Japan:
Japan has never gone beyond the round of
16 of the World Cup but is looking forward to a long run in this year’s
tournament. They have a lot of experience in the roster, but they also have
talented youngsters, such as Real Sociedad winger Takefusa Kubo. In addition,
there are players who have qualified for the Premier League in Japan, and many
fans around the world are already familiar with Arsenal’s Takehiro Tomiyasu and
former Liverpool player Takumi Minamino. Japan’s preparations for the
tournament went well and Australia overcame the issue of automatically joining
the AFC region, but it remains to be seen how well Samurai Blue will hold up
against a stronger opponent. If Japan follows suit in the last 6 games, they
will most likely return to Tokyo soon. They had 20 minutes to reach the
quarter-finals in Russia as Belgium came back twice to end Japan’s hopes. This
year they enter the group as foreigners. Alan Gibson of JSoccer magazine thinks
they can use this to their advantage. “They have a habit of letting you down
when you expect something from them and pulling things out of your bag when you
think they have no chance. I feel that little can be expected from them,
because Germany and Spain are in business. I hope this means they will step up
their game and surprise us.”
The Japanese national team has several
influential players on the world stage. Takumi Minamino of Liverpool among
those watching the 2020 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. Premier League star Takehiro
Tomiyasu in his first season at Arsenal. The Japanese Celtic Revolution
continues in Scotland. Daisen Maeda, Yosuke Ideguchi and Reo Hatate are
following in the footsteps of Kyogo Furuhashi, who has quickly become a fan
favorite in Glasgow and hopes to move to Qatar.
Confederation: AFC
Sub-confederation: EAFF (East Asia)
Nick Name : Samurai
Blue
Current FIFA
ranking: 24th (October, 6)
Regional ranking: 2nd
(AFC)
Highest Ranking: 9 (March 1998)
Lowest
Ranking: 66 (December 1992)
Biggest win: 15-0 vs Philippines (27 September 1967)
Biggest defeat: 2-15
vs Philippines (10 May 1917)
World Cup titles: 0
World Cup
appearances : 7th (first in 1998) – Best Round
of 16 (2002, 2010, 2018)
Qualified: AFC
Third Round Group B winners
Head Coach: Hajime
Moriyasu (Japan)
Captain: Maya Yoshida
Top scorer: Kunishige Kamamoto
Key players: Takumi
Minamino (Monaco/FW), Takehiro Tomiyasu (Arsenal/DF), Kaoru Mitoma (Brighton/MF), Daichi
Kamada(Eintracht Frankfurt/MF), Kyogo Furuhashi (Celtic/FW)
Japan World Cup 2022 the most recent squad list :
official squad lists: 21 Oct and 14 Nov.
On 15th November final lists for all
participating teams will be published by FIFA.
GK: Eiji Kawashima (Strasbourg)
GK: Kosei Tani (Shonan Bellmare)
GK: Shuichi Gonda (Shimizu S-Pulse)
GK: Daniel Schmidt (Sint-Truiden)
DF: Takehiro Tomiyasu (Arsenal)
DF: Shogo Taniguchi (Kawasaki Frontale)
DF: Yuto Nagatomo (FC Tokyo)
DF: Miki Yamane (Kawasaki Frontale)
DF: Ayumu Seko (Grasshoppers)
DF: Yuta Nakayama (Huddersfield Town)
DF: Maya Yoshida (Schalke 04)
DF: Hiroki Sakai (Urawa Red Diamonds)
DF: Hiroki Ito (Stuttgart)
MF: Gaku Shibasaki (Leganes)
MF: Genki Haraguchi (Union Berlin)
MF: Takumi Minamino (Monaco)
MF: Takefusa Kubo (Real Sociedad)
MF: Hidemasa Morita (Sporting CP)
MF: Wataru Endo (Stuttgart)
MF: Junya Ito (Reims)
MF: Ao Tanaka (Fortuna Dusseldorf)
MF: Kaoru Mitoma (Brighton)
MF: Daichi Kamada (Eintracht Frankfurt)
MF: Ritsu Doan (Freiburg)
MF: Reo Hatate (Celtic)
MF: Yuki Soma (Nagoya Grampus)
FW: Kyogo Furuhashi (Celtic)
FW: Ayase Ueda (Cercle Brugge)
FW: Shuto Machino (Shonan Bellmare)
FW: Daizen Maeda (Celtic)
Fixtures and match schedule :
|
Wed, Nov. 23 |
Germany vs. Japan |
|
Sun, Nov. 27 |
Japan vs. Costa Rica |
|
Thurs, Dec. 1 |
Japan vs. Spain |
Costa Rica:
Costa Rica’s fate was decided in the
intercontinental playoffs after finishing fourth in the CONCACAF qualifiers. Veteran internationals Keylor Navas and
Bryan Ruiz sealed a 1-0 victory over New Zealand thanks to a third-minute goal
from former Arsenal striker Joel Campbell. Costa Rica are strong in attacking
talent, but it remains to be seen whether they have the wherewithal at the
other end of the pitch to keep out some of the stronger nations.
