Japanese national soccer team

This article covers the men's national team. For additional teams, see Japan National Football Team (disambiguation) .

Japan
Nihon-koku / Nippon-koku

Nickname (s)	Samurai Blue
Association	Japan Football Association
confederacy	AFC
Technical sponsor	adidas
Head coach	Hajime Moriyasu (2018–)
Record scorer	Kunishige Kamamoto (75)
Record player	Yasuhito Endo (152)
FIFA code	JPN
FIFA rank	28. (1500 points) (as of July 16, 2020)
First jersey Second jersey
Balance sheet
615 games 284 wins 140 draws 191 defeats
statistics
First international Japan 0-5 China ( Tokyo , Japan ; May 9, 1917)
Biggest win Japan 15-0 Philippines (Tokyo, Japan; Sep 27, 1967)
Biggest defeat Japan 2:15 Philippines (Tokyo, Japan; September 10, 1917)
Successes in tournaments
World Championship
Participation in the finals	6 ( first : 1998 )
Best results	Round of 16 2002, 2010, 2018
Asian Championship
Participation in the finals	9 ( first : 1988 )
Best results	Winner 1992, 2000, 2004, 2011
Confederations Cup
Participation in the finals	4 ( first : 1995 )
Best results	Final 2001
South American Championship
Participation in the finals	2
Best results	Preliminary round 1999 , preliminary round 2019
Olympic games bronze 1968
(As of November 17, 2015)

The Japan national soccer team is the national soccer team of Japan . She is controlled by the Japan Football Association (JFA) and has been coached by Hajime Moriyasu since 2018 . They have been one of the strongest teams in Asia since the early 1990s . She has won the Asian Football Championship four times so far , making it a record holder.

In 1998 Japan was able to qualify for the soccer World Cup for the first time and has since taken part in every final round.

history

Although Japan was one of the first countries to play a soccer game in 1917, soccer remained only a marginal sport and was unable to prevail against the popular popular sport of baseball . Winning the bronze medal at the 1968 Summer Olympics did nothing to change that. It was not until 1991 that it was decided to transform the semi-professional Japan Soccer League into the professional J. League . The first games kicked off there on May 15, 1993.

A year earlier, the Japanese national team had won their first title at the Asian soccer championship in 1992 in their own country. She won the final against two-time champions Saudi Arabia with a goal from Takuya Takagi 1-0. However, qualifying for the 1994 World Cup in October 1993 was a setback: In the last qualifying game against Iraq , the Japanese team equalized in the 92nd minute of the game, allowing Saudi Arabia and South Korea to go ahead. This event is known to this day as the Doha tragedy . At the 1996 Asian Football Championship , the Japanese failed to defend their 1992 title.

1996-1998

The first participation in the soccer world championship came in 1998. In the decisive qualifying phase the Japanese had taken second place behind South Korea and now had to play a play-off game against Iran , the second in the other group. In Johor Bahru Japan finally won 3-2 after a golden goal and qualified for the 1998 World Cup in France . There, however, there was a 1-0 defeat against Argentina and Croatia and a 2-1 defeat against Jamaica . Masashi Nakayama scored Japan's first ever goal in a World Cup.

1998-2005

At the Asian soccer championship in 2000 , Japan won the title again, and Saudi Arabia was again defeated 1-0. The goal scorer was Shigeyoshi Mochizuki .

However, the greatest international success was celebrated at the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan, when Philippe Troussier's team reached the round of 16 after victories over Tunisia and Russia . There they were eliminated after a 0-1 defeat against later World Cup third Turkey . At the Confederations Cup in 2001 , which had also previously been hosted by Japan and South Korea, the Japanese reached the final and were only defeated by France 0: 1.

Japan won its third Asian Championship title at the 2004 Asian Football Championship in China. There China was defeated 3-1 in the final. At the Confederations Cup in Germany in 2005 , Japan was eliminated in the preliminary round despite the win against European champions Greece (1-0) and a 2-2 draw against world champions Brazil due to the worse goal difference against the Brazilians in the preliminary round.

