Editing Sports in Japan (section)

===Association football===
[[File:Japan national football team World Cup 2018.jpg|thumb|[[Japan national football team]]]]
{{main|Football in Japan}}

[[Association football]] is the second most popular team sport in Japan, behind Baseball. The [[Japan Football Association]] (JFA) is the governing body of Japanese football. The JFA organizes the [[Japan national football team|men's]], [[Japan women's national football team|women's]], and [[futsal]] national teams.

Association football was introduced to Japan during the [[Meiji period]] by [[O-yatoi gaikokujin]], foreign advisors hired by the Japanese government, along with many other foreign sports, like [[baseball]]. The first Japanese football club is considered to be [[Tokyo Shūkyū-dan]], founded in 1917, which is now competing in the Tokyo Prefectural amateur league.

In the 1920s, football associations were organized and regional tournaments began in universities and high schools, especially in Tokyo. In the 1930s, the [[Japan national football team]] was organized and drew 3–3 with [[China]] to win their first title at the [[Far Eastern Championship Games]]. The Japan national team also competed in the [[1936 Summer Olympics|1936 Berlin Olympic Games]], the team had a first victory in an Olympic game with a 3–2 win over powerful [[Sweden]].

The Japan national team is very successful at an international level, and has competed in the [[1998 FIFA World Cup|1998]], [[2002 FIFA World Cup|2002]], [[2006 FIFA World Cup|2006]], [[2010 FIFA World Cup|2010]], [[2014 FIFA World Cup|2014]], [[2018 FIFA World Cup|2018]], and [[2022 FIFA World Cup| 2022 ]][[FIFA World Cup]]s. Its best result was reaching the Round of 16 in 2002, 2010, 2018, and 2022. The Japanese national team has also competed in six AFC Asian Cups, with the team being the Champions in [[1992 AFC Asian Cup|1992]], [[2000 AFC Asian Cup|2000]], [[2004 AFC Asian Cup|2004]] and [[2011 AFC Asian Cup|2011]] AFC Asian Cups. The team's highest ranking was 9th in the world in February 1998. Japan has competed in many other footballing events including the [[Confederations Cup]], the [[East Asian Football Championship]], and the [[Copa América]].

The [[J.League]] is the most popular football league in Japan and has grown rapidly in just a few decades-with teams such as [[FC Tokyo]] and [[Kashima Antlers]] regularly competing in continental competition and the league drawing the talents of [[Andrés Iniesta]] and [[Fernando Torres]].

The women's national team has enjoyed major success at the [[FIFA Women's World Cup|World Cup]], winning the [[2011 FIFA Women's World Cup|2011 edition]] in Germany and finishing as runner-up in the [[2015 FIFA Women's World Cup|2015 edition]] in Canada.

The national team's colors are blue and white, Japan's main colors in most international sporting competitions.