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| Confederations cup best = Runners-up sleeping giant |url=https://thesefootballtimes.co/2019/01/04/how-the-1992-asian-cup-awoke-japanese-football-the-continents-sleeping-giant/ |website=These Football TImes |access-date=20 April 2021 |date=January |url=https://footballchronicle.co/2018/08/19/the-model-that-saved-japanese-football-and-made-it-an-asian-powerhouse-within-two-decades/ |website=Football Chronicle |access-date=20 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200605072813/https://footballchronicle.co/2018/08/19/the-model-that-saved-japanese-football-and-made-it-an-asian-powerhouse-within-two-decades/ |archive-date=June 5, 2020 |date=August 19, 2018 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
| Confederations cup best = Runners-up sleeping giant |url=https://thesefootballtimes.co/2019/01/04/how-the-1992-asian-cup-awoke-japanese-football-the-continents-sleeping-giant/ |website=These Football TImes |access-date=20 April 2021 |date=January |url=https://footballchronicle.co/2018/08/19/the-model-that-saved-japanese-football-and-made-it-an-asian-powerhouse-within-two-decades/ |website=Football Chronicle |access-date=20 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200605072813/https://footballchronicle.co/2018/08/19/the-model-that-saved-japanese-football-and-made-it-an-asian-powerhouse-within-two-decades/ |archive-date=June 5, 2020 |date=August 19, 2018 |url-status=dead}}</ref>


Their principal continental [[Japan–South Korea football rivalry|rivals]] are [[South Korea national football team|South Korea]], [[North Korea national football team|North Korea]], [[China national football team|China]] and [[Australia–Japan football rivalry|most recently]], [[Australia national soccer team|Australia]]; though they also developed rivalries against [[Iraq national football team|Iraq]] and [[Saudi Arabia national football team|Saudi Arabia]].
Their principal continental [[Japan–South Korea football rivalry|rivals]] are [[South Korea national football team|South Korea]], [[North Korea national football team|North Korea]], [[China national football team|China]] and [[Australia–Japan football rivalry|most recently]], [[Australia national soccer team|Australia]]; though they also developed rivalries against [[Iraq national football team|Iraq]] and [[Saudi Arabia nationa Copa America 2011 Along With Mexico] Goal.com 2 June 2009</ref>

Japan was the first team from outside the [[Americas]] to participate in the [[Copa América]], having been invited in [[1999 Copa América|1999]], [[2011 Copa América|2011]], [[2015 Copa América|2015]], and [[2019 Copa América|2019]] editions of the tournament, though they only played in the 1999 and 2019 events.<ref name="goal.com">[http://goal.com/en/news/14/asia/2009/06/02/1301486/japan-invited-to-copa-america-2011-along-with-mexico Japan Invited To Copa America 2011 Along With Mexico] Goal.com 2 June 2009</ref>


==History==
==History==

Revision as of 09:26, 5 May 2021

1998

| FIFA min = 62 | FIFA min date = December 1992 | Elo Rank = 13 Steady (25 December 2024)[1] | Elo max = 8 | Elo max date = August 2001, Mh | pattern_so1 = _jpn20h | leftarm1 0a | pattern_b2 = _jpn20a | pattern_ra2 = _jpn20a | pattern_sh2 = _adidascondivo20wb | pattern_so2 = _3 stripes white | leftarm2 = DADADA | body2 = DADADA | rightarm2 = DADADA | shorts2 = FFFFFF | socks2 = FF0000 | First game =  Japan 0–5 China 
(Tokyo, Japan; 9 May 1917)[2] | Largest win =  Japan 15–0 Philippines 
(Tokyo, Japan; 27 September 1967) | Largest loss =  Japan 2–15 Philippines 
(Tokyo, Japan; 10 May 1917)[3] | World cup apps = 6 | World cup first = 1998 | World cup best = Round of 16 (2002, 2010, 2018) | Regional name = Asian Cup | Regional cup apps = 9 | Regional cup first = 1988 | Regional cup best = Champions (1992, 2000, 2004, 2011) | 2ndRegional name = Copa América | 2ndRegional cup apps = 2 | 2ndRegional cup first = 1999 | 2ndRegional cup best = Group stage (1999, 2019) | Confederations cup apps = 5 | Confederations cup first = 1995 | Confederations cup best = Runners-up sleeping giant |url=https://thesefootballtimes.co/2019/01/04/how-the-1992-asian-cup-awoke-japanese-football-the-continents-sleeping-giant/ |website=These Football TImes |access-date=20 April 2021 |date=January |url=https://footballchronicle.co/2018/08/19/the-model-that-saved-japanese-football-and-made-it-an-asian-powerhouse-within-two-decades/ |website=Football Chronicle |access-date=20 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200605072813/https://footballchronicle.co/2018/08/19/the-model-that-saved-japanese-football-and-made-it-an-asian-powerhouse-within-two-decades/ |archive-date=June 5, 2020 |date=August 19, 2018 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

