Some quick thoughts after the Japan vs. Iceland friendly.
Final preparations heading into the 2026 World Cup!
As confirmed by Hajime Moriyasu, the Iceland game was indeed the final friendly before the World Cup1. There’s no need for a big tactical breakdown in what was really a test of fitness for various returnees and checking in on various fringe players so this one will be fairly short. Still, there are certain things I wanted to highlight and also share some other things I’ve been up to lately. Here is Moriyasu’s full post-match presser for reference.
If you don’t follow me on social media (Twitter, BlueSky), I’ve been quite active collaborating recently:
Previewed Japan with The Asian Football Show (note: recorded a few days before the squad announcement):
I discussed three major talking points on Moriyasu’s World Cup squad selection for The Asian Game
I hosted a Twitter Space live-stream with my friends “aarinH2” & Marcos right after the Iceland friendly
There will be another big collab with a popular data/video provider that will hopefully be releasing later this week
Anyway… here’s the starting line-up:
Let’s get started!
Maya Yoshida & Takehiro Tomiyasu
Well, let’s get this one out of the way. Yoshida filled in while Kamada was recovering following his Europa Conference League exploits and this game also ended up being a commemoration for all of his contributions to the national team over the years. Yoshida is still actively playing for LA Galaxy and curiously, also hasn’t officially retired from the national team so it was a bit odd in that sense but being able to give tribute to him like this was nice. He looked fine in the 12 or so minutes he played before being replaced by Hiroki Ito.
After two years, two very long years… Takehiro Tomiyasu is back in a Japan National Team kit! It was really nice to see him and he didn’t look out of place at all. In various previews and online I’ve been talking about how he might only be used as a “defensive super-sub” but the fact that he played 82~83 minutes provides me with a lot of food for thought. I have a lot of confidence in the Back 3 that’s fought so well throughout the World Cup qualifiers and then the friendlies in the past year but you also can’t ignore just how much of a difference-maker Tomiyasu is in terms of his otherworldly ability. It’s going to be a difficult choice for Moriyasu.
It was quite fitting that Yoshida temporarily took up his old #22 shirt for this game and is now completely passing it over to Tomiyasu for this World Cup and beyond.
Keito Nakamura & The Attack
With Kaoru Mitoma’s absence, all eyes shifted to Keito Nakamura as the main man on the Left. In the 1st Half he was at Wing Back before switching over to the Left-side #10 in the 2nd Half. I thought he was the most lively and dangerous player throughout the game. No matter where he plays he is going to be a key player at the World Cup.
For all of Takefusa Kubo’s neat flicks and dribbling I thought he was overall a bit disappointing. He certainly wasn’t as frustrating on my second viewing of the game though. What I did like was how starting from the Right-side #10, Kubo would drift all over to the left2 to combine with Junya Ito and Keito Nakamura. Given Japan’s issues facing low-blocks it made sense to try to create overloads this way against Iceland’s set defense. There were some pretty fun combinations in the first 20~25 minutes or so before things started to get stale.
One of the potential changes with Mitoma’s absence was putting Junya Ito on the left. He’s not completely unfamiliar with the role as he’s been shifted out there for club and country before. Still, I don’t think he’s at his best on the Left. I think Japan missed his verticality and crossing from the Right side as either the attacker or as the wing back. I’m also of the opinion that Junya Ito is someone that’s great as a super-sub as well so I’d rather not waste him starting on the Left.
Keisuke Goto and Kento Shiogai’s inclusions in the squad created quite a buzz, especially as it meant Japan had a grand total of five (!) out-and-out strikers. I’ve discussed before (especially in The Asian Game article I wrote) how compared to Koki Ogawa, Goto and Shiogai might be used a bit differently and we saw evidence of that against Iceland. Curiously, after the 72~73rd minute substitutions, Goto was actually play in midfield as more of a box-to-box #8 while Shiogai joined Ogawa up top.
If you trace Goto’s history, he’s actually played a lot deeper in his youth days but more as a #10 rather than an #8 so it was quite interesting to see him so deep here even if it was just for a very short period. I thought Shiogai was his usual ebullient, physical self. He does need to be a bit careful about being too eager though as he did give away some fouls and was very amped up. These two are Moriyasu’s big gambles and hopefully they’ll prove fruitful at this World Cup and in the long-run.
