Home > Events > Football > Football World Cup > Countries > Japan

Japan at the World Cup

Japan have participated in six World Cups, in 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014 and 2018. Their best results have been making it to the second round in 2002 and 2010.

Trivia

In 1998, the team reached the finals in France, suffering narrow defeats to Argentina, Croatia and Jamaica.
In 2002 in their home country, Japan would have their finest hour, making it to the last sixteen only to be eliminated by a close 1-0 defeat to eventual semi-finalists Turkey.
In 2018, Japan became the first Asian nation to defeat a South American opponent at a World Cup, when they beat Colombia 2-1 in their group match.

Share:
Facebook Twitter

Related Pages

About the women's team from Japan at the FIFA Women's World Cup
List of all countries who have participated in the World Cup
FIFA World Cup Home
About Sport in Japan

Any comments, suggestions or corrections? Please let us know.

Search This Site

FIFA World Cup Extra

The next World Cup will be in Qatar 2022, the women's world cup will be in Australia/New Zealand 2023. See more firsts and other trivia, and also information about each country at the World Cup.

More Football

Major Events Extra

The largest sporting event in the world is the Olympic Games, but there are many other multi-sport games. In terms of single sport events, nothing beats the FIFA World Cup. To see what's coming up, check out the calendar of major sporting events.