History
South Africa 2010 will be Japan's fourth FIFA World Cup finals, and their fourth in a row. Their best finish came as co hosts at Korea/Japan 2002, when they topped Group H ahead of Belgium, Russia and Tunisia to advance to the knockout stages for the first and only time so far. Unfortunately for them, Turkey knocked them out in the last 16. In their latest finals (2006) they finished bottom of group F.

Qualification
Japan breezed through qualification. Along with Australia, they were the clear candidates to progress from their half of the draw. The first qualifying stage was comfortable for a Japan side who racked up seven goals in two games against Thailand. A 1-0 defeat in Bahrain was a surprise, but Takeshi Odaka’s side got their revenge in the final group stage, beating the same opponents home and away. Japan’s biggest problem in qualifying was a lack of a reliable striker, with manager Odaka using an incredible ten forwards in 14 qualifying games - who only managed six goals between them. Set-piece specialist Shunsuke Nakamura weighed in with three from midfield, while defenders Marcus Tulio and Yuki Nakazawa scored three each.

Prospects
Japan will be confident of making it into the knockout stages in South Africa, despite being underdogs in a tricky group. Organised at the back, with quality in midfield, they do struggle to score from open play - although 23-year-old Shinji Okazaki has forced his way into the reckoning with three starts at the end of qualifying, and a hat-trick in a 5-0 friendly win over Togo in October showed his potential. Most of the squad play in Japan’s own J-League, with only Espanyol’s Shunsuke Nakamura and Wolfsburg’s Makoto Hasebe based with top European sides. An opening game against Cameroon is winnable, and although a 3-0 friendly defeat to Holland in September 2009 suggests that the game against the Dutch might be too tough an ask, they will fancy being able to take points off an unspectacular Denmark outfit in the third and final group game. Takeshi Odaka’s team will be pleased to make it out of the group, but progress beyond the second round would be a major shock.