Since 2006

At the 2006 World Cup , Japan met Australia, Croatia and Brazil in the preliminary round. Already in the first game against the Australians there was a 3-1 defeat, with Japan still leading in the 85th minute. A goalless draw against Croatia and another defeat against Brazil (1: 4) were no longer enough to advance. After the World Cup, Ivica Osim took over the team from Brazilian Zico , who had been acting coach since 2002.

The qualification for the soccer Asian Cup 2007 was completed with a single defeat (0: 1 against Saudi Arabia in Jeddah ). In the final round, the defending champions met Vietnam , Qatar and the United Arab Emirates . After winning the group, they beat Australia 5: 4 in the quarterfinals on penalties. In the semifinals, the Japanese then lost to Saudi Arabia 2: 3. The game for third place was also lost. South Korea won 6-5 on penalties (0-0 after regular time).

In qualifying for the 2010 World Cup , Japan came second in the group and met Denmark , Cameroon and the Netherlands in the preliminary round . With victories against the better placed teams in the world rankings from Denmark and Cameroon, with a defeat against the Dutch, the Japanese team qualified for the first time outside of Japan for a World Cup round of 16, in which they met Paraguay and after a goalless game on penalties 3: 5 lost.

At the 2011 Asian Cup , Japan won the title for the fourth time, making it the sole record holder. Participation in the Copa América 2011 , to which Japan was invited as a guest, was canceled after the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami and the resulting nuclear disaster in Fukushima because of the postponed league games and the problems with the exemption of players from European clubs.

On June 4, 2013, Japan qualified as the first team after hosting Brazil for the 2014 World Cup with a 1-1 draw against Australia . However, at the World Cup finals they failed already in the group stage: After defeats against Ivory Coast and Colombia and a goalless draw against Greece did not get the Japanese about the last place in the Group C also.

On matchday 9 of the Asian qualification for the 2018 World Cup, Japan qualified in Group B ahead of Saudi Arabia as group winners directly for the finals in Russia. At the World Cup finals, they played in Group H against Poland, Senegal and Colombia. As second in the group behind Colombia, they prevailed against Senegal due to the fair play rating . In the round of 16, the Japanese failed 3-2 to Belgium despite a 2-0 lead.

Participation in the Olympic Games

1900 - 1928	not participated
1936 in Berlin	Quarter finals
1948 in London	not allowed
1952 in Helsinki	not participated
1956 in Melbourne	1 round
1960 in Rome	not qualified
1964 in Tokyo	Quarter finals
1968 in Mexico City	Bronze medal
1972 in Munich	not qualified
1976 in Montreal	not qualified
1980 in Moscow	not qualified
1984 in Los Angeles	not qualified
1988 in Seoul	not qualified

Participation in the soccer world championship

→ Main article : Japan National Football Team / World Championships

year	Host country	Participation until ...	Last opponent	Result	Trainer	Comments and special features
1930	Uruguay	not participated
1934	Italy	not participated
1938	France	not participated
1950	Brazil	not participated
1954	Switzerland	not qualified				In the qualification to South Korea failed
1958	Sweden	not participated
1962	Chile	not qualified				In the qualification to South Korea failed, but that could not qualify well.
1966	England	not participated
1970	Mexico	not qualified				Failed in the qualification to Australia , which could not qualify either.
1974	Germany	not qualified				In the qualification of Israel failed, but that could not qualify well.
1978	Argentina	not qualified				In the qualification in the first round, South Korea failed, but they also failed to qualify.
1982	Spain	not qualified				In the qualification to North Korea failed, the also failed to qualify.
1986	Mexico	not qualified				In the qualification in the East finals to South Korea failed.
1990	Italy	not qualified				In the qualification in the first round, North Korea failed, which also failed to qualify.
1994	United States	not qualified				Failed in the qualification to Saudi Arabia and South Korea (see also "Tragedy of Doha" )
1998	France	Preliminary round	Argentina , Croatia , Jamaica	31.	Takeshi Okada	Eliminated without a point as last group.
2002	South Korea / Japan	Round of 16	Turkey	9.	Philippe Troussier	Automatically qualifies as a co-host.
2006	Germany	Preliminary round	Australia , Croatia , Brazil	28.	Zico	Eliminated as last group.
2010	South Africa	Round of 16	Paraguay	9.	Takeshi Okada	Defeat on penalties (3: 5) after 0: 0 a.d.
2014	Brazil	Preliminary round	Ivory Coast , Greece , Colombia	29	Alberto Zaccheroni	Eliminated as bottom of the group without a win.
2018	Russia	Round of 16	Belgium	11.	Akira Nishino	Eliminated 2-3 in the round of 16 against Belgium.
2022	Qatar

