The 2022 FIFA World Cup will get underway on November 20. Here are the 26 members of the Japanese men’s national soccer team who will compete in Qatar.
On November 1, the Japan Football Association announced the final 26 members of the Japanese men’s national soccer team who will compete at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. Samurai Blue is making its seventh consecutive appearance in the tournament, which is set to kick off on November 20.
Japan, ranked twenty-fourth internationally, will compete in Group E against Germany, Costa Rica, and Spain. The team will start its campaign on November 23 against four-time champion Germany, ranked eleventh. It will then face off against thirty-first-ranked Costa Rica on November 27 and seventh-ranked Spain on December 1 (December 2 in Japan).
Although grouped with powerhouses Germany and Spain, Japan is aiming to qualify for the knock-out stage for a third straight time in the hopes of making it to the quarter-finals for the first time ever.
Japan’s National Team World Cup Schedule
(Dates and times in Japan)
Japan’s 2022 World Cup Team
Manager
Moriyasu Hajime
Date of birth: August 23, 1968
Managing history
2012－17: Sanfrecce Hiroshima
2017: Japan U-20 national team
2018: Japan U-23 national team
2018－present: Japan national team
Goalkeepers
Eiji Kawashima
Date of birth: March 20, 1983
Height: 185 cm
95 caps / 104 goals allowed
Club: RC Strasbourg Alsace (France)
Gonda Shūichi
Date of birth: March 3, 1989
Height: 187 cm
33 caps / 14 goals allowed
Club: Shimizu S-Pulse
Schmidt Daniel
Date of birth: February 3, 1992
Height: 197 cm
11 caps / 8 goals allowed
Club: Sint-Truiden VV (Belgium)
Defenders
Nagatomo Yuto
Date of birth: September 12, 1986
Height: 170 cm
137 caps / 4 goals
Club: FC Tokyo
Yoshida Maya
Date of birth: August 24, 1988
Height: 189 cm
121 caps/ 12 goals
Club: FC Schalke 04 (Germany)
Hiroki Sakai
Date of birth: April 12, 1990
Height: 183 cm
71 caps / 1 goal
Club: Urawa Reds
Taniguchi Shōgo
Date of birth: July 15, 1991
Height: 183 cm
13 caps / 0 goals
Club: Kawasaki Frontale
Yamane Miki
Date of birth: December 22, 1993
Height: 178 cm
14 caps / 2 goals
Club: Kawasaki Frontale
Itakura Kō
Date of birth: January 27, 1997
Height: 186 cm
12 caps / 1 goal
Club: Borussia Dortmund (Germany)
Nakayama Yūta
Date of birth: February 16, 1997
Height: 181 cm
17 caps / 0 goals
Club: Huddersfield Town (England)
Tomiyasu Takehiro
Date of birth: November 5, 1998
Height: 187 cm
29 caps / 1 goal
Club: Arsenal (England)
Itō Hiroki
Date of birth: May 12, 1999
Height: 186 cm
5 caps / 0 goals
Club: VfB Stuttgart (Germany)
Midfielders / Forwards
Shibasaki Gaku
Date of birth: May 28, 1992
Height: 175 cm
59 caps / 3 goals
Club: CD Leganés (Spain)
Endo Wataru
Date of birth: February 9, 1993
Height: 178 cm
43 caps / 2 goals
Club: Vfb Stuttgart (Germany)
Itō Jun’ya
Date of birth: March 9, 1993
Height: 176 cm
38 caps / 9 goals
Club: Stade de Reims (France)
Asano Takuma
Date of birth: November 10, 1994
Height: 173 cm
36 caps / 7 goals
Club: VfL Bochum 1848
Minamino Takumi
Date of birth: January 16, 1995
Height: 174 cm
43 caps / 17 goals
Club: AS Monaco (France)
Morita Hidemasa
Date of birth: May 10, 1995
Height: 177 cm
17 caps / 2 goals
Club: Sporting CP (Portugal)
Kamada Daichi
Date of birth: August 5, 1996
Height: 180 cm
21 caps / 6 goals
Club: Eintracht Frankfurt (Germany)
Sōma Yūki
Date of birth: February 25, 1997
Height: 166 cm
7 caps / 3 goals
Club: Nagoya Grampus
Mitoma Kaoru
Date of birth: May 20, 1997
Height: 178 cm
9 caps / 5 goals
Club: Brighton & Hove Albion (England)
Maeda Daizen
Date of birth: October 20, 1997
Height: 173 cm
8 caps / 1 goal
Club: Celtic FC (Scotland)
Dōan Ritsu
Date of birth: June 16, 1998
Height: 172 cm
28 caps / 3 goals
Club: SC Freiburg (Germany)
Ueda Ayase
Date of birth: August 28, 1998
Height: 182 cm
10 caps / 0 goals
Club: Cercle Brugge KSV (Belgium)
Tanaka Ao
Date of birth: September 10, 1998
Height: 180 cm
14 caps / 2 goals
Club: Fortuna Düsseldorf 1895 (Germany)
Kubo Takefusa
Date of birth: June 4, 2001
Height: 173 cm
19 caps / 1 goal
Club: Real Sociedad (Spain)
(Originally published in Japanese. Photographs provided by the Japan Football Association.)
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