Nine years ago, the first FIFA tournament in India offered a glimpse into the future of football.
Crowded stadiums in New Delhi, Kolkata, Kochi, Navi Mumbai, Goa and Guwahati saw teenagers chasing their dreams. But many have disappeared into the game’s vast, unforgiving talent vortex. But eighteen of those youngsters are now back on football’s biggest stage, representing their country at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
No country has produced more graduates than Japan.
Five members of Hajime Moriyasu’s squad – Keito Nakamura, Takefusa Kubo, Zion Suzuki, Yukinari Sugawara and Ayumu Seko – were getting their first taste of FIFA competition in India. And of the 18 players who have made this remarkable leap, none have left a bigger mark on this World Cup so far than Nakamura, who has already contributed to two goals in this tournament with an assist and a goal.
However, his equalizer against the Dutch cannot be separated from the man who has provided him with support at almost every stage of his international career.
“It was moving,” Nakamura said after scoring from another assist from Takefusa Kubo against the Netherlands. «My first goal for the senior national team also came from Kubo’s pass, and today he assisted me again. We have been playing together since our youth days. In certain situations I know that the pass will come without us saying anything.»
It is a partnership that has developed over almost a decade.
In Guwahati, in Japan’s opening match of the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup, Nakamura scored a first-half hat-trick in a 6–1 win over Honduras. His first goal came from a Kubo corner before Kubo added an own goal before half-time.
Nine years later, the script remains familiar.
Against the Netherlands, Kubo burst into the left side of the penalty area before hitting the ball back into what the Japanese media have long dubbed the ‘Keito Zone’ – an area where Nakamura has consistently proven deadly since his days at the Mitsubishi Yowa youth academy.
But Kubo and Nakamura’s journey to the top was far from similar.
Kubo’s name was known in world football before he was old enough to drive. Dubbed the “Japanese Messi”, he joined Barcelona’s famous La Masia academy at the age of 10, before FIFA regulations on the recruitment of foreign minors forced him to return home. But the label has followed him everywhere.
«I don’t like being compared to Messi, but one day I hope to be like him,» Kubo, who now plays for Real Sociedad, had said after becoming the second-youngest debutant in J-League history in May 2017.
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He has also spoken openly about the difficulties of living abroad at such a young age, after scouts from the Catalan giants were impressed by his skills during a Barcelona football camp in Yokohama in 2009.
«When I was little and went to Barcelona, I didn’t think much about it. I always wanted to go to Barcelona at all costs,» he told the Japanese newspaper. Football summary magazine. «I tried my best not to be bullied as much as possible because of my small body. However, sometimes the bigger kids hit me with their fists. It was a very tough environment.»
Nakamura’s rise was less glamorous and testing, but perhaps more representative of modern Japanese football. A product of Mitsubishi Yowa’s academy, he moved on loan from Gamba Osaka to Dutch side FC Twente in 2019-2020. After playing in the Netherlands, Belgium and Austria, he now represents Reims in France.
Japan’s remarkable performances in recent years – having lost one of its last 15 matches – can be attributed to the continuity and seamless progression the country has made from youth to senior football.
The 2017 Under-17 World Cup introduced Indian fans to a generation that is now reaching its peak. Nine years later, many of these teenagers – such as Nakamura, Kubo, Aurelien Tchouameni (France), Eric García and Ferran Torres of Spain – have become the faces of their national teams, proving that football’s youth tournaments are remembered for the careers they launched.
Players from the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup in India now at the 2026 FIFA World Cup
Japan (5): Keito Nakamura, Takefusa Kubo, Zion Suzuki, Yukinari Sugawara, Ayumu Seko
France (2): Aurelien Tchouaméni, Maxence Lacroix
Spain (2): Eric Garcia, Ferran Torres
United States (2): Sergino Dest, Tim Weah
New Zealand (2): Bill Tuiloma Just, Liberato Cacace
Turkey (1): Yunus Akgün
Haiti (1): Wilson Isidor
Algeria (1): Amine Gouiri
England (1): Marc Guéhi
Ivory Coast (1): Fofana School
Published on June 26, 2026
