Eighth straight World Cup and the most Europe-based squad Japan has ever fielded, with recent wins over Brazil and England fuelling dark-horse talk. Kaoru Mitoma (injury) was the headline omission, and captain Wataru Endo withdrew injured on day one of the tournament.
Head coach
Hajime Moriyasu
Since Aug 2018
Group result
Group F (runners-up)
R32: vs Brazil
Squad avg age
26.6
26-player squad
Squad market value
€271m
est., 26 of 26
Next fixture
Jun 29 · Houston →
Beat Germany & Spain at Qatar 2022; beat Brazil in 2025
Squad
Full 26-man squad · club at selection · senior caps| # | Pos | Player | Club (league) | Age | Caps | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GK | Zion Suzuki | Parma (ITA) | 23 | 24 | €20m |
| 12 | GK | Keisuke Ōsako | Sanfrecce Hiroshima (JPN) | 26 | 11 | €2m |
| 23 | GK | Tomoki Hayakawa | Kashima Antlers (JPN) | 26 | 4 | €2m |
| 2 | DF | Yukinari Sugawara | Werder Bremen (GER) | 25 | 21 | €5.5m |
| 3 | DF | Shōgo Taniguchi | Sint-Truiden (BEL) | 34 | 38 | €750k |
| 4 | DF | Kō Itakura(C) | Ajax (NED) | 29 | 40 | €8m |
| 5 | DF | Yūto Nagatomo | FC Tokyo (JPN) | 39 | 145 | €100k |
| 16 | DF | Tsuyoshi Watanabe | Feyenoord (NED) | 28 | 11 | €10m |
| 20 | DF | Ayumu Seko | Le Havre (FRA) | 25 | 14 | €5m |
| 21 | DF | Hiroki Itō | Bayern Munich (GER) | 26 | 24 | €18m |
| 22 | DF | Takehiro Tomiyasu | Ajax (NED) | 27 | 43 | €5m |
| 25 | DF | Junnosuke Suzuki | Copenhagen (DEN) | 22 | 6 | €3.5m |
| 7 | MF | Ao Tanaka | Leeds United (ENG) | 27 | 38 | €13m |
| 8 | MF | Takefusa Kubo | Real Sociedad (ESP) | 24 | 49 | €20m |
| 10 | MF | Ritsu Dōan | Eintracht Frankfurt (GER) | 27 | 65 | €17m |
| 11 | MF | Daizen Maeda | Celtic (SCO) | 28 | 27 | €13m |
| 13 | MF | Keito Nakamura | Reims (FRA) | 25 | 25 | €10m |
| 14 | MF | Junya Itō | Genk (BEL) | 32 | 69 | €3m |
| 15 | MF | Daichi Kamada | Crystal Palace (ENG) | 29 | 49 | €10m |
| 17 | MF | Yuito Suzuki | SC Freiburg (GER) | 24 | 6 | €24m |
| 24 | MF | Kaishū Sano | Mainz 05 (GER) | 25 | 13 | €40m |
| 6 | FW | Shūto Machino | Borussia Mönchengladbach (GER) | 26 | 14 | €4m |
| 9 | FW | Keisuke Gotō | Sint-Truiden (BEL) | 20 | 4 | €10m |
| 18 | FW | Ayase Ueda | Feyenoord (NED) | 27 | 39 | €17m |
| 19 | FW | Kōki Ogawa | NEC Nijmegen (NED) | 28 | 15 | €2m |
| 26 | FW | Kento Shiogai | VfL Wolfsburg (GER) | 20 | 2 | €8m |