TOKYO (Kyodo) -- With Japan on track for their fastest World Cup qualification following a largely successful 2024, manager Hajime Moriyasu views this year as a time to evolve his team before the finals in Canada, Mexico and the United States in 18 months.

Moriyasu's men currently sit pretty on top of Group C in the final Asian qualifying round, leading their closest rivals Australia by nine points after five wins and a draw.

The 56-year-old manager is firmly focused on winning Japan's next qualifier, at home to Bahrain on March 20, which would secure an eighth straight World Cup berth with three matches to spare.

"We have quite an advantage in terms of points, but we will not leave any room to be exploited, or let our guard down, and will try to be thorough in every department," Moriyasu said in a recent interview.

Moriyasu, who was a coach for Japan before taking on the top job after the 2018 World Cup in Russia, said "evolution" for Japanese football was more than just a matter of what happens on the pitch.

"I'll always be thinking about building strength to win at the World Cup. To be more precise, adding more squad depth and enabling us to play in more ways tactically," he said. "(On top of that), I hope to broaden the circle of people who are interested in football."

"Having been to the past two World Cups, I really felt it's not a stage where you can win just by the competitive ability of the team. We want supporters from across Japan and around the world to send us energy, taking it as a national matter. We can't win without that power."

Japan did not begin 2024 on a high note, exiting the Asian Cup in Qatar with a 2-1 quarterfinal defeat to Iran. The tournament marked a dip in the side's otherwise impressive run following the 2022 World Cup, including a 4-1 friendly win away to Germany.

"We showed our weakness of getting hit on counterattacks, while over-swinging with straightforward punches," Moriyasu said. "That was a good turning point to take another look at our defense, which was becoming slack."

The team responded strongly with nine wins, including one by default against North Korea, and one draw during World Cup qualification through the remainder of the calendar year.

"I assume we're at around 50, 60 percent," Moriyasu said of his side, currently ranked 15th in the world. "I'll be checking how much the players' levels have gone up and how deep the squad has gotten, and also hope to test four at the back again if I have a chance."

"I'll find out more once we get to start playing international friendlies in September."

The Samurai Blue will have one year until the finals after their last qualifier at home to Indonesia on June 10, and Moriyasu wants to test his team against top opponents, while delving into the large talent pool at his disposal.

"I want to call up new players who have the ability and watch them as much as I can. The strength of the team will be elevated through competition for places and pushing each other," Moriyasu said.

"I'm telling (national team director Masakuni) Yamamoto that we want to play strong teams. We've played teams in Asia so we want to play countries from other continents. In terms of the FIFA rankings, we want to play teams who are above us."