Samurai Blue's Best Shot: Japan's 2026 World Cup Squad Predicted

In Qatar, Japan beat Germany. Then they beat Spain. Both on the same day as the group was decided, from behind, in matches where the entire world had already written them off. If you still think of Japan as a polite team who pass the ball neatly and go home in the last sixteen, you haven't been paying attention.

Group F — Netherlands, Japan, Tunisia, and Sweden — is genuinely winnable for the Samurai Blue. Not "winnable if everything goes right." Winnable with a properly organised team, a forward line of genuine quality, and a manager in Hajime Moriyasu who has proved he can out-think coaches with far bigger reputations.

Here is the full predicted squad. Here is the XI. Here is why Japan could top the group.

Suzuki Zion Starts For Japan. Here's Why.

This position has been contested through the qualifying cycle and Moriyasu has not made it as straightforward as previous Japan squads. Suzuki Zion brings sharp reflexes and composure in the big moments. Schmidt Daniel — despite the confusion his name causes international commentators who have clearly not done their prep — is a commanding presence who distributes well from the back.

For the Netherlands opener, we're taking Suzuki. His shot-stopping in tight situations — the kind of game that goes 0-0 until the 68th minute and then suddenly becomes frantic — is the quality Japan will need most against an organised Dutch pressing structure.

The Defence: Itakura, Tomiyasu, and The Wall

Ko Itakura is the leader of this backline. His calmness under pressure, his ability to step into midfield when Japan need to build from deep — this is what allows Moriyasu's system to function against elite opposition. Itakura is not celebrated enough outside of Japan and that is everyone else's problem, not his.

Takehiro Tomiyasu at right back has rebuilt his fitness after injury disruption and brings Premier League experience to a position that was a vulnerability in the 2022 squad. His reading of danger — the interception bef