Why Japan are right alongside England, the USWNT & Spain as 2027 Women's World Cup contenders - and how Asian Cup triumph proved it

There is only one player in the current Japan squad who connects the current generation to that of 2011 and 2015. Now aged 35, Saki Kumagai was involved in both of those World Cup tournaments and is right up there as one of the greatest players her country has ever produced, winning five Champions League titles during her time at Lyon.

Before her move to the French giants, Kumagai was in Germany with Frankfurt, making her one of only six players in Japan's 2015 World Cup squad to be based abroad. It was a trail blazed by those who came before her, such as Kozue Ando and Yuki Nagasato, and one that Kumagai followed in order to experience a new level and a different style.

"Of course, it's my opinion, but the football of Europe, the big vision they have and the way they are progressing so quickly, that's why I want to play in Europe, until I can't play," she told GOAL in late 2024, while still in Italy with Roma.

Today, the numbers are so different. Three years ago, Ikeda's 23-player World Cup squad featured only 14 Japan-based players. This month, at the Asian Cup, just of the 26 players involved were still playing their football at home in the WE League. "Finally," Kumagai said with a laugh when discussing the growing number of players moving abroad.

It's something she had wanted to see for a long time, as she always believed it was important for the national team to improve.

"Here in Europe we can get an experience that... If we stay in Japan, we experience a lot of things, of course, good things and bad things, but if you stay in Japan, we can't get 'it'," she explained, trying to find the best way to convey her point in English, one of four new languages she has picked up since moving to Europe in 2011. "I told [my team-mates that] a lot of times and so I am so happy now that a lot of players will do the challenge in Europe and get to play Champions League also."

Of course, it's not easy for each individual to want to make such a big move abroad. Kumagai has no challenges now. Indeed, when GOAL asked if it helps her to have other Japanese players at the same club, she quite simply, and hilariously, responded: "I don't care. It's not important for me."

It's not that she doesn't enjoy the familiar company, not at all, but rather that she has got used to being without her compatriots over the years, so it has not been essential for her.

When Kumagai first arrived in Europe as a fresh-faced 20-year-old, however, "it was so hard", particularly when it came to learning a language like German, which is so different from Japanese. As such, it's understandable that it might not be a challenge that every individual wants to take on.

"If they don't want to go, I think it's not possible," Kumagai conceded.

But that's changed so much in recent years. More and more players are taking that big leap abroad, and many are doing it while still only teenagers. Why?

"I think it's because we want to win, for example, the World Cup and Olympics," Yuka Momiki, the Everton star who wasn't involved in Japan's Asian Cup squad, but played for her country as recently as November, explained previously. "Playing in Japan is exciting but compared to England, it's not physical. Maybe we are technical, not physical, so if we want to improve, you need to be more physical. That's why we come here and challenge ourselves and bring all these things to the national team and try to win the World Cup."

It's something Yui Hasegawa reiterated when speaking to GOAL just before the current season got underway.

"It is really important, this kind of environment where we can play with other players who represent their countries every day," the Manchester City midfielder added. "That could contribute to make our national team much better."

Kumagai said similar: "When we wear the national team jersey, of course, we are not playing against Japanese players. Every time, we are against foreigners. [Our players] want to, I think, grow up also, and they also realised it's important to play every day against or with foreigners at a high level, good players. That's why, I think."

It's a compliment to England's Women's Super League that most are flocking to that division. Of the 22 players in Japan's triumphant Asian Cup squad who are based abroad, 16 play in the WSL. That doesn't include the six others in the English top-flight who didn't make the cut for this month's tournament, either.

And these players are not just turning out for the big guns. Twelve of those 16 play for teams outside of the WSL's 'big four', meaning they are improving by playing in the league as a whole, rather than because they are in a highly-competitive internal environment or due to the benefits of Champions League football.

But the main compliment here is to the talent Japan is producing, more than anything else. The quality coming out of the country, be it from the successful national team set-up or a growing domestic league that trusts in youth, is attracting attention in leagues across Europe and in the United States, leading to many of the sport's biggest clubs perusing the Japanese market.

"I think Japanese players are a little bit... I don't know how to say it, but a little bit 'extra'," Kumagai, now one of those in England after joining London City Lionesses last year, said. "Our playing style, there is a big difference to the European players or U.S. players, so if we can fit in the team, maybe we can do a lot of things for the team also. That's why a lot of teams want to get the Japanese player, I think."

That 'extra' quality has been on show throughout the last three weeks, culminating in Japan beating Australia to win the 2026 Asian Cup on Saturday. It was on show as Riko Ueki scored a Golden Boot-winning six goals in just four games; as Maika Hamano curled in a brilliant and decisive strike in the tournament's final; as Toko Koga produced brick wall performance after brick wall performance in defence; as Aoba Fujino consistently stood out as one of the competition's most dangerous forwards, playing more key passes than anyone else; as Hasegawa showcased her world-class qualities in midfield, alongside the similarly impressive Fuka Nagano. Every single player was outstanding.

And that is perhaps the most exciting thing of all, that the quality shone throughout the 26-player squad. Nilsen used 25 of those available through the three weeks, making changes aplenty from game to game, and yet Nadeshiko still brought incredible fluidity and dominance to the table, with wonderful chemistry on show regardless of the XI. There were some big names not included in the squad, too, such as Momiki or Angel City's Hina Sugita, plus a number of young players who just missed the cut but could be involved at the World Cup next summer.

This is a deep, deep squad, one with world-class talent and remarkable cohesion, but also an ability to get over the line. That was missing at the 2023 Women's World Cup, in that underwhelming defeat to Sweden in the last 16. But it was on show in Saturday's final, as Nadeshiko dug deep to see out their 1-0 win. It's yet another reason to believe that Japan are right up there as contenders for the 2027 Women's World Cup, alongside the likes of Spain, England and the U.S.