Japan football team is the second best-ranked Asian side. They qualified for the FIFA World Cup 2022 after finishing second in the very competitive Group B of the AFC qualifiers. The World Cup qualification procedure was formatted into four rounds for the Asian Football Confederation. Additionally, the first two rounds also doubled as the qualifiers for the upcoming Asia Cup 2022 as well.
Japan team qualifiers overview
Japan football team is ranked 26th in the FIFA World Ranking. Due to their higher ranking, the Japan National team was spared from playing in the first round. The first round of AFC qualifiers was held between the 12 Asian countries ranked from 35th to 46th inside the continent. The six winners progressed to the next round of the AFC World Cup qualifiers. The subsequent second round featured a total of 40 teams. The six winners from round one and 34 highest-ranked Asian countries from 1st to 34th. These teams had to compete in a standard league format.
Round 2 of AFC qualifiers
The 40 eligible teams were divided into eight resulting groups of five Asian nations each. Japan Football Team was in Group F. And to say that they were comprehensive winners would be an understatement. It seemed like there was no match for them in the Group. They were the winners of the group by a landslide 11 points difference. Japan Football Team won all eight of their matches. Therefore, they accumulated a full tally of 24 points. The biggest win came against Mongolia. Japan scored 14 goals without any sort of reply. The closest any opposition came was in the 2-0 victories. These came against Kyrgyzstan and Myanmar. Tajikistan ended second in the group with 13 points. But, they were eliminated from the five best runners-up who progressed further.
Round 3 of AFC qualifiers
Japan football team was able to secure a straight qualification in Round 3. The 12 qualifying teams were laid out into two groups. Each group had six participating nations battling for a place in Qatar. Japan football team was placed in Group B. They ended second in their group by the narrowest of all margins. One single point separated them and the group winners, Saudi Arabia. Of the 10 available matches, the Japan Football team won seven, lost two, and drew one. This tallied up 22 points. One less than Saudi Arabia. Nonetheless, it is a direct qualification for the Japanese contingent.
The campaign was kept extremely professional by the Japan National Football Team. Most of their victories were courtesy of a single goal. Vietnam held them to a 1-1 draw. The two losses were at hands of Saudi Arabia and Oman. Both lost by a single goal margin. Alas, Japan Football Team couldn’t reply to the goals. The only thing that could trouble Japan could be the group position. They are the second-best team in Asia. Therefore, they would’ve ambitioned to go to Qatar as group winners. But, they’d have a decent chance to rectify their mistakes. They need to put their best foot forward in the FIFA World Cup 2022.
Recent form of Japan team
Japan’s recent form looks like a topper’s report card. There are only green dots all over the place. Alas, the last-day draw against Vietnam ended their six-game winning streak. But, the unbeaten run of seven games is still intact. That could soon be gone because they’ll be facing the European giant, Germany in their opening match in the World Cup.
Japan has one major injury issue to tackle. The experienced veteran right-back, Hiroki Sakai has fractured his bone. Although reports say it is just a bruise, the team will be monitoring his situation. There are handy options to replace him on the right side of the defense. Japan National Football Team will be looking to go into the World Cup with a fully fit squad.
Strengths and weaknesses of the Japan team
Japan National Team is a well-drilled defensive side. They are extremely professional at defending narrow leads. For instance, as many as four victories in the qualifiers were at a single-goal margin. Other than the defense, Japan’s midfield stands out. Japan’s most highly-rated players are all midfielders. Lastly, Japan’s goalkeeper, Eiji Kawashima has been their best player during the qualifiers. It is safe to say Japan’s goal is well protected.
Now, coming to the weaknesses. The forwards need to step up. Japan National team’s midfield is doing some excellent work creatively. The forwards need to respond. Right now, even the goals are coming from the midfield and that needs to change. Yuya Osako is an exception to this argument.
Japan team key players
Firstly, the goalkeeper, Eiji Kawashima has been Japan’s best player during the qualifiers. If he continues in the same form, he’d be absolutely key in defense for his side. Up next, the main goal scorers have been the forward, Yuyo Osaka, and the attacking midfielder, Takumi Minamino. These two need to continue their scoring exploits.
Finally, all of Japan’s midfielders have yielded high ratings in their qualifying campaigns. It is a smooth functioning midfield contingent with enough options to change tactics. All of these midfielders have a decent case to be placed here in this section.
Japan national football team players to watch out for
There is only one player who fits the title of a possible breakout player. Most of the Japan national football team players are either beyond or are in their mid-twenties. As such, the two-year-old right-winger and attacking midfield hybrid, Takefusa Kubo stands out as an exciting player to keep an eye on.
He is a Real Madrid player who is on loan at Mallorca. There has been a lot of talk about his future. A strong individual performance in the World Cup could clear the smoke for him. The world cup is just before the winter transfer window. This is Kubo’s chance to make a mark.
How to watch FIFA world cup 2022 on TV?
There’s no shortage of broadcasting options around the world covering the marquee football event. Indian television giant, Sony Network owns the exclusive TV rights within the Indian Subcontinent. The various Sony channels are where the Indian subcontinent’s audiences can catch Japan match live stream.
Sony’s mirror coverage is also accessible in Nepal on Net TV Nepal and Sim TV Nepal. It is similar for the audiences on the Sri Lankan Island. SLRC, Dialog TV, and PeoTV will help. If anyone is watching from the Maldives, Medianet is mirroring service there. Sony Liv OTT platform will provide coverage for its subscribers.
The BBC holds TV broadcast rights inside the UK territories. Audiences in the UK territories can catch the broadcast on the ITV website, mobile/PC applications, and the BBC channels. This is the solution of the best free Japan live football TV streaming.
Sports TV giants of the USA, Fox Sports, will operate English language telecast. At the same time, Telemundo is running the same telecasts in Spanish. Various OTTs like FuboTV, or Youtube TV live streaming football also extend supreme quality broadcasts.
Al Jazeera and beIN Sports will help the soccer fans of the MENA region. 2Sport2 has TV telecast rights inside Qatari territory and pay-TV does so for the Russian territory. Moreover, the Antenna TV service is all set to handle coverage for Greek viewers. In Italy, Rai is monopolizing all the TV telecast rights. Mediapro does the same for Spain.
Bell Media has a monopoly of TV rights in Canada. The Brazilian media company, Globo has prepared to cover for entire Brazil and the Caribbean regions. And lastly, Chinese audiences can tune into China Central Television.
How to watch Japan match live stream?
Japan Match Live Stream will be available on a lot of online platforms. The upcoming FIFA World Cup is arguably one of the grandest sports events on the planet. So, there would be considerable traction among streaming service providers to extend their paid and unpaid services around the globe.
Expensive services on official 4K OTTs including Sony Liv, BBC iPlayer, Hulu +, and YouTube TV will provide the best quality 4K service. People can trust these platforms blindly for streaming decisive games. The necessity is a paid subscription to one of these platforms. For everyone else watching these World Cup fixtures without paying, here is a list of recommended Japan live football streaming sites. These websites extend hyperlinks for the FIFA World Cup Live Streaming.
- TotalSportek
- Reddit Soccer Streams
- Redditstreams
- Stream East
- Crackstreams
- Hesgoal
International Football Bodies such as UEFA, FIFA, AFC, CONMEBOL, etc. will provide their own broadcasts. The numerous websites of such bodies will have YouTube or Facebook live stream extensions. It will function for the whole Qatar World Cup schedule of 2022 and are totally free. These streams are official. Hence, they are verified for extending good quality coverage. So, the best free live football streaming option is here. We at Sports404 will update all relevant information on Japan’s live football TV streaming services when new information is released about the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