Their principal continental rivals are South Korea, North Korea, China and most recently, Australia; though they also developed rivalries against Iraq and [[Saudi Arabia nationa Copa America 2011 Along With Mexico] Goal.com 2 June 2009</ref>

History

Pre-war Era (1910s–1930s)

Japan's earliest 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 made strong showings in swimming, baseball, and track and field, its football team suffered resounding defeats to the Republic of China and the Philippines.<|access-date=19 June 2018|language=ja}}</ref> Nevertheless, the game was promoted in Japanese schools in the 1920s.[4] The Japan Football Association was formed in 1921,Cite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page).

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.[4] Its last prewar match for purposes of Elo ratings was a friendly against the Philippines in June 1940.[5]

While Korea was under Japanese rule, several Koreans played in international competition for Japan, including Kim Yong-sik (1936–40), Kim Sung-gan (1940) and Lee Yoo-hyung (1940).

Post-war Era (1950s–1980s)

Japan playing Argentine club Racing de Córdoba at the 1981 President's Cup

Japan's postwar debut was in the 1951 Asian Games in India.[5] Japan re-joined FIFA in 1950 and played in qualifiers for the 1954 FIFA World Cup, but lost the AFC qualifying berth to South Korea after two matches, beginning an intense rivalry.[6] Japan also joined the Asian Football Confederation in 1954.[4]

Dettmar Cramer joined the Japan national team as coach in 1960, and helped lead the team to the round of eight at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.[7] Japan's first major achievement in international football came in the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, where the team won the bronze medal. Although this result earned the sport increased recognition in Japan, the absence of a professional domestic league hindered its growth and Japan would not qualify for the FIFA World Cup until 30 years later.[8] Nonetheless, Japan had come close to qualify for the 1986 FIFA World Cup, but lost to South Korea in the deciding matches.

Japan made its first appearance in the Asian Cup in 1988, where they were eliminated in the group stage following a draw with Iran and losses to South Korea, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.

The late 1980s saw concrete moves to professionalize the sport in Japan. JFA introduced a Special Licensed Player system in 1986, allowing a limited number of professional players to compete in the domestic semi-professional league. Action committees were held in 1988 and 1989 to discuss the introduction of a full professional league in Japan.[7]

1990s: Rise

In 1991, the owners of the semi-professional Japan Soccer League agreed to disband the league and re-form as the professional J.League, partly to raise the sport's profile and to strengthen the national team program. The following year Japan hosted and won the Asian Cup in their second appearance, defeating Saudi Arabia 1–0 in the final. The J.League was officially launched in 1993, causing interest in football and the national team to grow.

However, in its first attempt to qualify with professional players, Japan narrowly missed a ticket to the 1994 World Cup after drawing with Iraq in the final match of the qualification round, remembered by fans as the "Agony of Doha". Japan's next tournament was a defence of their continental title at the 1996 Asian Cup. The team won all their games in the group stage but were eliminated in the quarter-finals after a 2–0 loss to Kuwait.

The nation's first ever World Cup appearance was in 1998, where Japan lost all their games. The first two fixtures went 1–0 in favour of Argentina and Croatia, and the campaign ended with a 2–1 defeat to Jamaica. Japan impressed in all three games, however, with all three defeats were just one goal margin.

