Japan national football team Players, Coach, FIFA Rankings, Nickname, History
In this article, you will get to know about Japan national football team Players, Coach, FIFA Rankings, Nickname, and History. The Japan national football team, nicknamed Samurai Blue (サムライ・ブルー, Samurai Burū) represents Japan in men’s international football and is controlled by the Japan Football Association (JFA), the governing body for football in Japan.
Japan was not a major soccer force until the late 1980s, with a small, amateur team. Since the 1990s, when Japanese football became fully professional, Japan has become one of the most successful teams in Asia; they have qualified for the last seven FIFA World Cups with second-round advancements in 2002, 2010 and 2018, and won the AFC Asian Cup a record four times, in 1992, 2000, 2004 and 2011. they also finished second at the 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup and 2019 AFC Asian Cup. Japan remains the only AFC team apart from Australia and Saudi Arabia to have reached the final of a FIFA senior men’s competition.
Team Profile summary
| Association | Japan Football Association |
| Nickname(s) | サムライ・ブルー (Samurai Blue) |
| Confederation | AFC – EAFF |
| FIFA code | JPN |
| FIFA rank | 18 (28 November 2023) |
| Most Caps | Yasuhito Endō (152) |
| Top Scorer | Kunishige Kamamoto (75) |
| Home stadium | Olympic Stadium (Tokyo) |
| Head coach | Hajime Moriyasu |
Japan national football team History
Japan’s first international matches were at the 1917 Far Eastern Championship Games in Tokyo, where it was represented by a team from the Tokyo Higher Normal School. Although Japan put in great displays in swimming, baseball, and athletics, its soccer team suffered resounding defeats to the Republic of China and the Philippines. However, the game was promoted in Japanese schools in the 1920s.[11] The Japan Football Association was formed in 1921,[12] and Japan joined FIFA in May 1929.
Japan’s first “true” national team (as opposed to a varsity team chosen to represent the country) appeared at the 1930 Far Eastern Championship Games and tied with China for the championship title. Shigeyoshi Suzuki coached the national team in its first Olympic appearance at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin. Japan participated in qualifying for the 1938 FIFA World Cup, but withdrew before their scheduled qualifying match against the Dutch East Indies.
After World War II began in earnest, Japan did not play in international competition except for a handful of matches against Manchuria and other colonies. His last match before the war for the purposes of Elo ratings was a friendly against the Philippines in June 1940.
While Korea was under Japanese rule, a number of Koreans played in international competition for Japan, including Kim Yong-Sik (1936-1940), Kim Sung-gan (1940), and Lee Yoo-hyung (1940).
In December, Japan participated in the 2019 EAFF E-1 Soccer Championship hosted in South Korea. Coach Moriyasu summoned a young and inexperienced team for the competition. With the young team, Japan only managed to win against China and Hong Kong, and lost to rival South Korea, finishing second in the competition.
On March 24, 2022, Japan qualified for the 2022 World Cup.
Japan national football team Home Stadium
Japan plays its home games in various stadiums, in rotation, around the country. However, mostly in the final round of each FIFA World Cup qualification, it plays mainly in Saitama Stadium 2002. Japan has never played in the new National Stadium yet.
Japan national football team Kit
The design of the national team kit has undergone several alterations in the past.[48] In the early 1980s, the uniform was white with blue trim. The kits worn for the 1992 Asian Cup consisted of white stripes (stylized to form a wing) with red diamonds. During Japan’s first World Cup appearance in the 1996 Asian Cup and in 1998, the national team uniforms were blue jerseys with red and white flame designs on the sleeves and were designed by JFA (with sponsors alternating each year between Asics, Puma, and Adidas). ). The 1996 design was reproduced in a special kit used against Syria on June 7, 2017.
On 3 June 2021, Japan released the special 100th anniversary kit for a friendly match against Jamaica, but the match was canceled and replaced with against the U-24 team, and the kit was also used by the U-24 team against U-24 Ghana on 5 June 2021.
Who are Japan National Football team players?
