Japan manager Hajime Moriyasu has challenged his team to show they can compete with the best at the World Cup by coming through a "tough battle" against England at Wembley.
The Samurai Blue take on Thomas Tuchel's side having pulled off an unexpected 1-0 win over Scotland at Hampden Park on Saturday.
Even though England will be missing several of their Premier League regulars -- with Arsenal trio Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka and Noni Madueke among those to have withdrawn -- Moriyasu believes another strong display from his squad will lay down a marker for the summer.
"I believe we can perform in the best possible environment," Moriyasu said at a news conference. "It is important to further build upon our current abilities.
"By competing against world-class England, we want to demonstrate our strength through tough battles and see what we can do to meet world-class standards and World Cup-winning standards."
Japan are preparing for their eighth successive World Cup finals, and will be in Group F along with the Netherlands, Tunisia and the winner of the UEFA playoff final between Sweden and Poland.
While England -- currently fourth in the FIFA world rankings, having topped their qualifying group with a perfect record and without conceding a goal in eight games -- are considered one of the favourites to go on and lift the trophy this summer, many would see progressing to the knockout stage as progress for Japan.
That, though, will not stop Moriyasu from dreaming big.
"I think most people [in Japan] think it is impossible [for us to win the World Cup]," he said. "England is the favourite to win the World Cup, but we are the dark horse."