World Cup participations: 2 (1998, 2002)

World Cup honours: Last sixteen (2002)

Continental Titles: Asian Cup twice (1992, 2000)

Japan will be participating in qualifying for a FIFA World Cup for the 13th time, having reached the finals just twice. For a long time, Japanese football struggled to break through, despite an Olympic bronze medal.

During the FIFA World Cup 2002 Japan got through to the knockout rounds for the first time ever in their history.They took on eventual 3rd-place finishers Turkey in the second phase and suffered a narrow 1-0 loss. But the side showed an impressive performance demonstrating how competitive Asian teams can be at world level. Under the new coach Frenchman Philippe Troussier the team will be trying to build on their recent success and prove themselves the most consistent side in Asia.