basically it is the similar function to english sports so J-League might become the most popular league in the world, because their is a good foundation like the English and they have more room to grow but hopefully with this can be one of the saving graces of losing population to suicide

Saudi may have the oil right now But their way of thinking is far from sustainable in the future

yeah but it's different goals than Saudi. Saudi specifically signs big names for sportswashing purposes, not really to develop a good national team. But I agree long term Japan will still have a better league than Saudi no matter who Saudis splash the cash on

What I admire most about the early vision for japanese football is the "Win the World Cup within the next 100 years". It's rare to see such long-term and relatively modest goals in any national endeavour. Most of the west is so driven by short-term gains/goals. We buy our way to these goals in a way that's clearly unsustainable. A 100-year goal, and an intelligent approach to reaching that goal, is just refreshing to see.

Japan>$audi

If anything, Japan just needs a decent defense. They learn to play defense and I can genuinely see them getting to the semi finals in 2026.

​@@moonknight2865 imagine somebody like kim min jae in the japanese team, they will become genuine world cup contenders.

@@moonknight2865 You are talking about Japan NT in 2010s. They now have Endo, Tomiyasu, Itakura, Sugawara Ito and so on. Someone actually watches their games would laugh at you if you say "they need to learn how to defend!"

@@jin12345678彼がいたらドイツに4点献上して負けてました😂

I don’t think there’s much doubt that Japan is the best in Asia at this point. They’ve been very close to reaching a quarter-final in 3 of the last 4 tournaments. It has to happen for them soon, surely. I hope they can do it in 2026.

It’s sad that Nakata, Nakamura, Honda and Kagawa never got to play with a team this well-rounded in their prime, but I’m sure they must be so proud of how far their nation has come.

Kyoto Sanga FC , isnt taht Park Ji Sungs former club

​@@halyupyes and partially owned by Nintendo.

We’ll it’s not owned by nintendo,but head sponser

try watch some urawa games and see their urawa boys ultras are so incredible

ARIGATO❤🎉

Despite enormous investment and football infrastructure, the reality is that the level of Japanese soccer falls far short of Argentina. China is similar to Japan, but isn't that surprising?

ARIGATO❤🎉

They have even won the World Cup

I noticed. They almost play the same way as well, it's their thing.

The Japanese women were very impressive at the latest World Cup. Thrashed Spain 4-0.

I believe they won the Women's World Cup in 2011

In don’t think the women’s team has any influence on the men’s team or popularity in Japan. No Japanese or American man looks at Europe or Brazil and says, we are already equal to you because our women’s teams have won several world cups.

Please tell me you managed to see Iniesta playing

Honestly, the J-league is a significantly higher standard of football than the SPL

@@jazzoj5 So why is it ranked 3 places below the SPL in the Global Football Rankings list brought up in this very video then? It may be more competitive than the SPL because there's no Super Team {Kashima Antlers only having won one title in the 2010s and 2020s so far} but the standard of football is definitely not higher YET. - The SPL's problem is that there's too few teams in the SPL and the also-rans have to play 3 or even 4 games a season against both Celtic and Rangers - This means that a great performance/fluke win against either of these two teams is much much less significant than if they only played 2 games a season against each. But the Scottish can't understand that 3 divisions of 16 teams each {which would actually increase the participation from 42 to 48 teams total} is far better than 4 divisions of 12 teams, 10, 10 and 10 teams. I've been following the Scottish Lowland and Highland Leagues {the 5th tier in Scotland} in recent seasons and the Lowland League especially is to my mind significantly stronger than the Scottish League Two {the 4th tier} right now whilst the Highland League isn't far behind. There's easily 10 teams in the Highland and Lowland Leagues who would not embarass the Scottish Football League if increased from 42 to 48 teams. And that's not even counting the Celtic, Rangers and Hearts B-Teams that play or have played in recent seasons in the Lowland League.

@franohmsford7548 I'm not bothered about the global football ranking list, as I can think for myself without having to consult some arbitrary list to form an opinion. I'm basing it on what I see having watched both leagues for years, J-league has a general higher standard of football imo and the increased physicality of the SPL doesn't bridge the gap in technique.

I may be wrong, but I always thought cricket suited the Japanese culture more than baseball does, as it's more humble, less combative (outside of normal play). Although I'm not a cricket fan, I'd love to see if cricket takes hold in Japan in a similar way that baseball has. Although of course baseball has too much history in Japan to ever really see cricket overtake it in popularity.

​​@@alternatehistorysportsBaseball is popular as it was introduced by the USA who's sphere of influence Japan became part of during the 20th century. Cricket is mainly popular in countries that were in the British empire or sphere of influence and its not surprising its struggled to take off elsewhere as it can be very tedious to watch if you're a spectator with little prior knowledge if the sport.