The following 24 players were called up for the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification matches against Australia and Vietnam on 24 and 29 March 2022, respectively. Caps and goals as of 29 March 2022, after the match against Vietnam.
| No | Position | Player Name | Date of birth (age) | Caps | Goals | Club |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GK | Eiji Kawashima | 20-03-1983 (39) | 94 | 0 | Strasbourg |
| 4 | GK | Kosei Tani | 22-11-2000 (21) | 0 | 0 | Shonan Bellmare |
| 12 | GK | Shūichi Gonda | 03-03-1989 (33) | 31 | 0 | Shimizu S-Pulse |
| 23 | GK | Daniel Schmidt | 03-02-1992 (30) | 7 | 0 | Sint-Truiden |
| 2 | DF | Naomichi Ueda | 24-10-1994 (27) | 16 | 1 | Nîmes |
| 3 | DF | Shogo Taniguchi | 15-07-1991 (30) | 8 | 0 | Kawasaki Frontale |
| 5 | DF | Yuto Nagatomo | 12-09-1986 (35) | 134 | 4 | FC Tokyo |
| 16 | DF | Miki Yamane | 22-12-1993 (28) | 8 | 1 | Kawasaki Frontale |
| 19 | DF | Sho Sasaki | 02-10-1989 (32) | 13 | 1 | Sanfrecce Hiroshima |
| 20 | DF | Yūta Nakayama | 16-02-1997 (25) | 13 | 0 | PEC Zwolle |
| 22 | DF | Maya Yoshida (captain) | 24-08-1988 (33) | 115 | 12 | Sampdoria |
| DF | Shinnosuke Nakatani | 24-03-1996 (26) | 3 | 0 | Nagoya Grampus | |
| 7 | MF | Gaku Shibasaki | 28-05-1992 (29) | 56 | 3 | Leganés |
| 8 | MF | Genki Haraguchi | 09-05-1991 (30) | 70 | 11 | Union Berlin |
| 10 | MF | Takumi Minamino | 16-01-1995 (27) | 39 | 17 | Liverpool |
| 11 | MF | Takefusa Kubo | 04-06-2001 (20) | 15 | 0 | Mallorca |
| 13 | MF | Hidemasa Morita | 10-05-1995 (26) | 16 | 2 | Santa Clara |
| 14 | MF | Junya Ito | 09-03-1993 (29) | 33 | 9 | Genk |
| 15 | MF | Reo Hatate | 21-11-1997 (24) | 1 | 0 | Celtic |
| 17 | MF | Ao Tanaka | 10-09-1998 (23) | 9 | 1 | Fortuna Düsseldorf |
| 21 | MF | Kaoru Mitoma | 20-05-1997 (24) | 3 | 2 | Union SG |
| 6 | FW | Daichi Hayashi | 23-05-1997 (24) | 0 | 0 | Sint-Truiden |
| 9 | FW | Ayase Ueda | 28-08-1998 (23) | 8 | 0 | Kashima Antlers |
| 18 | FW | Takuma Asano | 10-11-1994 (27) | 34 | 6 | VfL Bochum |
Who are the Japan national football team captain and coach?
Maya Yoshida is the captain of the team and Hajime Moriyasu is the coach of the Japan national football team.
Japan national football team captain
Maya Yoshida is the captain of the team. Have a look at the profile summary of Japan’s current captain.
Profile summary
- Name: Maya Yoshida
- Date of birth/Age: Aug 24, 1988 (33)
- Place of birth: Nagasaki, Nagasaki
- Citizenship: Japan
- Height: 1,89 m
- Position: Centre-Back
- Current international: Japan
- Caps/Goals: 115 / 12
Japan national football team Coach
Hajime Moriyasu is the coach of the Japan national football team. Have a look at the profile summary of the team’s current coach.
Profile summary
- Name: Hajime Moriyasu
- Date of birth/Age: Aug 23, 1968 (53)
- Place of birth: Nagasaki, Nagasaki
- Citizenship: Japan
- Agent: Footmedia
- Avg. the term as coach: 2.26 Years
- Preferred formation : 4-2-3-1
Japan national football team world rankings
On 28 November 2023, the japan team is at 18th Number in FIFA World Ranking.
Japan national football team trophies
Intercontinental
- Olympic Games
Bronze medalists:1968
- FIFA Confederations Cup
Runners-up:2001
Continental
- AFC Asian Cup
Champions:1992, 2000, 2004, 2011
Runners-up:2019
Fourth place:2007
- Asian Games
Third place:1951, 1966
Fourth place:1970
Regional
- Far Eastern Games
Champions: 1930
- Dynasty Cup
Champions:1992, 1995, 1998
Fourth place:1990
- EAFF E-1 Football Championship
- East Asian Football Championship (2003–2010), EAFF East Asian Cup (2013–2015)
Champions:2013
Runners-up:2003, 2005, 2008, 2017,2019
Third place:2010
Others
- Afro-Asian Cup of Nations
Champions: 1993, 2007
- AFC – OFC Challenge Cup
Champions: 2001
Minor-friendly
- Kirin Cup
Champions:(12): 1991, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2001, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2015
- Source: FootballArroyo.co.uk
- Read Also: How to watch FIFA World cup 2022 in Japan