Participation in the Asian Championships

Japan is the record winner of the Asian Championship with four titles, although the team was only able to take part in the finals for the first time in 1988.

• 1956 in Hong Kong - did not participate
• 1960 in South Korea - did not participate
• 1964 in Israel - did not participate
• 1968 in Iran - did not qualify
• 1972 in Thailand - did not participate
• 1976 in Iran - not qualified
• 1980 in Kuwait - did not participate
• 1984 in Singapore - did not participate
• 1988 in Qatar - preliminary round
• 1992 in Japan - Asian champion
• 1996 in the United Arab Emirates - quarter-finals
• 2000 in Lebanon - Asian champion
• 2004 in China - Asian champion
• 2007 in Southeast Asia - Fourth place
• 2011 in Qatar - Asian champion
• 2015 in Australia - quarter-finals
• 2019 in the United Arab Emirates - runner-up

Participation in the Confederations Cup

Japan is the third most popular participant after Brazil and Mexico with five participations.

year	Host country	Participation until ...	Last opponent	Result	Trainer	Comments and special features
1992	Saudi Arabia	not qualified
1995	Saudi Arabia	Preliminary round	Argentina , Nigeria	6th	Kamo Shu
1997	Saudi Arabia	not qualified
1999	Mexico	not qualified
2001	South Korea / Japan	final	France	Second	Philippe Troussier	For the first time, both finalists will be coached by trainers from the same country
2003	France	Preliminary round	France , Colombia , New Zealand	6th	Zico
2005	Germany	Preliminary round	Brazil , Greece , Mexico	5.	Zico
2009	South Africa	not qualified
2013	Brazil	Preliminary round	Brazil , Italy , Mexico ,		Alberto Zaccheroni	qualified as Asian champions 2011 , eliminated after two defeats against Brazil and Italy
2017	Russia	not qualified
↑ According to All-time Ranking 1992-2009 [1] (PDF; 1.8 MB)

Participation in the East Asian Championships

• 2003 in Japan - second
• 2005 in South Korea - second
• 2008 in China - second
• 2010 in Japan - third
• 2013 in South Korea - East Asian champion
• 2015 in China - fourth
• 2017 in Japan - second
• 2019 in South Korea - second

The Dynasty Cup is an unofficial forerunner tournament :

• 1990 - fourth
• 1992 - winner
• 1995 - winner
• 1998 - winner

successes

• East Asian Champion : 2013
• Dynasty Cup : 1992, 1995, 1998
• Vice Confederations Cup : 2001
• Asian champions : 1992 , 2000 , 2004 , 2011
• Kirin Cup : 1991, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2009

