"Il, it's not weird to win the World Cup." 佛 Legendary Makelelele's "Shock Prediction"... "Thumbs up" to Brazil's ability to beat him

*This content was translated by AI.

Claude Makelelele (53), a French soccer legend and dubbed the "textbook of defensive midfielders," predicted the possibility of the Japanese national team's success in the 2026 North American World Cup.

Japan's "Sacker Digest" reported an exclusive interview with Makelelele, who visited Tokyo on the 6th.

Makelelele's visit to Japan was made to establish the Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) Academy Japan. At a press conference held on January 30, PSG announced that it would open academies in Tokyo, Saitama, Ibaraki, and Shizuoka from April 2026, and start operating in Chiba from September.

According to reports, Makelelele said of the Japanese national team, "I don't know all the names of all the players, but I'm checking their play carefully," adding, "Japan's way of playing is really good."

"Japan is advancing to the round of 16 at every World Cup. "From the time I played as an active player, I had the impression that Japan is a difficult team to deal with," he said. "The current generation is also very high." We have both individual quality and organizational power," he said.

In particular, Makelelele gave a surprisingly optimistic outlook on his performance at the 2026 North-China World Cup, which will open in June. He said, "It's not strange at all if Japan advances to the quarterfinals at this World Cup and creates a 'surprise' that goes up to the semifinals or beyond. The current Japanese team has such a big possibility. There is no doubt about their quality," he said.

Makelelele is considered the best defensive midfielder in the world in the 2000s. He went through big clubs such as Real Madrid, Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain, leading them to the UEFA Champions League (UCL) title and the championship of each country's league. He redefined the role of a defensive midfielder with his vigorous activity and excellent interpersonal defense capabilities and created the new word "Makelele Roll."

Japan, led by coach Hajime Moriyasu, made several achievements last year. In March last year, he advanced to the World Cup finals the fastest except for the 2026 North American World Cup host countries (USA, Canada, and Mexico). He then beat Korea in July to win the East Asian Football Federation (EAFF) E-1 Championship. In October, he surprised soccer fans around the world by defeating Brazil 3-2 with a 5-0 victory over South Korea. This is why Japanese soccer is currently at its peak.

Japan showed its potential by reaching the round of 16 by defeating strong teams Germany and Spain in succession at the 2022 Qatar World Cup. Now Moriyasu is running with the goal of 'World Cup victory'.

In Group F of the North American World Cup group stage, Japan belonged to the Netherlands, Tunisia, and European Playoffs (PO) Pass B. Ukraine and Sweden, Poland and Albania will face off in Pass B, of which the winning team belongs to Group F.

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*This content was translated by AI.