Wataru Endo can already start clearing his diary for the summer of 2026 after Japan became the first country to successfully qualify for next year’s World Cup.
The Blue Samurai join co-host trio USA, Mexico and Canada at the finals after their 2-0 win over Bahrain on Saitama on Thursday guaranteed them a top-two finish in their AFC qualification group, confirming what had long since seemed a formality.
It maintains Japan’s record of featuring at every World Cup since their debut appearance in 1998, and such is their dominance in the group that they still have three more matches to fulfil.
Endo praised in Japan as World Cup ticket booked
As captain of his national team, Endo is a prominent figure in his homeland, and his country’s media hailed the Liverpool midfielder’s performance in today’s victory over Bahrain.
He earned a 6.5/10 match rating from Yahoo Japan, with the verdict that he was ‘as tough as ever’ and ‘showed his strengths not only defensively, but also offensively, and created chances’.
Meanwhile, Tokyo TV Sports noted that the 32-year-old was unfortunate to have a ninth-minute goal ruled out by VAR after Ayase Ueda was adjudged to have handled the ball in the lead-up.
Endo puts in a captain’s performance for Japan
On the occasion of his 68th cap, Endo was indeed a valuable contributor to the win which confirmed an eighth successive World Cup final appearance for Japan.
As per Sofascore, the Liverpool man – who Thomas Hitzlsperger previously called “a manager’s dream” – won six of his nine duels, completed 69 of his 73 passes (95%), made three clearances and one tackle, played one key pass and created one ‘big chance’ for his team, all whilst losing the ball only eight times from 90 touches.
Assuming he’s available for the tournament in 15 months’ time, the Reds’ number 3 – whose example has been cited by Arne Slot as one for his teammates to follow – looks set to travel to his third World Cup, having been an unused squad member in Russia 2018 before playing all four of Japan’s matches at Qatar 2022.
The pressure is off for Endo and his national team when they host Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, and even with a long flight back to Merseyside, he’ll still have a week to prepare for the Merseyside derby as his attention reverts to the pursuit of a Premier League winner’s medal!
