Nozomi Hiroyama's side will be confident of their chances after passing their stiffest test yet at Qatar 2025 - showing nerves of steel to defeat a tough DPR Korea in the Round of 16 on Tuesday.

Japan's campaign prior to that had been serene and former winger Hiroyama would have been proud with how his players remained focused after DPR Korea drew level to force the shootout.

The East Asian side have been on a redemption mission since an underwhelming AFC U-17 Asian Cup™ Saudi Arabia 2025 where they made a quarter-final exit.

Adding to their confidence will be the fact that Japan have multiple players who can find the back of the net, with Taiga Seguchi their leading scorer with two while the remaining six scored enroute to the quarter-finals contributed by six different players.

The defence has also played an instrumental part and the goal conceded against DPR Korea was just their second in five matches.

Formidable defending will be required against an Austrian side who will enter the quarter-final with an impressive record of five consecutive wins.

Appearing in the Finals for just the third time, Austria topped Group L before going on to defeat Tunisia (2-0) and former champions England (4-0) in the knockout stage.

Johannes Moser (five) and Hasan Deshishku (four) will be the attacking players Japan have to shackle with Austria having scored a total 14 goals and conceding just one but Hiroyama's side are chasing history and that will motivate them to produce their best.

Austria v Japan
Venue: Aspire Zone, Pitch 3 (Doha)
Kick-off: Friday, 15:30 (UTC+3)

Photos: FIFA via Getty Images