2-0, Japanese men s football team shines in the world, U20 World Cup first team is born

The 2025 FIFA U-20 World Cup was held from September 27 to October 19, 2025. The event was hosted by Chile for the second time since 1987. A total of 24 teams participated in the event, including AFC 4 teams, African Football Federation 4 teams, Central and North America and the Caribbean Football Federation 4 teams, South American Football Federation 2 teams, Oceania Football Federation 5 teams and hosts. On the morning of October 1, the first team to go to the U20 World Cup was released, that is, the highest-ranked Japanese team in Asia. After the Japanese team defeated the host Chile 2-0, they won 2 games in the group stage, scored 4 goals and did not concede the ball, and were sure to win the top two in the group, thus becoming the first team to advance to the top 16 in this game.

Both teams won the first round of the competition, but Chile, which has declined rapidly in recent years, has won more difficult. They narrowly defeated New Zealand 2-1 in the first round, while the Japanese team defeated Egypt very easily. The lineup of the two teams was not adjusted much in this game, and they both hoped to win two consecutive victories and advance ahead of schedule.

Both sides did not have many opportunities in the first half. In the 55th minute of the second half, the Japanese team won a penalty kick, and Ichihara took the lead. In the 82nd minute, Yokoyama Mengshu scored another goal to secure the victory. In another game, New Zealand defeated Egypt 2-1 and won the first victory of the game. In the standings, Japan U20 won two consecutive victories and temporarily ranked first in the group; Chile U20 won one win and lost, ranking second, New Zealand was third, and Egypt was fourth.

It is worth mentioning that unlike the Japanese team we know about the transition, Japanese football is now undergoing a comprehensive transformation, no longer pursuing ball possession rate, but focusing on playing against and counter-attacking and grasping the efficiency of the supplier's conversion. This tactical idea is not only among Japanese men's teams at all levels, but also the Japanese women's football team. In the World Cup two years ago, the Japanese women's football team swept the world champion Spanish team 4-0 with only 22% ball possession rate in the group stage.

The same is true for this game against Chile. The Japanese men's football team has less than 40% of the ball possession rate in the whole game, but they are ahead of their opponents 12-10. More long passes and forward threats have given the Japanese team's pass success rate less than 70%, but they have given them a better opportunity.

The solid defense makes the Japanese team not afraid of their opponents' attacks even after losing the ball. Chile only had two shots in the game. The Japanese team passed 277 times in the game, 67 of which were long passes, accounting for one quarter of the total strength of the Japanese team, not only making their players' ability issues, but also keeping up with the world trend at the tactical level and willing to carry out drastic reforms.

What's even more exaggerated is that at present, this Japanese U20 is not their strongest lineup at all. If the Japanese team wants to send the strongest lineup of this age to participate in the competition, no one in this team can be selected.

First of all, the Japanese U20 has a large number of players in European club youth teams and even adult teams. The Japanese Football Association will never allow these people to participate in such competitions. For example, the Japanese genius Kubo Kai-shek back then, he has never participated in competitions of youth teams at all levels.

, only three players in this Japanese team play in Europe, namely Keita Kosugi who plays for Jurgaden, who is also the most valuable player in the Japanese team, and Kitaya who plays for Real Sociedad B team and Ringsa Takaoka who plays in Ligue 1 Valensine.

Except for Keita Kosugi who can get a certain playing time in the club, the other two people basically cannot play. That is to say, as long as they have a stable playing time in the European League, the Japanese Football Association will not let them play the U20 World Cup because their level is too low.

And even these domestic players are pieced together and include a large number of college students. Japan's J League is in a very critical final stage of championship competition. Many strong teams are unwilling to let go and want to sprint with all their strength. What's worse is that the AFC Champions League is coming, and many strong teams have to fight on both sides.

So this team is the second team of Japan. However, even so, they can still easily grasp it on the stage of the World Series, and when we play with the strongest lineup, we can't even rush out of Asia.