Awards

• AFC Team of the Year : 2010

Trainer

•  Masujiro Nishida (1923)
•  Goro Yamada (1925)
•  Shigeyoshi Suzuki (1930)
•  Shigemaru Takenokoshi (1934)
• Shigeyoshi Suzuki (1936)
• Shigemaru Takenokoshi (1938-1940)
•  Hirokazu Ninomiya (1951)
• Shigemaru Takenokoshi (1954-1956)
•  Taizō Kawamoto (1958)
• Shigemaru Takenokoshi (1958-1959)
•  Hidetoki Takahashi (1961–1962)
•  Ken Naganuma (1963-1969)
•  Shun'ichirō Okano (1970–1971)
• Ken Naganuma (1972-1976)
•  Hiroshi Ninomiya (1976–1978)
•  Yukio Shimomura (1979–1980)
•  Masashi Watanabe (1980)
•  Saburō Kawabuchi (1980–1981)
•  Takaji Mori (1981–1985)
•  Yoshinobu Ishii (1986-1987)
•  Kenzō Yokoyama (1988-1991)
•  Hans Ooft (1992-1993)
•  Falcao (1994)
•  Shu Kamo (1994–1997)
•  Takeshi Okada (1997-1998)
•  Philippe Troussier (1998-2002)
•  Zico (2002-2006)
•  Ivica Osim (2006-2007)
• Takeshi Okada (2007-2010)
•  Hiromi Hara (2010)
•  Alberto Zaccheroni (2010-2014)
•  Javier Aguirre (2014-2015)
•  Vahid Halilhodžić (2015-2018)
•  Akira Nishino (2018)
•  Hajime Moriyasu (since 2018)

Current squad

• As of July 1, 2018
• Performance data as of July 2, 2018 (after the game against Belgium )

National coach Akira Nishino appointed the following 23 players to the squad for the 2018 World Cup in Russia on May 31, 2018 :

Surname	birthday	Games	Gates	society	debut
goalkeeper
Eiji Kawashima	03/20/1983	88	0	FC Metz	2008
Masaaki Higashiguchi	05/12/1986	5	0	Gamba Osaka	2015
Kosuke Nakamura	02/27/1995	4th	0	Kashiwa Reysol	2017
Defense
Wataru Endo	02/09/1993	12	0	Urawa Red Diamonds	2015
Tomoaki Makino	05/11/1987	33	4th	Urawa Red Diamonds	2010
Yūto Nagatomo	09/12/1986	109	3	Galatasaray Istanbul	2008
Gotoku Sakai	03/14/1991	42	0	Hamburger SV	2012
Hiroki Sakai	04/12/1990	47	0	Olympique Marseille	2012
Gen Shōji	12/11/1992	15th	1	Kashima Antlers	2015
Naomichi Ueda	October 24, 1994	4th	0	Kashima Antlers	2017
Maya Yoshida	08/24/1988	86	10	Southampton FC	2010
midfield
Genki Haraguchi	05/09/1991	36	7th	Hannover 96	2011
Makoto Hasebe	01/18/1984	114	2	Eintracht Frankfurt	2006
Keisuke Honda	06/13/1986	98	37	CF Pachuca	2008
Takashi Inui	06/02/1988	31	6th	SD Eibar	2009
Shinji Kagawa	03/17/1989	95	31	Borussia Dortmund	2008
Yoshinori Muto	07/15/1992	24	2	Newcastle United	2014
Ryōta Ōshima	01/23/1993	5	0	Kawasaki Frontale	2016
Gaku Shibasaki	05/28/1992	22nd	3	Getafe CF.	2014
Hotaru Yamaguchi	10/06/1990	45	2	Cerezo Osaka	2013
Storm
Shinji Okazaki	04/16/1986	116	50	Leicester City	2008
Yūya Ōsako	May 18, 1990	33	8th	Werder Bremen	2013
Takashi Usami	05/06/1992	26th	3	FC Augsburg	2015

Record player

(As of December 18, 2019)

Record player
Games	player	Period	Gates
152	Yasuhito Endo	2002-2015	15th
122	Masami Ihara	1988-1999	5
119	Shinji Okazaki	2008 – active	50
116	Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi	1997-2009	0
114	Makoto Hasebe	2006-2018	2
110	Yūji Nakazawa	1999-2010	17th
110	Yūto Nagatomo	2008 – active	3
100	Maya Yoshida	2010 – active	11
98	Keisuke Honda	2008-2018	37
98	Shunsuke Nakamura	2000-2010	24
97	Shinji Kagawa	2008 – active	31
93	Yasuyuki Konno	2005-2017	4th
91	Eiji Kawashima	2008 – active	0
89	Kazuyoshi Miura	1990-2000	55
82	Alex	2002-2006	7th
82	Junichi Inamoto	2000-2010	5

