"Japan is going to the semifinals of the World Cup." The outlook for the tournament has also changed significantly due to the 'unexpected event' that beat Brazil and England

*This content was translated by AI.

The Japanese national soccer team, which surprised the world by beating England after Brazil, is expected to reach the semifinals at the 2026 FIFA 2026 FIFA North and Central America World Cup.

Madfootball, a soccer content media outlet, introduced on the 7th (Korea Standard Time) in an article predicting 2026 FIFA North and Central America World Cup through AI after the March A match period, saying, "Surprisingly, Japan has predicted that it will reach the semifinals."

According to the media, Japan, led by coach Moriyasu Hajime, is expected to win the round of 16 against Croatia and then beat Portugal in the quarterfinals to reach the semifinals. In the semifinals, they are eliminated after losing to Spain, but the prospect that Spain, which beat Japan, will beat France to reach the top has been added.

Japan has been a "single team" to advance to the tournament in predictions of the World Cup through various media, but most of them have not crossed the gate to the round of 16. However, in this prediction, it is expected to go beyond the quarterfinals to the semifinals. The Japanese national soccer team's best record in the World Cup is the round of 16.

The result reflects the competitiveness shown in recent warm-up matches ahead of the World Cup. In October last year, Japan defeated Brazil, which had defeated South Korea 5-0 at the time, 3-2 at home.

In recent years, he also caused another "unexpected event" to beat England 1-0 at Wembley Stadium in London, England, a "soccer holy site." Japan is the first Asian country to beat England.

Starting with the match against Brazil last year and the match against England, the Japanese national soccer team is continuing its five-game winning streak in the warm-up match against 2026 FIFA North and Central America World Cup. Thanks to this, he also raised his ranking to 18th in the FIFA rankings announced earlier this month. Naturally, the outlook surrounding the Japanese national team seems to have changed significantly ahead of the World Cup.

On the other hand, South Korea, led by head coach Hong Myung-bo, failed to make the team expected to advance to the round of 16. This is also interpreted as a result of reflecting the performance during the A-match period in March. South Korea lost to Ivory Coast 0-4 and lost to Austria 0-1 for the second consecutive time. None of the teams in Group A like South Korea were expected to advance to the round of 16.

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*This content was translated by AI.