A little over a month before the kick-off of the big FIFA World Cup 2026 show in North and Central America, Japan's football team boss Hajime Moriyasu mulled over picking the provisional squad of 26, but frustratingly without its key and dazzling player Kaoru Mitoma.

The 29-year-old winger went down with a left hamstring injury in the English Premier League for Brighton against Wolverhampton Wanderers in the first half of May. Mitoma was in off- the-ball action when he collapsed. He has already gone under the knife to treat the damaged hamstring.

Mitoma was an asset for Japan. He had played such a stellar role in his team's upset wins against Germany and Spain in his debut World Cup in Doha, Qatar, four years ago and was seen as an important cog in the wheel in Moriyasu's tactical plans at the game's showpiece event in the USA, Canada and Mexico.

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The winger had played 29 matches for Japan in assorted competitions like FIFA friendlies, World Cup, Asian Cup, World Cup qualifiers, spent near about 1600 minutes on the pitch, and was involved in 15 goals and assists. But Mitoma, who suffered heel and ankle-related injuries since January 2025, did not have time to rehabilitate to be a sure shot for his second World Cup. Moriyasu, perforce, had to drop the Mitoma plans.

Strangely, though, the team manager chose former Arsenal defender Takehiro Tomiyasu as Mitoma's replacement. Tomiyasu brings in 42 matches of experience, but has not played for his country since the match against Syria in June 2024. Tomiyasu, too, has been beset with injuries - a significant reason for his absence from national duty. Lately, he has been in action for seven matches for Ajax in the Eredivisie in the Netherlands.

In spite of the Mitoma setback, there is a lot of buzz around the FIFA World Cup 2026 in Japan. The youth and the old - from the grassroots to the pensioners - tend to believe that the time is upon their country to dream big in the World of football.

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Without a doubt, football, "celebrated as a beautiful game" is etched in the national sports ethos of the country along with baseball, sumo wrestling, judo, karate, other martial arts sports, and golf.

No wonder then that the island country in East Asia is girding up its loins to have a shot at the upcoming quadrennial FIFA World Cup title. Nothing wrong with dreaming big. Manager Moriyasu has given the impression that his team, with a nickname "Samurai blue", has the wherewithal to go all the way.

That's the message the 57-year-old Moriyasu has conveyed to the players in the locker room, the passionate fans and to the Japan Football Association, which aims to accomplish the World Cup winning feat by 2050. Obviously, the JFA knows that winning the World Cup is not indeed a walk in the park undertaking; far from it, because it knows the history of FIFA's top-most competition, which points to not an Asian nation winning the ultimate prize and that the task in hand is uphill.

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Moriyasu's high hopes stem from the fact that Japan has qualified for every World Cup since 1998, and its eighth entry was sealed in a second round match of the Asian Confederation Cup (AFC) World Cup qualifier match against Bahrain.

While Japan has demonstrated consistency in being present at all the World Cup main draws of the expanded 32 teams in France -- it was 24 teams at USA 1994- it has not been lucky to go beyond the round of 16 stage. In three of the last four World Cups, it featured in the round of 16. Going ahead, the manager's top priority would be to get the quarter-final jinx out of the way.

Moriyasu will soon complete his position as Manager after the World Cup. He is already the longest-serving manager of his country's football team. In fact, he will be in charge of a record second World Cup. His 3-4-2-1 attacking style has seen his team win 69 matches and draw fifteen. He has been at the receiving end on 16 occasions:

After announcing the provisional squad, he said, "It's been tough. There are still many players who have the ability to compete and win on the world stage for Japan. I honestly feel apologetic about not being able to select them - actually, not just a little apologetic, but deeply apologetic. I feel that ‌I have chosen the best 26 players for Japan to win on the World stage right now."

In the last season (25-26), Moriyasu, who won the 2022 AFC coach of the year, showed the way for Japan to win five of the eight matches. His team became the first Asian team to put it across, England 1-0 at Wembley in a FIFA friendly on April 1. The home team was a depleted one with many players down with injuries, but Mitoma's 23rd-minute strike gave Japan a memorable win.

It was Japan's fifth straight win in a FIFA friendly, the preceding four being against Scotland, Bolivia, Ghana and Brazil. Japan had drawn its previous match against Paraguay 2-2, after a shocking 0-2 loss to the USA. In fact, Japan qualified with three matches to spare after its second win against Bahrain. It was down 0-2 against Brazil, but stormed to score a 3-2 win against the Selecao in Tokyo.

The top-notch Asian team that founded the professional J- League in 1993 has come a long way in the world of professional football. It clinched the World Cup spot - the fastest and first to do so - with consummate wins against Indonesia (6-0), Australia (1-0) in the second stage; but it had already advanced to the FIFA signature event with a 2-0 win against Bahrain.

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This was after a string of wins in the first stage of the World Cup qualifier against North Korea, Myanmar, Syria and in the home and away second stage matches against China, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Indonesia. Japan scored 24 goals in the World Cup qualifiers' second stage without conceding any. It found the target 30 times in the third stage while conceding three.

Four years ago, in the Arab World's first World Cup in Doha, Japan beat Germany 2-1, lost to Costa Rica 0-1 and beat Spain 2-1 before going down to Croatia by penalties in the round of 16 match. It was 1-1 after 120 minutes of normal and extra time play.

Japan will be pitted against the Netherlands, Sweden and Tunisia, with the discerning describing it as the group of death.

Japan draws its strength and nuances of the sport, with 23 of its players featuring in the EPL and leagues in Europe. Most of its goal getters in the golden run after Doha 2022 are in the team, which has transitioned with Moriyasu opting for a combination that will be able to pull punches above its weight. It will play Iceland in a FIFA friendly in Tokyo before embarking for the World Cup.

The 26-man provisional squad:

Goalkeepers: Tomoki Hayakawa, Keisuke Osako and Zion Suzuki

Defenders/ Midfielders/Forwards:

Hiroki Ito, Ko Itakura, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Yuto Nagatomo, Ayumu Seko, Junnosuke Suzuki, Yukinari Sugawara, Shogo Taniguchi, Tsuyoshi Watanabe, Ritsu Doan, Wataru Endo, Keisuke Goto, Junya Ito, Daichi Kamada, Takefusa Kubo, Daizen Maeda, Keito Nakamura, Koki Ogawa, Kaishu Sano, Kento Shiogai, Yuito Suzuki, Ao Tanaka, and Ayase Ueda.