@@indiekiddrugpatrol3117 Yeah but baseball is also tedious to watch if you're not brought up with it. But maybe in some alternate universe Japan is a cricket powerhouse and India is obsessed with baseball.

@alternatehistorysports any sport is tedious to watch if your not brought up with it except MMA. That's why it's the ultimate sport. It's more global than soccer. Look at the countries weight classes are represented in the UFC. Not to mention UFC is way more entertaining. Even CR7 said MMA is more entertaining than soccer.

@@wilkesmcdermid7906I don't like MMA that much. I think if there's any objectively interesting sport it's probably something really fast and skillful like Ice Hockey, F1 racing, and at the other end of that scale is cricket, golf and baseball. But everyone has their own tastes. I don't find F1 that interesting, even though in theory it's the pinnacle of motorsports and I love Rally.

I’ll always remember Honda. He got me to really love Japan.

Same here! It was keisuke honda that really got me into supporting japan

Keisuke Honda ended up on a coaching position for a bit for the Cambodian National Team 🇰🇭 FFC Football Federation Cambodia

Hidetoshi Nakata is a rebel in his own mind. And nowhere else. Otherwise I agree with your comment 100%. Japan has pursued a very "Japanese" path as it develops its football culture. I doubt there is any league in the world that attracts as large a fanbase from (1)families with children (2) young women and (3) both men and women over 75. In Japan, football is for everyone. Even behind goal, there are only a handful of teams where I would feel reluctant to take my young children. The style of play is also very home-grown, and as Japanese coaches become more confident to develop their own strategies rather than copy Europeans, the National Team becomes even more competitive But Hide Nakata is nothing but a marketing genius who managed to get lots of press, but has no real devotion to anything except his own financial benefit. He did have a rare gift in his ability to read the run of play,. But he never used it to benefit anyone but himself, and always liked to snark about how he didnt really like football. Take it from a resident of Yamanashi, who knows people who went to high school with Nakata - He is NOT the sort of player, or PERSON, to adopt as a role model.

I remember Hidetoshi from that great Roma team that won the scudetto in the early 2000s. A fine player with a great shot, he played alongside my countryman Gabriel Batistuta.

The first Japanese superstar is Miura Kazu. He is 56 years old now, but still active. Moreover, he moved to an overseas club last year.

My fav player hide .. what he lacked in pace and size , he made it up with impeccable vision and he is one of those players that knew what he can and cannot do .. focuses on his strengths but at the same time embracing his weakness . This generation of Japanese players however are far more technical and physically better than nakata.. which is why they are making the world sit up and notice …

@@k-matsu what you say about football in japan seems to be true also for rock shred guitar! Old people tapping their feet to face melting whammy bar solos..so cool :)

Agreed!!!!! Another example would be Japan's national volleyball team. There are currently ranked 3rd in the world, having come from out of almost nowhere a few years ago. They progress they made in a few years is insane and it all has to do with the tight bond of all the team members. I think we will see something similar happen for their football team

​@frankiesroompimp5164 Basketball is not a huge sport in Japan but they are better than the Europeans minus Serbia. Only US and a few others are better.

Japan are also world champions in baseball too

@@StaySqueezy12 True. But it does have to be pointed out that very few countries (as in literally just a handful) actually play baseball at a professional level. And it's not watched or played much globally. Not when compared to football ⚽, Cricket 🏏, Basketball 🏀, Rugby 🏉, and Volleyball 🏐. Baseball is not even in the top ten of team sports. So it's a far bigger challenge to become one of the best teams in football ⚽, Cricket 🏏, Basketball 🏀, or Rugby 🏉 because you will simply be competing against a lot more countries and top tier national teams than you would in baseball.

@allanlmb37 cricket is less global than baseball. WBC has more nations than the cricket world cup. It's only played more because two nations with huge populations, Pakistan and India. Nations that have won zero olympic medals. Take out the Currys out of the equation cricket drops way below most sports. Cricket and baseball are not global but international, same goes for rugby.

@allanlmb37 Japan is quite good at basketball for a country where its not that big. Minus the Serbs, Lithuanians and the Greeks Japan is better than Europe. 10 years ago American football was bigger than basketball in Japan. Now they are best in Asia in basketball better than Australia, New Zealand, China, Philippines. Also, China and Philippines basketball is the most popular team sport.

@allanlmb37 only global team sports are soccer and basketball and arguably volleyball. Rugby, baseball, cricket are international. Despite cricket being more played its less diverse than baseball and rugby.

yeah they do exceed in committing war crimes fr

@@y79iu28that was 80 years ago dude, you need to wake up, stop being so bitter, and join us in the present 😊✌🏻

@Chris Heartimagine copy pasting the same comment on every video to do with Japan to try and upset ppl 😂

@@kimmieutsunomiya1457 maybe if your government actually acknowledges it then people can move on dont ya think instead of denying it

@@y79iu28 really? You need a governments words to help you grow up? What did "sorry day" do for the indigenous people of Australia?

