The team, however, got criticized for its defensive approach (as the offensive approach lead to a regretful scenario against Belgium during the World Cup 2018), as Japan won the group with only one goal margin wins in all three matches and two later knockout stage's matches as Japan only beat fellow powerhouse Saudi Arabia in the round of sixteen and dark horse Vietnam in the quarter-finals both with 1–0 margin. However, in its first attempt to qualify with professional players, Japan narrowly missed a ticket to the 1994 World Cup after drawing with Iraq in the final match of the qualification round, remembered by fans as the " Agony of Doha". The green represents the country’s vegetation, the red symbolises the struggle for freedom, the black represents the people and the orange symbolises wealth.

Japan remains the only team from the AFC other than Australia and Saudi Arabia to have reached the final of a senior FIFA men's competition. Women walk past a wall featuring mascots of the Asian Cup, a major international soccer tournament, in Msheireb Downtown Doha, in Qatar, Wednesday, Jan. There have been many versions of the Spanish flag over the centuries, probably due to different empires ruling at different times.Japan's defeat to eventual third-place finishers Belgium was the first time a nation had lost a knockout match at the World Cup after taking a two-goal advantage since England lost to West Germany 2–3 in extra-time in the quarter-final of the 1970 edition.

In the end, Japan managed to qualify for the knockout stages by defeating Spain 2–1 in their final group match, also contributing to Germany's elimination from the tournament.

They then beat Australia 3–2 and beat South Korea 2–1 in the third and final match in the 2013 EAFF East Asian Cup to claim the title. A young fan wears a Palestinian keffiyeh, a traditional Arab headdress, as he waits for the start of the Asian Cup Group C soccer match between Iran and Palestine at the Education City Stadium in Al Rayyan, Qatar, Sunday, Jan. Competitions like the International NFL Flag Championships shine a light on the ever-expanding opportunities to play the game - and inspire young athletes everywhere to get involved.

Yuji Nakazawa and Yuki Abe scored for the Samurai Blue, but it was a Malek Mouath brace that settled the game with a thrilling 3-2 victory for the Green Falcons. Whenever Hong Kong, a quote-unquote ‘province team’, performs well and outperforms China, it is bad news for them,” said Law. Japan plays its home matches among various stadiums, in rotation, around the country, especially the Saitama Stadium 2002. However, Japan's impressive performance was praised by fans, pundits and medias for their fighting spirits, as demonstrated by Japan's win over Colombia, a draw to Senegal and a strong counter offensive against heavyweight Belgium.By topping their group, Japan went on to face Croatia [82] in the round of 16 where Japan would lose 1–3 on penalties after a 1–1 draw. They fell in their first match to Ivory Coast 2–1 after initially taking the lead, allowing two goals in a two-minute span. The selection of Fuleco brings attention to the country's great biodiversity, as the Brazilian three-banded armadillo is endemic to Brazil and is classified as a vulnerable species. Japan were invited to the 2019 Copa America, their second appearance at the tournament, and brought a young squad to the competition. They then faced Iraq and Jordan in their next group matches, which they won 1–0 and 2–0 respectively.

Action committees were held in 1988 and 1989 to discuss the introduction of a full professional league in Japan.In July 2014, former Mexico and Espanyol manager Javier Aguirre took over, [45] and Japan lost 0–2 to Uruguay in the first game he managed. The rivalry began at the 2006 World Cup where the two countries were grouped together, and continued with the two countries meeting regularly in various AFC competitions, such as the 2007 AFC Asian Cup, the 2011 AFC Asian Cup Final and the 2013 EAFF East Asian Cup. We are playing the Asian Cup as titleholders and in our own home, so we have to perform and show to the fans that we mean business. Main article: Japan national football team records and statistics As of 5 December 2022 [118] Players in bold are still active with Japan.