Japan, Football

The Japan national football team represents Japan in association football and is operated by the Japan Football Association (JFA), the governing body for football in Japan. The current head coach is former footballer and current coach of the Japan national under-23 football team: Hajime Moriyasu. Japan is one of the most successful teams in Asia, having qualified for the last six consecutive FIFA World Cups with second round advancements in 2002, 2010, and 2018, and having won the AFC Asian Cup a record four times, in 1992, 2000, 2004 and 2011. The team has also finished second in the 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup. Their principal continental rivals are South Korea and most recently, Australia. Japan is the only team from outside the Americas to participate in the Copa America, having been invited in 1999 and 2011.[6] Although they initially accepted the invitation for the 2011 tournament, the JFA later withdrew following the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami.[7]