I hope so too. Also a reminder that Japan's football team are more competitive among the elite teams, but still aren't on their level.

I mean it's not like reaching the QF is this massive over achievement for Japan. Japan were penalty kicks away from the QF in 2010 and 2022 World Cups, and if they hadn't;t choked a 2-0 lead vs Belgium, could have made the QF in 2018 as well

@@AW-zk5qb It would not be an overachievement, but it would be an achievement to finally reach that stage for them

@@AW-zk5qbJapan pretty much pulled the Atlanta falcons there

@@AW-zk5qbdidn’t choke. Was bound to happen

I remember 15 years ago that the Japanese team had good technical skills but couldn’t finish. That’s not true these days. It is ironic that many players went to play in Germany and have beaten them twice.

Well it worked for Japan's car and motorcycle industries, so hey.

Do you like Celtic?

@@Cancun771The Japanese are experts at it for sure 👍🏽

@@michaelsalovaara567 I still think we still lack clinical finishers and all-out number 9s, but that's down partly to Japanese culture. We have a saying, a nail that sticks out, gets hammered down, so that hinders us a bit but also because of that aspect, we have many great midfielders and passers haha

Aoashi in my opinion is far better than Blue Lock. It came out within the same year as the latter, but since Blue Lock was released near the World Cup, the latter exploded in popularity. I still hope for season 2 of Aoashi

I think the vision of strikers mellowed a bit as the series went on, giving a bit of manga spoilers here so apologies if you haven’t caught up but: Basically it’s been revealed that the idea behind the Bluelock system wasn’t fully to create a world class striker, it was to create a team that is capable of scoring from every position on the pitch. Hence players like Isagi and nagi playing midfield and chigiri becoming a winger. Even Gagamaru becoming a goalkeeper lol It’s still controversial for sure but I can kinda get behind it 😂

Isn't blue lock striker critic targeted only towards the japanese national team? To say the japanese national team failure in the 2018 world cup is a lack of world class striker is kinda fair tbh.

ao ashi and giant killing are much better to show club competition and youth development. but blue lock is cool too

Ao Ashi and Giant Killing has clear depiction of the progress of the Japanese football pyramid through recent years

And they clean up the stadium after the game too. 👍🏽

And awesome nickname

A lot of people still say that World Cup was somewhat rigged, but still, it brought Japan to the World stage, and I don't think Japan would be as good of a team as they are now if it were not for that

​@@theerrantwandererdefinitely wasn't rigged in Japan's favour but with South Korea it was very suspicious

ARIGATO🎉🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🇯🇵

it was a splendid world cup indeed, very memorable

the GK kit with the flames is just next level

As a Japan fan I was gutted when Paraguay won that day but that Paraguay team was really really good. Shame what has happened since.

atleast paraguay still has quality players in almiron and my favorite club brighton’s julio enciso, absolute ballers

@@duxedeuver There is a problem. You have to look at the recent qualification of Paraguay for World Cup 2026. The first game against Peru, they dominated and even had numerical advantage when a red card for Peru, yet they were held goalless. Against Venezuela, an opponent previously beaten so easily by Paraguay away, they ended up this time around lost 0-1. I think this explains much of the current crisis of the Paraguayan team.

I'm sad about Paraguay, I'm Colombian, and grew up never trusting my country and expecting to lose against everyone, Paraguay always terrified me, now, you have good players but I can't help but think of Paraguay alongside Venezuela and Bolivia as the weakest teams. I really hope you guys can get to the next world cup and start rebuilding that team, you definitely have the potential.

I don't know why you were expecting to steamroll Japan, that 2010 team especially was quite good.

100%, there fans are amazing compared to the Europeans and South Americans.

ARIGATO❤🎉

They could also do with a better centre backs and a goalkeeper too

In order for a nation to succeed at football they need infrastructure (which is often dependent on money), a large population and a football culture. The sad truth is that not many countries in the AFC fit that criteria. Japan, Korea, Australia, Saudi Arabia, and after that you really don't have anybody. Maybe Iran, Thailand and Malaysia but their infrastructure is lacking.

Singapore has quite a lot of young players right now (The Fandis comes to mind among others), hopefully they can develop into good players to challenge in Asia. Much love from your neighbor, Indonesia bro.

@@benrasjidbro their U23s drawn against Guam

@@AVietnameseWanderingAround i mean they could still turn out to be pretty good in the future

Looking forward to seeing how albirex niigata will fare next season when they convert into a "local" team

The thing is partly that is also due to Ange Postecoglou coming from Japan and signing Japanese players for Celtic because he trusts them.

