Keisuke Honda, one of Japan’s biggest soccer stars in the first two decades of the millennium, said Tuesday that his country has the potential to win the World Cup next year.
“They have the potential to be at least the top four in the World Cup next year, maybe even champions,” Honda, who won 90 caps for Japan and played in three World Cups for his country, said at the AVCJ Private Equity Forum in Hong Kong.
“Nothing is impossible, and they have a lot of good players now, so I hope they will (make it),” he said in his capacity as co-founder of Japan-focused venture capital firm X & KSK.
Japan has already qualified for next year’s World Cup in North America. At the last edition in Qatar in 2022, it defeated European powers Spain and Germany on its way to the last 16.
Honda, 39, enjoyed a globetrotting career playing for clubs in at least five countries, including famed Italian Serie A team AC Milan.
Now a venture investor focusing on startups in Japan and the US, Honda told the audience he has not given up on his football dream.
“My dreams now are two things: to be the best investor in the world and to be the best coach in the world, which means becoming a World Cup champion as a coach,” he said.
The versatile midfielder said Reuters on the sidelines of the forum that he hopes to one day coach the Japanese national team.
Published on November 18, 2025
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