Japan is playing in Group F along with Brazil, Croatia and Australia. Japan has participated in the world cup twice in 1998 and 2002. This time it is Japan's third successive FIFA World Cup finals. Japan was the first team after host Germany to qualify for the World Cup.
In the Asian Final Round of Qualifying matches in Group 2, Japan suffered a 2-1 defeat in Iran on 25 March 2005. Then Japan had victories over Bahrain in both the home and away matches. In Bangkok on 8 June, they defeated North Korea 2-0 and qualified for Germany 2006. Japan won its last match against Iran at home and finished at top of their group with 15 points.
In USA 94, Japan lost because of a dramatic last-minute Iraqi equalizer in Doha. In their FIFA World Cup debut in France 1998, Japan got eliminated in the first round itself. The team reached the second round in South Korea/ Japan 2002 after victories over Russia and Tunisia.
In the 2004 AFC Asian Cup, Japan defeated China 3-1 in the finals. Japan put forth a commendable display at the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup.
It is believed that Japan has Asia's most formidable midfield line-up with Hidetoshi Nakata, Shunsuke Nakamura and Shinji Ono. Nakata has been awarded the player of the year award twice.
Asian soccer fans have high hopes that Japan will perform well in the opening match with Australia. This match is crucial for progressing in the group stages. Croatia, Australia and Japan all of them have equal chances of advancing.
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