Confederation: CONCACAF
Sub-confederation: UNCAF
(Central America)
Nick Name: Los Ticos (The Ticos)
Current FIFA
ranking: 31st (October, 6)
Regional ranking:
3rd (CONCACAF)
Highest
Ranking: 13th (February–March 2015)
Lowest
Ranking: 93rd (July 1996)
Biggest win: 12-0 vs Puerto Rico (10 December 1946)
Biggest defeat: 7-0
vs Mexico (17 August 1975)
World Cup titles: 0
World Cup
appearances: 6 (first in 1990)
Qualified : After defeating New Zealand in intercontinental play-off
Head Coach: Luis
Fernando Suárez (Colombia)
Captain: Bryan Ruiz
Top scorer: Rolando Fonseca
Key players: Bryan
Ruiz (Alajuelense/MF), Joel Campbell (Leon/FW), Celso Borges (Alajuelense/MF), Keylor
Navas(PSG/GK), Jewison Bennette (Sunderland/FW)
Costa Rica World Cup 2022 the most recent squad list :
official squad lists: 21 Oct and 14 Nov.
On 15th November final lists for all
participating teams will be published by FIFA.
GK: Esteban
Alvarado (Herediano)
GK: Aaron Cruz
(Deportivo Saprissa)
GK: Patrick
Sequeira (Lugo)
DF: Juan Pablo
Vargas (Millonarios)
DF: Keysher Fuller
(Herediano)
DF: Oscar Duarte
(Al-Wehda)
DF: Bryan Oviedo
(Real Salt Lake)
DF: Francisco
Calvo (Konyaspor)
DF: Kendall Watson
(Deportivo Saprissa)
DF: Carlos
Martinez (San Carlos)
MF: Carlos Mora
(Alajuelense)
MF: Celso Borges
(Alajuelense)
MF: Jewison
Bennette (Sunderland)
MF: Bryan Ruiz
(Alajuelense)
MF: Daniel Chacon
(Cartagines)
MF: Anthony
Hernandez (Puntarenas)
MF: Douglas Lopez
(Santos de Guapiles)
MF: Aaron Suarez
(Alajuelense)
MF: Gerson Torres
(Herediano)
MF: Orlando Galo
(Herediano)
MF: Roan Wilson
(Grecia)
MF: Alvaro Zamora
(Deportivo Saprissa)
MF: Brandon
Aguilera (AD Guanacasteca)
FW: Anthony
Contreras (Herediano)
FW: Johan Venegas
(Alajuelense)
FW: Joel Campbell
(Leon)
Fixtures and match schedule :
|
Wed, Nov. 23 |
Spain vs. Costa Rica |
|
Sun, Nov. 27 |
Japan vs. Costa Rica |
|
Thurs, Dec.1 |
Costa Rica vs. Germany |
