could become the first Asian team to win the World Cup in the summer of 2026.
"We aim to win the World Cup," said Crystal Palace midfielder Daichi Kamada, one of five Japanese players playing in the Premier League.
Japan has reached the round of 16 four times since their first participation in the World Cup in 1998. They beat Germany and Spain to reach the knockout stages of the 2022 World Cup, but then lost to Croatia in a penalty shootout.
"It shows that we have a chance to win the World Cup, which is very important for me. The Japan Football Association has said that we want to win the World Cup by 2050 and we are working hard to improve to soon make that a reality, said Mr. Moriyasu.
The strategist said that the Japanese team still needs to improve everything before going to North America next year to reach the level of a team that can conquer the World Cup championship.
The team from the land of the rising sun is gathering many excellent players competing in Europe. Captain Wataru Endo has become an important part of Liverpool's squad while Kaoru Mitoma has developed into one of the Premier League's best wingers at Brighton.
Takefusa Kubo of Real Sociedad is one of the best strikers in the Spanish football league.
The Japanese team has more squad depth than ever, but Endo said there is no conflict between players competing for the starting position.
He said: All the players have to think about what is best for the team and everyone knows that. I think that is a special strength of the Japanese people. I think Japan is the strongest country when it comes to the team's solidarity."
Japan often has the best results at the World Cup when expectations are not high.
They lost narrowly to Belgium in the round of 16 of the 2018 tournament in Russia, just two months after sacking the coach.
They came to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil believing that they could make a splash but had to return home early after a poor performance in the group stage.
Defender Yuto Nagatomo, who has played in four World Cups, said: "We have improved, but if you value your abilities too much and are too satisfied with yourself, that is when things start to fall apart."
According to Nagatomo, who has played for the national team 142 times, he experienced this directly at the 2014 World Cup and that is the concern of the Japanese team.
Captain Wataru Endo called on fans to believe in their ambition to win the World Cup in 2026. For some, that is not practical. However, with what they did against Germany and Spain at the 2022 World Cup, Japan deserves to be considered a candidate.
Endo said: "The important thing here is not the result but the process. If we want to win the World Cup, how we use the time from now until the tournament is very important.