2000s

Japan against Brazil at Signal Iduna Park in Dortmund, Germany in the 2006 FIFA World Cup

In the 2000 AFC Asian Cup, Japan managed to reclaim their title after defeating Saudi Arabia in the final, becoming Asian Champions for the second time.

Two years later, Japan co-hosted the 2002 World Cup with South Korea. After a 2–2 draw with Belgium in their opening match, the Japanese team advanced to the second round with a 1–0 win over Russia and a 2–0 victory against Tunisia. However, they subsequently exited the tournament during the round of 16, after losing 1–0 to eventual third-place finishers Turkey.

The 2004 AFC Asian Cup hosted by China, the Japanese managed to retain the title, though its journey had been more troubling. Facing against an entirely hostile Chinese fans, the Japanese managed to top their group after two wins over Thailand and Oman, before overcame Jordan and Bahrain, both hard-fought games for Japan, to reach the final where they beat host China 3–1.

On 8 June 2005, Japan qualified for the 2006 World Cup in Germany, its third consecutive World Cup, by beating North Korea 2–0 on neutral ground. However, Japan failed to advance to the Round of 16, losing to Australia 1–3, drawing Croatia 0–0 and losing to Brazil 1–4.

The 2007 AFC Asian Cup saw Japan failed to defend the title. Although easily topped ahead of host Vietnam and two Arab rivals, Qatar and the UAE, the Japanese were totally exhausted in their game against Australia, where Japan won only by penalty shootout. Having been exhausted for the win, Japan lost to Saudi Arabia in the semi-finals before failed in the third-place match to South Korea.

2010s

During the 2010 World Cup qualification, in the fourth round of the Asian Qualifiers, Japan became the first team other than the host South Africa to qualify after defeating Uzbekistan 1–0 away. Japan was put in Group E along with the Netherlands, Denmark and Cameroon, and was not expected highly due to unimpressive results in friendlies.[9] Despite this criticisms, Japan went on to shock its opening match of the 2010 World Cup with a 1–0 win against Cameroon, before subsequently lost to the Netherlands 0–1. Then, Japan resoundingly beat Denmark 3–1 to advance to the next round against Paraguay, making it the first time ever Japan progressed from the group stage without hosting the World Cup. In the first knockout round, Japan were eliminated from the competition following penalties after a 0–0 draw against Paraguay, but received praises for its outstanding performances.

After the World Cup, head coach Takeshi Okada resigned. He was replaced by former Juventus and Milan coach Alberto Zaccheroni. In his first few matches, Japan recorded victories over Guatemala (2–1) and Paraguay (1–0), as well as one of their best ever results, a 1–0 victory over Argentina.

At the start of 2011, Japan participated in the 2011 AFC Asian Cup in Qatar. On 29 January, they beat Australia 1–0 in the final after extra time, their fourth Asian Cup triumph and allowing them to qualify for the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup.[10]

Japan then started their road to 2014 World Cup in Brazil with numerous qualifiers. Throughout, they suffered only two losses to Uzbekistan and Jordan, and drawing against Australia. Afterwards, on 12 October, Japan earned a historic 1–0 victory over France, a team they had never before defeated. After a 1–1 draw with Australia they qualified for the 2014 World Cup, becoming the first nation (outside of Brazil, who hosted the tournament and qualified automatically) to qualify.

Japan started their 2013 Confederations Cup campaign with a 3–0 loss to Brazil. They were then eliminated from the competition after losing to Italy 3–4 in a hard-fought match but received praise for their style of play in the match. They lost their final match 1–2 against Mexico and finished in fourth place in Group A. One month later, in the EAFF East Asian Cup, they started out with a 3–3 draw to China. They then beat Australia 3–2 and beat South Korea 2–1 in the third and final match in the 2013 EAFF East Asian Cup to claim the title. The road to Brazil looked bright as Japan managed a 2–2 draw with the Netherlands and a 2–3 victory over Belgium. This was followed by three straight wins against Cyprus, Costa Rica and Zambia.

