Pentru ca invata repede si bine, Japonia participa la a treia Cupa Mondiala consecutiva. In acesti 8 ani traiti in elita, a invatat ca ceea ce conteaza este calitatea jocului si nu cantitatea de amicaluri exotice. “Practica fotbalul de miine” este complimentul primit de la Platini

Portari

1. Seigo Narazaki (Nagoya Grampus Eight)

12. Yoichi Doi (FC Tokyo)

23. Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi (Jubilo Iwata)

Fundasi

2. Teruyuki Moniwa (FC Tokyo)

3. Yuichi Komano (Sanfrecce Hiroshima)

5. Tsuneyasu Miyamoto (Gamba Osaka)

6. Koji Nakata (FC Bale/SUI)

14. Alessandro "Alex" Santos (Urawa Red Diamonds)

19. Keisuke Tsuboi (Urawa Red Diamonds)

21. Akira Kaji (FC Tokyo)

22. Yuji Nakazawa (Yokohama Marinos)

Mijlocasi

4. Yasuhito Endo (Gamba Osaka)

7. Hidetoshi Nakata (Bolton/ENG)

8. Mitsuo Ogasawara (Kashima Antlers)

10. Shunsuke Nakamura (Celtic/SCO)

15. Takashi Fukunishi (Jubilo Iwata)

17. Junichi Inamoto (West Bromwich/ENG)

18. Shinji Ono (Urawa Red Diamonds)

Atacanti

9. Naohiro Takahara (Francfort/GER)

11. Seiichiro Maki (JEF United Chiba)

13. Atsushi Yanagisawa (Kashima Antlers)

16. Masashi Oguro (Grenoble/FRA/D2)

20. Keiji Tamada (Nagoya Grampus Eight)