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The story
Former Japan national team forward Shoji Jo (51) revealed on his YouTube channel that reporters from Spain and France told him, after the World Cup in North and Central America, that “Japan is too soft. It’s not a soccer nation.” Japan was eliminated in the round of 32 again this tournament, and hasn’t made real progress in terms of advancing further since first reaching the round of 16 back in 2002. On 5channel, opinions split across several points: criticism of manager Hajime Moriyasu staying on and of the Japan Football Association’s leadership, the structural problem of Japan producing plenty of players who thrive at overseas clubs but no standout strikers, and whether the growing number of foreign-born and mixed-heritage players will actually make the team stronger.
Shoji Jo — The Harsh Words Foreign Reporters Threw at Him After the World Cup: “Japan Won’t Get Any Stronger Than This”
Former Japan national team player Shoji Jo (51) posted an update on his YouTube channel “JO Channel.” After Japan finished in the round of 32 at the World Cup in North and Central America, he revealed the harsh words foreign reporters threw at him.
Talking about the reaction to and outlook for the Japan national team after the World Cup, Jo said reporters from Spain and France told him, “Japan is too soft. It’s not a soccer nation.”
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
The Okano episode is actually pretty good, check it out
Being strong at anything other than soccer means absolutely nothing lololololol
Seriously, so true
Yeah, exactly this
And whenever you write something like this, someone shows up bringing up ancient history like 'But didn't we beat Germany and Spain?' from four years ago
Like, do strong countries ever go around bragging about who they beat years back? That's the whole point.
That's what Blue Lock is for (´Д｀) (the manga/anime about training the ultimate striker)
Spain won it all without a super striker, you know
Well, Oyarzabal does turn into an amazing forward once he puts on the national team shirt though
A striker on Haaland's level is a once-in-a-lifetime thing even for Norway.
That kind of talent is basically a genetic fluke, so there's nothing to be done about it.
Japan already hit the jackpot once with Kamamoto.
Spain, Argentina
France, England
Portugal, Belgium, Brazil, Morocco
Netherlands, Croatia
Without the Messi favoritism, I think Argentina would actually be weaker than Japan.
https://assets.fctokyo.co.jp/wp/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/U18-jho-shuto-768×1024.png?x64424
19 FW Jo Shuto (じょう しゅうと)
Date of birth: March 18, 2010
Hometown: Setagaya, Tokyo
Height/Weight: 176cm/65kg
Former clubs: Inter Academy Japan → FC Tokyo U-15 Musashi
Strengths: runs in behind, a nose for goal
There's a real chance a freak talent pops up out of nowhere and Japan suddenly rises up 😗
Moriyasu talked about winning the whole thing, and Japan crashed out in the round of 32.
No accountability at all — he's all over variety TV shows and still hasn't resigned.
It's a fact that people are laughing at the Japan Football Association as an absurd, unbelievable organization.
If someone like Moriyasu keeps holding influence within the association, of course you're going to see Japan's national team stop growing.
These will be players picked from among the flood of mixed-heritage kids in the recent youth ranks —
not just mixed-heritage in name like before
They should actually be able to break through the physical ceiling
France's thing is immigration, not mixed heritage though
Is winning like that even something to be happy about?
If they win, the media and bandwagon fans will be thrilled regardless
Back in 2015 and 2019 too, the media was gushing over 'diversity' and how foreign guys without Japanese citizenship could sing Kimigayo lol
Soccer's taken root in Japan, and I've come to enjoy watching it,
so as long as I can genuinely enjoy the sport, that's enough for me.
And if we just keep quietly enjoying it like that, things will get refined over time and someday we'll actually win it.
I also think that if Japan keeps this current self-sacrificing, team-first style and more players become starters in the big five leagues, we could get to the point of being a regular quarterfinalist.
From there, depending on the roster and matchups, there might even be tournaments where a title is within reach.
Japan isn't suited to star-dependent soccer like the Nakata or Honda era.
A star player is great when he's on the rise, but once he declines, everyone around him starts tiptoeing around him.
That's basically what happened with Cristiano Ronaldo this tournament.
There are now more than eight elite-tier nations
Countries whose development programs succeeded
like Belgium, Croatia, Morocco, etc.
have emerged
2006 → Called the strongest squad ever, but blew a lead against Brazil and couldn't get past the knockout stage, blamed on lack of team unity
2026 → Called the strongest squad ever, with world-class team unity too, and still blew a lead against Brazil and couldn't get past the knockout stage
In other words, the lessons learned have been pointed at the wrong thing for 20 years straight
What's so great about ranking below an Argentina that got showered with penalty calls? lol
Are you even Japanese? lol
There's nothing embarrassing about only watching soccer during the World Cup 😄
Soccer's a waste of time anyway, you don't have to watch it
but Japan's been doing those same rondo drills all along and still hasn't gotten there,
so obviously it's never going to work.
Rethink the rondo training method itself.
Maybe the Spanish style would actually suit Japan
We're not that big physically either,
and tournaments are back-to-back games so you can't afford to burn through stamina running around that much
Win through passing instead
Honda, Endo, and the others already tried that and it failed though
No, to play the Spanish style you need individual players who are ridiculously strong
That approach forces 1-on-1 duels
Isn't that the exact opposite of the attack-as-a-group, defend-as-a-group style Japan's been going for?
Going from losing 1-4 to losing 1-2 is plenty of improvement already.
If Zion hadn't been there, it might've ended up the same
And then he goes and says the goal is winning the whole thing
It's like a june bug (kanabun beetle) that keeps slamming headfirst into a window screen over and over
In the end, nothing's going to change unless Tashima's shadow rule over the association ends
Background and Key Points of This Debate
It’s true that Japan’s best-ever World Cup result has stayed at the round of 16 since first reaching it as Asia’s first team to do so in 2002, and that Japan was again eliminated in the round of 32 at the 2026 tournament. That said, 2026 was the first tournament with the field expanded from 32 to 48 teams, and the exit came via the newly created “Round of 32” stage — a structural difference that makes a simple comparison to the round-of-16 finishes of past tournaments tricky. Where the thread split was between those pinning the cause on the manager and the football association’s leadership, and those blaming individual players’ ability or playing style. There were also references to “Tashima’s shadow rule,” but it’s worth noting that the Japan Football Association’s presidency changed to Tsuneyasu Miyamoto in 2024, so that’s different from the current setup.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5channel (Geisoku+) thread “[Soccer] Shoji Jo — The Harsh Words Foreign Reporters Threw at Him After the World Cup: “Japan Won’t Get Any Stronger Than This”.”
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