Japan coach Hajime Moriyasu told his players to maintain their focus on winning one game at a time, having set the lofty target of lifting the World Cup in North America in 2026.
The Japanese have never progressed beyond the last 16 at the World Cup, but Moriyasu's side took a step toward qualifying on Friday with a comprehensive 4-0 win over Indonesia after weathering an early storm on and off the pitch.
The victory moved the Samurai Blue seven points clear of Australia, Saudi Arabia and China in the battle for the two automatic berths available from their qualifying group at the halfway stage of the preliminaries.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.