Current FIFA World Ranking: 43rd
FIFA Trigram: JPN
2010 World Cup Qualifying: Finished 2nd in AFC Group 1 (4-1-3; 11 GF, 6 GA)
World Cup Finals Appearances: 4 – 1998 (31st), 2002 (9th), 2006 (28th), 2010
Record vs. USA: 1-1-0
Head Coach: Takeshi Okada
Championship Honors: AFC Asian Cup (1992, 2000, 2004)
Leading World Cup Qualifying Scorers: Four players tied with three goals apiece
Key Players: Yasuhito Endo (Gamba Osaka), Yuji Nakazawa (Yokohama Marinos), Shunsuke Nakamura (Espanyol), Marcus Tulio Tanaka (Urwawa Red Diamonds)
Language: Japanese
The Samurai Blue qualified for their fourth consecutive FIFA World Cup by finishing second in a group with Australia in AFC qualifying … Three-time Asian Cup winners have only once made it to the second round of the World Cup – in 2002 when they co-hosted the tournament with South Korea … Shunsuke Nakamura helped Celtic earn three straight Scottish Premier League titles from 2006-2008 … After entering the tournament with a foreign coach in 1998, 2002, and 2006, Japan looks set to head to the World Cup with a Japanese at the helm for the first time
