The phenomenon of a “Group of Death” has faded in the modern era, with the expansion of the World Cup and the seeding system helping to spread the load, but Japan might still politely disagree.
Japan are in Group E at the Qatar World Cup, alongside four-time champions Germany, FIFA’s seventh-best side in the world, Spain, and Costa Rica. Japan are World Cup regulars, but will need to pull out all the stops to get out of a group containing two of Europe’s heavy-hitters.
In Russia four years ago, the Samurai Blue managed to get out of their group, picking up four points against Colombia, Senegal, and Poland to progress to the knockout stages. There they raced into a 2-0 lead against a much-fancied Belgium side, before slipping to a 3-2 defeat which ensured they still hadn’t made it past the last-16 of a World Cup in seven attempts.