@@lordjustinian2913no doubt we got those boys because of Ange’s knowledge of the Japanese game, but we’ve also had a couple of Japaense players previously, most notably Shunsuke Nakamura, one of the greatest ever free kick takers

I remember when you had Nakamura. The Japanese Riquelme.

@user-wb5oj5gr7l Did you say the same about Virgil Van Dijk, Andy Robertson etc etc etc. Players tend to move upwardly more than sideways. Downward as they age. Judging by your criteria nobody would be good enough to move to a higher level.

@@JohnBoyBeattie I like playing Celtic on playstation when your team have Shunsuke Nakamura. Great player, his left foot was a beast.

JAPAN won asian cup 4 times ( the highest ) Saudi won it 3 times ( 2nd highest) , for club football al Hilal has won the most asian champions league trophies ( 4 times) get your facts straight , alfie just doesn't like rich Arabs

​@@yazmo5564aye because trophies tell the entire story don't they. Saudi have painted over all of the cracks in their football pyramid by spending extortionate amounts on ageing players whilst Japan have invested into grassroots and seen greater reward.

@@yazmo5564 When Saudi Arabia first won Asian Cup, Japan was still weak at the time. Today it is not the same like 1980s. Even today, the stark contrast in World Cup performance is seen. While Saudi Arabia was the first to advance past the group stage of a World Cup, this remains Saudi Arabia's sole triumph. Whereas Japan has advanced four times. Mexico butchered Saudi Arabia in the last game to deny Saudi Arabia whereas Japan overcame Spain in style. Clown.

And that team is owned by a Japanese porn website lol

I'm actually watching Japanese football matches on a weekly basis now ever since the J-League started showing free live matches on their official international KZfaq channel. On average, there's like 4k-7k viewers watching the livestream so I'd say there's an interest for Japanese football.

Boaluz Nagano is a Futsal club pal. They are in division 2.

No big deal, but back in 1977, the national team of Japan was an all amateur squad. But in any case, I too, have fond memories of the NASL. Pele, Beckenbauer, Cruyff, Gerd Muller, George Best, Bobby Moore, Eusebio, etc. I could go on. I lived in LA, so I was so excited to see Johan Cruyff live. I also rooted for Fort Lauderdale because of George Best. It sucks that the league didn't succeed after all.

You should see Urawa Reds game at their Home stadium if you are visiting Japan. and also Kyoto Sanga along with your sightseeing!

@Chris Heart wtf are you talking about

@@ChrisHeart-kr1uqBro seek help!

2026に優勝するよ

Captain Tsubasa had anime adaptations in 1994 and 2001 as well.

I don't say that because I think numbers of foreign players should be restricted: quite the opposite, but rather we need to ask why did Belgium and Japan get so good despite not having a strong local league.

Their rugby and volleyball are even better than football and basketball.

Soon everyone will go from "don't sleep on japan" to "oh no we're playing japan"

@Chris Heart stop spamming

More of his creation rather than prediction. Kids here started playing because of that comic, and a lot of people working hard to make that into reality. Very proud of players and everyone involved🎉

@@shunsukeokano839 Yeah, it was only a joke. Tsubasa was based on Ronaldinho i think. Glad that the manga could inspire others.

eh I mean the 1950s were a completely different era, an era in which Hungary were dominant. You could also argue that 1992 and 1994 were flukes with decent teams. Remember that Romania made 1994 QF and only lost to Sweden in penalties, and Bulgaria made the semis of that tournament. I just wouldn't say Sweden on the men's side were ever a giant in the sport

Too busy eating meat balls and building IKEA stuff

I suspect it's because Sweden (as a country with a small population) can only produce so many World Class Players. And it's clearly going through a bad patch at the moment, what with Lindelof actually being captain.

Reason : because Zlatan retired

@@MrSmith1984 Sweden has bigger things to worry about. Sweden is a joke of a country. Just watch the Angry Foreigner. Forget football your country is going downhill and heading towards liberal fascism.

The USA is a weak team. A Japanese high school team could easily beat them.

Quite interestingly, I sorta wish Mexico will do the same. Though I am not Mexican, but the paranoia of Mexican clubs is so delusional. Mexico should learn from Japan and export their players now or they will have more problems, especially after the tragic exit from the group stages of World Cup 2022.

They should join teams like brenford Brighton that's a gateway to the very top as they will play in best league and readymade to move to the top teams

ESPN Alvaro Morales : " Mexico doesnt need foreign players in our league, nor foreign coaches in our National Team " " And I dont like Messi " . That sums up the current Mexico football cultural situation.

Yeah, was surprised by the omission. Do better.

I took my kids to take his lessons. He sure was a good football teacher for Japanese kids.

To bad the US rejected his offers to help the US program. Repeatedly.