Japan was placed into Group C at the 2014 World Cup alongside the Ivory Coast, Greece and Colombia. They fell in their first match to Ivory Coast 2–1 despite initially taking the lead, allowing two goals in a two-minute span. They drew their second game to Greece 0–0. To qualify for the second round, they needed a victory against Colombia and needed Greece to beat Ivory Coast. Greece beat Ivory Coast 2–1, but Japan could not perform well against Colombia and were beaten 4–1, eliminating them from the World Cup. Alberto Zaccheroni resigned as head coach after the World Cup. In July 2014, former Mexico and Espanyol manager Javier Aguirre took over and Japan lost 0–2 to Uruguay in the first game he managed.

Aguirre would begin a strong revamp of the team, switching out Zaccheroni's long-used 4–2–3–1 formation for his own 4–3–3 and applied this with a roster of the J.League's finest, dropping many regulars. A 2–2 draw against Venezuela was followed by a 1–0 victory over Jamaica. However, they lost their following match to Brazil 4–0, with Neymar scoring all four goals. Japan's sights turned to January and their title defense at the 2015 AFC Asian Cup.

Japan national team vs Paraguay 2008

Japan won its opening match at the 2015 AFC Asian Cup in Group D against Asian Cup debutantes Palestine 4–0, with goals from Yasuhito Endō, Shinji Okazaki, Keisuke Honda via a penalty and Maya Yoshida. Okazaki was named man of the match. They then faced Iraq and Jordan in their next group matches, which they won 1–0 and 2–0 respectively. They qualified to knockout stage as Group D winner with nine points, seven goals scored and no goals conceded. In the quarter-finals, Japan lost to the United Arab Emirates in a penalty shootout after a 1–1 draw, as Honda and Shinji Kagawa missed their penalty kicks. Japan's elimination marked their worst performance in the tournament in 19 years.

After the Asian Cup, Aguirre was sacked following allegations of corruption during a prior tenure. He was replaced by Vahid Halilhodžić in March 2015. Japan started on a rough note during qualification, losing to the UAE 1–2 at home. They then picked up the pace in their other qualifier games against Iraq, Australia, and Thailand, picking up 5 wins and 2 draws. Then, on 31 August 2017, Japan defeated Australia 2–0 at home thus qualifying them for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, making it their sixth successive World Cup. However, the Japan Football Association decided to sack Halilhodžić on 9 April 2018, only ten weeks before the World Cup finals, citing reasons of a breakdown in relationship between coach and player, and poor recent friendly results, and appoint the Technical Director, Japanese coach Akira Nishino, who had managed the Japanese Under-23 team at the 1996 Olympics, as the new manager.[11]

Japanese players before match with Iran at 2019 AFC Asian Cup

Japan made history in the 2018 FIFA World Cup by defeating Colombia 2–1, their first ever victory by any AFC team against a CONMEBOL team in an official tournament,[12] as well as Japan's first ever victory at the FIFA World Cup finals in UEFA nations. Their second match ended in a draw against Senegal, with one goal scored by Takashi Inui and the other by Keisuke Honda.[13] Japan were defeated in their last group game in the Group H against Poland 0–1,[14] leaving Japan and Senegal tied for second with an identical record, however, as Japan had received two fewer yellow cards, Japan advanced to the knockout stage on the Fair Play Points tiebreaker, the first team to do so.[15] The match with Poland caused controversy; as Japan were made aware of their advantage over Senegal with ten minutes left and decided to play an extremely conservative game, passing the ball around to one another and keeping it in their own box, seeking to avoid any bookings and didn't attempt to take any serious shots on goal, despite losing 0–1, with some fans booing the players.[16][17][18] The match received comparison to the 1982 World Cup Disgrace of Gijón, in which a similar game was played.[19] Japan were the only AFC team to have qualified to the knockout stage.[20] In the Round of 16 against Belgium, Japan took a surprising 2–0 lead with a goal in the 48th minute by Genki Haraguchi and another in the 52nd by Takashi Inui, but yielded 3 goals afterwards, including the winner by Nacer Chadli on the counterattack in the 94th minute. This was Japan's third time having reached the last 16, equaling their best result at a World Cup.[21] Japan's defeat to eventual third-place finishers Belgium was the first time a nation had lost a knockout match at the World Cup after taking a two-goal advantage since England lost to West Germany 2–3 in extra-time in the quarter-final of the 1970 edition.[22][23] However, Japan's impressive performance was praised by fans, pundits and medias for their fighting spirits, as demonstrated by Japan's win over Colombia, a draw to Senegal and a strong counter offensive against heavyweight Belgium.[24]

