Qatar countdown: World Cup goal for Japan is quarter-finals... at least

Arsenal’s Takehiro Tomiyasu and Brighton’s Kaoru Mitoma are included in Japan squad but there is no place for Celtic duo Kyogo Furuhashi and Reo Hatate.

Arsenal’s Takehiro Tomiyasu

Saying it is one thing, but doing it is another.

Japan soccer coach Hajime Moriyasu repeated his aim again for the World Cup.

“Our goal for the tournament is to reach the quarterfinal — and least,” he said on Tuesday as he named Japan’s 26-player squad. “We know it won’t be easy.” 

Perhaps an understatement: Japan is in Group E with Germany and Spain — two former World Cup champions — and Costa Rica, which made the quarterfinals in 2014 in Brazil. Arsenal’s Takehiro Tomiyasu and Brighton’s Kaoru Mitoma are included in the squad but there is no place for Celtic duo Kyogo Furuhashi and Reo Hatate.

This is Japan’s seventh World Cup appearance, and it has reached the round of 16 on three occasions. In 2018 it lost 3-2 in stoppage time to Belgium after leading 2-0. It also was eliminated by Paraguay on penalties in 2010, and lost to Turkey 1-0 in 2002 when the country co-hosted the event with South Korea.

“Hopefully, we have a different view of the landscape this time,” Moriyasu said.

Defenders Maya Yoshida and Hiroki Sakai will be playing in their third consecutive World Cup. Defender Yuto Nagatomo and goalkeeper Eiji Kawashima will be playing in their fourth.

Japan opens against Germany on Nov. 23, faces Costa Rica on Nov. 27, and Spain on Dec. 1. It will play its last friendly on Nov. 17 against Canada in Dubai.

Japan squad - Goalkeepers: Shuichi Gonda (Shimizu S-Pulse), Daniel Schmidt (Sint-Truiden), Eiji Kawashima (Strasbourg).

Defenders: Miki Yamane (Kawasaki Frontale), Hiroki Sakai (Urawa Reds), Maya Yoshida (Schalke), Takehiro Tomiyasu (Arsenal), Shogo Taniguchi (Kawasaki Frontale), Ko Itakura (Borussia Monchengladbach), Hiroki Ito (Stuttgart), Yuto Nagatomo (FC Tokyo), Yuta Nakayama (Huddersfield Town).

Midfielders: Wataru Endo (Stuttgart), Hidemasa Morita (Sporting Lisbon), Ao Tanaka (Fortuna Dusseldorf), Gaku Shibasaki (Leganes), Kaoru Mitoma (Brighton), Daichi Kamada (Eintracht Frankfurt), Ritsu Doan (Freiburg), Junya Ito (Stade Reims), Takumi Minamino (AS Monaco), Takefusa Kubo Real Sociedad), Yuki Soma (Nagoya Grampus).

Forwards: Daizen Maeda (Celtic), Takuma Asano (Bochum), Ayase Ueda (Cercle Bruges).