"Il, it's possible to win the World Cup."" ESPN is also surprised. I admit it's the best dark horse... Moriyasu's "surprise declaration of war" in England

*This content was translated by AI.

Japanese soccer's confidence is soaring ahead of the 2026 FIFA North-China World Cup finals. The Japanese coach, who is set to face England, ranked fourth in the FIFA rankings, showed his ambition to win the World Cup.

Sports media "ESPN" spotlighted on the 31st (Korea time), saying, "Japan's national team coach Hajime Moriyasu mentioned Japan's possibility of winning the World Cup ahead of the match against England."

According to the media, Moriyasu said at a press conference against England, "I want to prove Japan's ability against the world-class England," adding, "We will check how far we are in a position and what we need to do to reach the World Cup championship standard through fierce matches."

In particular, Moriyasu directly refuted the skepticism in his country. "I know there are many people in Japan who think our World Cup victory is impossible," he said, expressing confidence, "If England is a strong favorite for this tournament, we are the strongest dark horse to threaten them."

In response, 'ESPN' pointed out, "Dark Horse Japan is ready to face England, a world-class team," adding, "Japan had an incredible victory over Scotland earlier."

Even the favorite England expressed caution due to Japan's strong momentum. In fact, Japan recently achieved four consecutive A matches (Brazil, Ghana, Bolivia, and Scotland) to prove its competitiveness in the World Cup finals. When Japanese media "Football Zone" and British media are combined, English coach Thomas Tuchel praised the power of Japanese soccer. Tuchel, who is usually known as a strong critic, said about Japan, "It's a very attractive and great team. It is rare to face a team with the same power as the Japanese national team," he said with a thumbs-up.

In particular, Tuchel highly evaluated Japan's tactical perfection. "Japan has a strong defense and an organic offense. The quality of the build-up is also quite high, he said. "If England fails to respond properly, it can be beaten by Japan with mobility, speed and technology. In particular, we need to be careful about the left and right transitions and fight smartly," he stressed.

He also remained vigilant about individual players. Pointing to Kaoru Mitoma (Brighton and Hove Albion), who plays in the English Premier League (EPL), Tuchel said, "It is very difficult to stop him. It is best to block the ball from being caught at all. He evaluated that he is an unrivaled player with dribbling and acceleration."

Currently, Japan is on an all-time rise. In an away match in Scotland on the 29th, it won 1-0 with Junya Ito (KRC Genk)'s winning goal, overwhelming the opponent in both possession and shooting numbers. On the other hand, England faced a negative situation where eight key players, including Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka (Alnals) and John Stones (Manchester City), were injured and left. According to 'The Standard', England is expected to start with the best players such as Harry Kane (Bayern Munich) and Jordan Pickford (Everton).

<© STARNEWS. All rights reserved. No reproduction or redistribution allowed.>

*This content was translated by AI.