Japan participated in the 2019 AFC Asian Cup and had an almost successful tournament. The team easily topped group F after defeating Turkmenistan 3–2,[25] Oman 1–0[26] and Uzbekistan 2–1.[27] The team, however, got criticized for its defensive approach, as Japan won the group with only one goal margin wins in all three matches and two later knockout stage's matches as Japan only beat fellow powerhouse Saudi Arabia in the round of sixteen and dark horse Vietnam in the quarter-finals both with 1–0 margin.[28][29] The semi-finals saw Japan put the best performance up to date, thrashing rival powerhouse Iran 3–0 to reach the final.[citation needed] However, Japan's hope to win the fifth Asian Cup in two decades shattered with the team suffered a 1–3 loss to Aspire-based Qatar and finished runners-up of the tournament.[30]

Japan were invited to the 2019 Copa America, their second appearance at the tournament, and brought a young squad to the competition. They were in Group C with Uruguay, Chile and Ecuador. They lost their opening match, 0–4 to Chile.[31] Japan, however, bounced back well and managed to unluckily draw against football giants Uruguay 2–2, who (Uruguay) were deemed to been saved by VAR.[32] Japan needed a win against Ecuador to qualify for the knockouts, however they drew 1–1 and missed out due to inferior goal differences to Paraguay.[33] Aftermath saw Japan played a friendly game against the Paraguayans, and won 2–0 at home.

Japan was grouped with Myanmar, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Mongolia in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers. In a pretty easy group, Japan proved to be the dominant force in their group, having cruised Myanmar, Mongolia, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan without conceding a goal so far.

In December, Japan participated in the 2019 EAFF E-1 Football Championship hosted in South Korea. Coach Moriyasu summoned a young and inexperienced squad for the competition. With the young squad, Japan only managed to win against China and Hong Kong, and lost to rival South Korea, finished second in the competition.

Team image

Nicknames

The Japanese team is commonly known by the fans and media as Sakkā Nippon Daihyō (サッカー日本代表), Nippon Daihyō (日本代表), or Daihyō (代表) as abbreviated expressions. Although the team does not have an official nickname as such, it is often known by the name of the manager. For example, under Takeshi Okada, the team was known as Okada Japan (岡田ジャパン, Okada Japan).[34] Recently, the team has been known or nicknamed as the "Samurai Blue", while Japanese news media during the 2018 FIFA World Cup still referred it to by the recently departed manager's (Akira Nishino) last name, as "Nishino Japan" (西野ジャパン, Nishino Japan).[35][36]

Kits and crest

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Japan national football team kits.
Boeing 777-289 Samurai Blue Jet

The national team kit design has gone through several alterations in the past. In the early 1980s, the kit 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 1996 Asian Cup and in 1998, the national team kits were blue jerseys with red and white flame designs on the sleeves, and were designed by JFA (with the sponsor alternating each year between Asics, Puma, and Adidas). The 1996 design was reproduced in a special kit used against Syria on 7 June 2017.

Japan uses blue and white rather than red and white due to a superstition. Japan first used blue shirts in the 1930 Far Eastern Championship Games, where a team of the Tokyo Imperial University (whose color is light blue) represented Japan wearing light blue shirts,[37] and then in a 3–2 victory over Sweden in the first game of its maiden major international competition, the 1936 Summer Olympics.[38] When Japan was coached by Kenzo Yokoyama (1988–1992) the kits were red and white, matching the colours of Japan's national flag. After failures at 1990 FIFA World Cup and 1992 Summer Olympics qualifications, the red shirt was scrapped.

In the 2013 Confederations Cup and the 2015 AFC Asian Cup, Japan temporarily switched the colour of the numbers from white to gold.

