When the Japanese team faces Brazil in the round of 32 of the 2026 World Cup, this will not be the first time the two teams have met on the biggest football stage on the planet.
The only previous confrontation took place 20 years ago at the 2006 World Cup in Germany. At that time, the gap in class between the two football backgrounds was very large.
That was just Japan's third World Cup, after participating for the first time in 1998 and the co-host tournament in 2002. Meanwhile, Brazil just reached the top of the world for the fifth time at the 2002 World Cup and is considered the number one force in world football.
And of course, it was not surprising when Selecao won a resounding 4-1 victory. The Brazilian squad at that time gathered a series of legends such as Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and Kaka. The Japanese side also possessed prominent names such as Hidetoshi Nakata, Junichi Inamoto or Shunsuke Nakamura, but in terms of quality and influence, they still could not compare with the stars on the other side.
The disparity is also shown in where the players play. Brazil owns four players playing for Real Madrid, three players playing for AC Milan, and many stars on the payroll of Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Juventus, Inter Milan or Arsenal.
Conversely, Japan at that time only had 6 players playing football in Europe. The most prominent was Hidetoshi Nakata, who contributed to helping AS Roma win Serie A before moving to Fiorentina. Among the 23 players, up to 17 still played in the J.League.
Two decades have passed, Brazil is still the most successful team in World Cup history, but has not yet reached the sixth championship. Meanwhile, Japan has had a strong change.
Interestingly, before the 2006 World Cup as well as the 2026 World Cup, the "Blue Samurai" were both ranked 18th in the FIFA rankings. However, the current squad quality is very different from 20 years ago.
Japan now owns a generation of players who are playing and shining in the top European national championships. Only three members in the World Cup squad do not play football abroad, including veteran Yuto Nagatomo and two reserve goalkeepers Keisuke Osako and Tomoki Hayakawa.
Even when lacking key players due to injuries such as Kaoru Mitoma, Wataru Endo or Takumi Minamino, the Japanese squad still has representatives in the Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga and Ligue 1. Besides, there are players who are in high form in quality leagues such as Eredivisie, where Ayase Ueda just won the top scorer title after a season scoring 25 goals for Feyenoord.
In the opposite direction, Brazil may no longer dominate absolutely as much as two decades ago but is still a top championship candidate. Neymar is still present at the age of 34, Vinicius Junior has become the leader in attack, Gabriel Magalhaes is one of the best center-backs in the world, and Raphinha has just experienced a explosive season with Barcelona.
However, Japan's confidence is not just words of encouragement. The President of the Japan Football Association, Tsuneyasu Miyamoto, once shared that the whole team believes in the ability to compete fairly with Brazil.
The draw to bring Japan to meet Brazil right from the round of 32 may be considered disadvantageous. However, if they top Group F, their opponent will be Morocco - the team that drew with Brazil in the group stage - so no road is easy.
More importantly, with the goal of going deep and conquering the World Cup, Japan understands that sooner or later they must overcome opponents of class like Brazil if they want to turn their ambitions into reality.
Blue Samurai" also gained more confidence from the 3-2 victory over Brazil in a friendly match in October last year. Although only for testing, it was still the first time Japan defeated Selecao after coming back from a 2-goal lead.
20 years ago, Japan left the World Cup after a 1-4 defeat to Brazil. 20 years later, they entered the rematch with a completely different mindset.
The match in Houston will be an opportunity for Japan to prove how far they have gone and whether the gap that once existed between the two football backgrounds is really narrowed.
