1993, Japan's J League officially opened, and Japanese football officially began to professionalize. Only four years later, Japan defeated Iran 3-2 in the key battle about qualifying, and reached the World Cup finals for the first time.

Since then, Japan has qualified for the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea, and reached the top with 16. What is even more enviable is that eight people in the team have played in the European League.

Professional reform of Japanese football

From 65438 to 0993, the professional reform of Japanese football can be said to be the Meiji Restoration of football. The professionalization reform started from within the Football Association. As the leaders of the league, they make the rules and supervise the teams to abide by them. All teams and players have become participants and builders of this league. After the club was standardized, the Japanese Football Association vigorously promoted youth training.

Taking the 2002 World Cup as an opportunity, football surpassed baseball and became the most popular sport in Japan. At the same time, Japanese children can receive formal football training at school. At the same time, they also take advantage of the fact that there are many Japanese immigrants in Brazil and send teenagers to Brazil for special training. In just two or three years, Japanese football has been promoted from a second-rate team in Asia to a first-class team.