Japan National U-20 Team's will begin their run at their generational World Cup on Sunday 21 May with the opening match of the FIFA U-20 World Cup Korea Republic 2017 as a compilation of their 30-month path. Here, we look back where they started and how far they have come during that long stretch.

This national team started off more than two years ago on 31 December 2014. The squad assembled at Haneda Airport in the night and left for Saint Petersburg, Russia. Their debut stage was the 27th Valentin Granatkin Memorial International Football Tournament, where a total of 18 teams including Eastern European countries and Korea Republic participated.

Only seven of them are still on the current team – goalkeeper KOJIMA Ryosuke, defenders ITAKURA Kou, NAKAYAMA Yuta, FUJITANI So, midfielder SAKAI Daisuke, MIYOSHI Koji and forward OGAWA Koki. The newly launched Japan side lost 1-0 to Azerbaijan in their memorable maiden match on 3 January. The start-up was rather bitter as they finished in seventh place in the end even after beating Russia and Slovakia.

Even though it was "the start-up" of the team, coach UCHIYAMA Atsushi had been in charge of the U-17 version of team since the previous year. In that sense, the team already at the launch had some kind of continuity that they had not enjoyed before, where the coach already knew most about the core players born in 1997, according to Uchiyama. He even instructed some of the players born in 1998 such as midfielder DOAN Ritsu and defender TOMIYASU Takehiro at the JFA Elite Programme. "I've been working together with many players for long," said Uchiyama. It turned out to be his advantage with the team.

Starting their campaign with the Russia tour, the team gained experience by taking part in several international tournaments in and outside the country, including the Panda Cup in June, the SBS CUP in August and the Changan Ford Cup CFA International Youth Football Tournament Qingdao in September. After discovering new personnel additions for improvement, the team played in the U-19 Championship Bahrain 2016 Qualifiers starting from 2 October at Vientiane, Laos. On the course of the team improvement, the current team's framework was established with France-based goalkeeper YAMAGUCHI Louis Takaji Julien, defender FUNAKI Kakeru, midfielder TAKAGI Akito and forward IWASAKI Yuto added to the squad. Coach Uchiyama began his Asian campaign with confidence, saying "I was able to gather players with confidence, faith and sacrifice spirit."

Japan was forced to face a tough battle against Laos who came tenaciously. Their opener was a match to be said later by Uchiyama "This is the Asian qualifiers." But the Uchiyama side edged ahead with the goals by Ogawa and Takagi. Then it was followed by a 6-0 big win over Philippines with defender NODA Hiroki's opening goal and Iwasaki's brace. Their last match of the group stage was against Australia, previously regarded as the biggest rival, but Japan eliminated the Oceanian side, who came defensively, with goals from Takagi, Sakai and Ogawa. Japan advanced to the final stage unbeaten in style.

In the following 2016, the squad aggressively played in the tournaments to further develop themselves including the Bahrain U19 Cup International Football Tournament 2016 in March, the Suwon JS Cup in May, the Panda Cup in China in June and the U-19 NTC Invitational Tournament in the US in July. They also had trips to France and UAE in September. According to coach Uchiyama, the main objective was “acquiring flexibility and ability to adjust” through playing against various countries with different styles of football. These international experiences turned out to bring very favourable results in the end.

Then there came the AFC U-19 Championship Bahrain 2016 with a spot in the FIFA U-20 World Cup at stake. While reaching the quarter final in the four straight times, Japan had never won this particular championship. Defender HATSUSE Ryo, midfielders ENDO Keita, ICHIMARU Mizuki and HARA Teruki were added as new faces to the line up who played in the qualifier.

Partly due to the nervousness typical in the first match of a tournament, Japan struggled in the opening match against Yemen. But in the second half, they managed to gain the control and finished it with a 3-0 victory. After drawing with Iran, they faced the defending champions Qatar in the final match of the group stage. There Japan’s young squad exhibited outstanding performance. Iwasaki scored the opener in the 14th minute and Miyoshi extended the lead in the 45th. In the second half, Tomiyasu nailed the coffin with his goal and sealed the convincing 3-0 win. What they had been working on in practice such as attacking the flanks were on full display. 

At the quarterfinal, which the past versions teams were not able to overcome four straight times, against Tajikistan, the momentum from the Qatar match was well carried over. With the goals including Ogawa’s brace and a fantastic strike by Doan, Japan dominated the opponents on to the 4-0 victory, which clinched the first U-20 World Cup berth in 10 years. As saying “Now that we are here, how can we go home without winning the whole thing?” the players cruised to a 5-0 against Vietnam in the following semi-final, showing the depth by sending players with less opportunities to play so far onto the pitch.

The opponents at the final were Saudi Arabia, the country Japan had faced at many tournament final matches in the past. Being tough, powerful and battle-tested, they gave a very difficult test to the Japanese players. Japan’s defence led by goalkeeper Kojima and defenders Tomiyasu and Nakayama showed grinding performance and that gradually helped the whole team take the initiative of the match. As the match went on to a penalty shootout without seeing any goal scored for both countries, Japan came out victoriously with all five kickers converting without a miss. The Asian U-19 crown was awarded to the Japanese young squad.

Soon after the celebration, coach Uchiyama did not hesitate to say “I never thought this would be our goal.” Preparation to the bigger stage began right after. The team visited Argentina late in the year, taking on Argentina National U-19 Team. After experiencing the match against one of the elites in the world, they went on to three countries in Europe including Germany in March 2017 and played against the likes of Germany National U-19 Team. In addition to the improvements as the team, the last phase of the player selection process was carried out.

Goalkeeper HATANO Go, defender SUGIOKA Daiki and forwards TAGAWA Kyosuke and KUBO Takefusa joined the squad while Takagi and Yamaguchi came back to the team as well. Since the team unfortunately lost a few due to injuries, the players selected commented “we will fight also on behalf of the guys who didn’t get here.”

So many young players dreamed about and worked hard for the FIFA U-20 World Cup. In Korea Republic, Japan National U-20 Team are set to fight to get great results out of the 30-month development process.

Schedule

*The schedule is subject to change due to the team condition, the weather, etc.
*Local Time