Japan Can Make a Fuss at the 2026 World Cup! Alhadad: Brazil and Argentina Remain Favorites

Muhammad Zein Alhadad, assessed that the opportunity for a surprise is still wide open, especially from Asian representatives such as Japan. (photo: ai/chatgpt)

JAKARTA - The 2026 World Cup, in June, is predicted to remain the stage of dominance for traditional European and Latin American teams. However, former Persebaya Surabaya coach and former Indonesian national team striker, Muhammad Zein Alhadad, assessed that the opportunity for a surprise remains wide open, especially from Asian representatives such as Japan.

According to Alhadad, World Cup subscription countries such as France, Spain, Brazil, Argentina, Germany, Portugal, and the Netherlands remain favorites because they have long experience, squad depth, and a mature football culture.

"Teams that have been accustomed to the World Cup such as France, Spain, Brazil, Argentina, Germany, Portugal, the Netherlands, they have experience and depth of good squads. But it is not impossible to have surprises," Alhadad told VOI, Tuesday, May 26.

In the history of the World Cup, Brazil is still the most successful country with five world champions, namely in 1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, and 2002. Argentina has collected three trophies, including the last title at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar through the leadership of Lionel Messi. Germany and Italy have both collected four titles, while France have twice been world champions in 1998 and 2018.

If you look at the trend of the last few editions, according to Alhadad, the dominance of Europe is quite strong. Since 2006, four of the five world champions have come from Europe, namely Italy, Spain, Germany, and France. The only Latin American representative who broke the dominance was Argentina in 2022.

However, Alhadad assessed that geographical factors could give Latin American teams an advantage because the 2026 World Cup is held in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

"I think the Latin American team still has a big chance because they play on their continent and of course hope for the support of the audience. It will be exciting if the Latin American final is against Europe, it must be joss," he said laughing.

The spotlight also focuses on senior players who are likely to have their last World Cup. Lionel Messi is expected to be 39 years old when the tournament takes place, while Cristiano Ronaldo turns 41. As for Neymar, he is still relatively young and has the opportunity to compete if he is fit.

Messi is currently the player with the most appearances in World Cup history, 26 matches, surpassing the previous record held by Lothar Matthäus. The Argentine captain has also scored 13 goals at the World Cup and successfully led his country to victory in 2022.

Meanwhile, Ronaldo still holds the record as the only player to score in five different World Cup editions, from 2006 to 2022. The Portuguese superstar is also the all-time top scorer in international football with more than 130 goals for the national team.

"Later it depends on the condition. Messi and Ronaldo are old, physically, speed and reaction are certainly reduced. But their motivation can be very high because this may be the last World Cup for both of them. If Neymar is younger and can do a lot for Brazil," said Alhadad.

In addition to major countries, Alhadad also paid special attention to Japan which was considered a potential dark horse. The Blue Samurai team in recent years has shown rapid development with many players having careers in elite European leagues.

Interestingly, Alhadad remembers how Japan once learned from the Indonesian competition system in the Galatama era in the 1980s.

"We hope Japan can make a surprise because it is from Asia. In the 80s, Japan studied in Indonesia, saw the Galatama competition was good. After learning, now Japan is progressing rapidly," he said.

Japan's achievements have continued to rise. They routinely qualify for the World Cup since 1998 and have surprised many times by defeating big teams. At the 2022 World Cup, Japan successfully defeated Germany and Spain in the group stage before being eliminated dramatically through a penalty shootout against Croatia in the 16th round.

Apart from Japan, a number of other countries such as Belgium, Croatia, and Morocco are also considered potential disruptors of traditional dominance. Morocco even made history in 2022 as the first African country to be able to reach the World Cup semifinals.

With the new format followed by 48 countries, the 2026 World Cup is predicted to be the most competitive tournament in history. The number of matches is more and the tight schedule is believed to open up the opportunity for new surprises on the world football stage.