The Vietnamese national team once accomplished something that England, Germany, and Spain could not achieve against Japan.

Under Hajime Moriyasu's leadership, Vietnam's squad previously secured a point against Japan, something England, Germany, and Spain have failed to do during official match time.

Facing the ever-more daunting might of theJapanese national team under coach Hajime Moriyasu, very few national teams worldwide can produce a positive result when confronting the Samurai Blue. Remarkably, Vietnam is one of those few, and has even achieved what many European powerhouses like England, Germany, or Spain have never managed.

Since taking over the Japanese national team after the 2018 World Cup, coach Hajime Moriyasu has built a resilient and extremely hard-to-beat collective. Guided by this strategist, Japan has not only dominated Asia but also consistently stunned top European opponents.

Statistics show that Japan has never lost to a UEFA team in regulation time under Moriyasu. They have twice beaten Germany (2-1 and 4-1), defeated Spain 2-1 at the 2022 World Cup, and also beat England 1-0 at Wembley. Even Croatia could only eliminate Japan on penalties in the round of 16 of the 2022 World Cup after a 1-1 draw over 120 minutes.

However, among a host of major European sides, the Vietnamese national team once managed to take points from Hajime Moriyasu's Japan. In the third round of the 2022 World Cup qualifiers, Park Hang-seo's men brilliantly held Japan to a 1-1 draw away from home against stars like Kaoru Mitoma, Takefusa Kubo, and Takumi Minamino.

Not only at the senior national team level, Vietnamese football also made Moriyasu regret at the 2018 Asian Games. On that occasion, Park Hang-seo's U23 Vietnam defeated Japan's U23 side 1-0 through a goal from Nguyen Quang Hai, while the opponent's lineup featured future stars such as Mitoma, Daizen Maeda, and Ayase Ueda.

Although these positive results against Japan are specific moments and Vietnamese football still lags significantly behind Asia's top football nation, they remain memorable milestones. At the same time, the journey of rising of Japan under coach Moriyasu also serves as a model for Vietnamese football to learn from on the path toward conquering greater goals in the future.