Record shooters
Gates	player	Period	Games
75	Kunishige Kamamoto	1964-1977	76
55	Kazuyoshi Miura	1990-2000	89
50	Shinji Okazaki	2008 – active	119
37	Hiromi Hara	1978-1988	75
37	Keisuke Honda	2008-2018	98
31	Shinji Kagawa	2008 – active	95
27	Takuya Takagi	1992-1997	44
26th	Kazushi Kimura	1979-1986	54
24	Shunsuke Nakamura	2000-2010	98
23	Naohiro Takahara	2000-2008	57
21st	Masashi Nakayama	1990-2003	53
19th	Teruki Miyamoto	1961-1971	58
17th	Atsushi Yanagisawa	1998-2006	58
17th	Yūji Nakazawa	1999-2010	110
16	Keiji Tamada	2004-2010	72
15th	Yasuhito Endo	2002-2015	152
15th	Yuya Osako	2013 – active	44
15th	Ryuichi Sugiyama	1961-1971	56
15th	Hiroyuki Usui	1974-1984	38

1. ↑ 19 goals in qualifying for the Olympic Games in 1968, 1972 and 1976 and 3 goals in the Olympic Games in 1968, which FIFA does not consider to be international A matches.
2. ↑ 14 of these games in the qualification for the Olympic Games in 1968, 1972 and 1976 and 2 games in the Olympic Games in 1964 and 1968, which are not classified by FIFA as A-international games.
3. ↑ Including 13 goals in qualifying for the Olympic Games in 1984 and 1988, which FIFA does not consider to be A international matches.
4. ↑ Thereof 20 games in the qualification for the Olympic Games 1984 and 1988, which are not classified by FIFA as A international games.
5. ↑ ^{a b c d} Including possible goals in qualifying for the Olympic Games in 1968, 1984 and 1988 as well as games in the Olympic Games in 1964 and 1968, which are not classified by FIFA as international A games.
6. ↑ ^{a b c d} Of which possibly games in the qualification for the Olympic Games in 1968, 1984 and 1988 as well as games in the Olympic Games in 1964 and 1968, which are not classified by FIFA as international A games.

International matches against German-speaking countries

	date	place	Home team	result	Visiting team
1.	01/23/1993	Hong Kong	Japan	1: 1	Switzerland
2.	12/16/2004	Yokohama	Japan	0: 3	Germany
3.	05/30/2006	Leverkusen	Germany	2: 2	Japan
4th	07.09.2007	Klagenfurt	Austria	0-0	Japan
5.	09/11/2007	Klagenfurt	Switzerland	3: 4	Japan
6th	06/08/2018	Lugano	Switzerland	2-0	Japan

So far there has been no international match against Liechtenstein or Luxembourg .

See also

• Soccer in Japan
• Japan National Football Team (U-17 Juniors)
• Japan National Football Team (U-20 Men)
• Japan National Football Team (U-23 Men)
• Japan women's national soccer team
• List of international matches for the Japanese national football team

Web links

Commons : Japan National Soccer Team  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Homepage of the Japanese Football Association (japan./engl.)

References

1. ↑ Incl. 20 goals at the Olympic Games or qualifying games for the Olympic Games, which are no longer counted as A international games by FIFA. ( Japan National Football Team Database )
2. ↑ The FIFA / Coca-Cola World Ranking. In: fifa.com. July 16, 2020, accessed July 21, 2020 . 
3. ↑ The placements from 5th place onwards were determined by FIFA without any placement games. See: All-time FIFA World Cup Ranking 1930-2014 (PDF; 200 kB)
4. ↑ SAMURAI BLUE (Japan National Team) Squad, Schedule - 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia , jfa.jp (English)
5. ↑ ^{a b} rsssf.com: Japan - Record International Players (as of December 18, 2019, updated December 30, 2019)