After losing out on Minamino and Mitoma, who basically formed a major part of the 60 or so different combinations in attack that Moriyasu has tested over the past two years, this game really was about trying as many as possible combinations before the World Cup. In that sense what we got was interesting, but was it enough? We’ll find out soon…
Ao Tanaka & Central Midfield Depth
Aside for Keito Nakamura, I thought Ao Tanaka was excellent vs. Iceland. His passing, especially forward, progressive ones were incisive and he was a catalyst for the team. Ao Tanaka has usually played as part of the second string XI in games over the past few years, getting thrown next to many different partners in the double pivot (he has played next to everybody except Kamada I think) and despite that it’s hard to say he’s had a bad game recently. I think he’ll be very important off the bench either replacing Kamada or one of the attackers (and pushing Kamada into one of the #10 spots). Defensively he was quite sharp as well, in contrast to some of the criticisms he faced at Leeds United earlier this season before winning back his spot in the spring.
On the other hand, I’m quite worried about Wataru Endo. I thought he looked well off-the-pace. He didn’t look sharp as you’d imagine after 3 months out. Endo has never been a quick player but it was rather alarming how there were instances where he couldn’t close down or tackle a player and let them dribbled past him. He was taken off at half-time citing some “discomfort” in his leg… It’s hard to drop a captain but considering all the other veteran presences available like Nagatomo and Minamino (the latter in a non-playing “mentor” role), I can’t help but wonder if there’s any chance that Moriyasu might replace him. Well let’s be realistic though, it’s extremely unlikely. Of course, there’s still plenty of time before the 24 hour deadline for any injuries/sickness replacement(s).
After suggestions by Moriyasu at the squad announcement presser, Ayumu Seko was indeed trialed at center midfield in this game. He came on at half-time and sat next to Ao Tanaka as the more defensive-minded of the pair. I thought he did quite well (despite my misgivings about him in general) although it does need to be tempered with the actual quality of the opposition here. After the 72~73rd minute substitutions, Seko also played as the single pivot for around 10 minutes before Kaishu Sano came on to finish the game. His courage to play forward passes from deep was quite nice too. Given what we saw, I feel like Seko might actually be ahead of Endo in the pecking order in central midfield right now.
The Benched & Rested?
One last point I found intriguing were the (outfield) players that didn’t appear at all.3 Of course, Yuito Suzuki makes sense given his injury and that while he’s been participating in practice sessions, he hasn’t been doing all the ones that involve heavy contact. I still imagine he’ll be fine for the group stage though, perhaps even the Netherlands game.
Nagatomo’s appearance was somewhat surprising ahead of Junnosuke Suzuki and Maeda here but I can also understand Moriyasu wanting to test him out at Left Wing Back, not to mention the crowd-pleasing factor given it was supposed to be a celebratory send-off game (optics are important…). I think there are plenty of scenarios where both Junnosuke Suzuki and Daizen Maeda both start against the Netherlands in various configurations at Wing Back/Attack so perhaps it was just a way of “hiding our intentions” from prying eyes.
Eventually Japan broke the dead-lock in the 87th minute… but only because Iceland were a man down due to the new fast-and-furious substitution rule4. At least an example in this game provided a good warning for Japan and the rest of the countries at the World Cup! We were able to check up on the fitness (or lack thereof…) of various players that had question marks over them. We were also able to try out quite a few different combinations in attack (sans both Mitoma and Minamino). Now Japan will head off to Mexico for a pre-camp before arriving at their “home base” in Nashville a week before the first game. I’ll try to see if I can write a bigger preview newsletter next week.
Be on the look out for more World Cup content from me, here on Shogun Soccer or in other places.
Thanks for reading!
We will simply be using the U-19 squad that is tagging along for training matches.
Reminded me of Akihiro Ienaga doing the same for Kawasaki Frontale in their glory years…
It’s pretty clear now that Keisuke Osako has lost his #2 back-up spot to Hayakawa.
This, the adverti-hydration breaks, the five second rule for throw-ins, etc. are going to make for a very very different kind of World Cup…!