Japan's kit is provided by German company Adidas, the team's exclusive kit supplier since April 1999.[39] Before that, Asics and Puma had been the team's official apparel sponsor alongside Adidas.

File:JFA Logo.svg
JFA logo used on the kits (2009–2017)
Yatagarasu

The crest or emblem of the national team was adopted in late 2017 as part of a larger rebranding by the Japan Football Association.[40] The crest features the Yatagarasu, a three-legged crow from Japanese mythology, holding a solid red football. The text "JFA" (for the Japan Football Association) is inscribed at the bottom of the crow. A red stripe is also present at the center of the shield behind the crow. The shield has a metallic gold trim and has a thicker black outline. The name of the country represented by the national team "Japan" is also inscribed within the black border.[41][42]

The previous crest used from 1996 had a shield with a more complex shape. The ball held by the Yatagarasu had white details. The text "Japan" is absent and "JFA" is written in a different typeface.[41]

Before 1988, Japan used the national flag outlined in red (and with JFA written in black on the lower left corner of the flag) on the shirts.

The Yatagarasu was first seen on the Japan shirts in 1988, where it was on a yellow circle with a blue outline with "JAPAN FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION" written around it. In 1991, the emblem changed to a white shield with a red vertical stripe on the center with the crow on it and "JFA" written in a green Gothic typeface. This crest was used until 1996.

Home stadium

Main article: List of football stadiums in Japan
See also: Category:Football venues in Japan
Japan National Stadium in Shinjuku, Tokyo in 2020

Japan plays its home matches among various stadiums, in rotation, around the country. However, in majority in the final round of every FIFA World Cup qualification, plays at the Japan National Stadium.

Rivalries

South Korea

Main article: Japan–South Korea football rivalry

Japan maintains a strong football rivalry with South Korea. The football rivalry is long-seated and is often seen as an extension of an overall historic rivalry between the 2 nations. Japan met South Korea 80 times, trailing the statistic at 15 wins, 23 draws, and 42 losses. Japan scored 73 goals and conceded 153. Both countries have made themselves unrivalled in both Asian Cup and World Cup records, being the two most successful Asian countries, and have hosted the 2002 FIFA World Cup in a joint bid.

Australia

Main article: Australia–Japan football rivalry

Japan began to develop a fierce rivalry with fellow Asian powerhouse Australia, shortly after the latter joined the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).[43] The rivalry is regarded as one of Asia's biggest football rivalries.[44] The rivalry is a relatively recent one, born from a number of highly competitive matches between the two teams since Australia joined the AFC in 2006.[45] The rivalry began at the 2006 World Cup where the two countries were grouped together, and continued with the two countries meeting regularly in various AFC competitions, such as the 2007 AFC Asian Cup, the 2011 AFC Asian Cup Final and the 2013 EAFF East Asian Cup.[46] Likewise, Australia and Japan also share a World Cup and continental records that is nearly unrivaled in Asia, and also similar that football is not the main sport in both nations until recently; yet hold an indistinguishable record that being the only three members from the AFC to have reached the final of any senior FIFA competition, the other being Saudi Arabia, both in the defunct FIFA Confederations Cup, albeit Australia achieved it when the country was still belonged to the OFC.[47]

China

Main article: China–Japan football rivalry

Japan also has a long-standing rivalry with China, because of historical tensions between two countries in the past. China is leading the series with 16 wins, with Japan only has 14 wins; however Japan has achieved more successes than China.

Supporters

Fans waving flags in support of the Japanese national team.

Japanese national team supporters are known for chanting "Nippon Ole" (Nippon is the Japanese word for Japan) at home matches.[48]

A match against Peru in 2007

Sponsorship

Japan has one of the highest sponsorship incomes for a national squad. In 2006 their sponsorship income amounted to over 16.5 million pounds.

Primary sponsors include Adidas, Kirin, Saison Card International, FamilyMart, JAL, MS&AD Insurance Group, Asahi Shinbun, Mizuho Financial, Daito Trust Construction and KDDI.

Official partner

Official supplier

Supporting company

Apparel provider

Provider

Mascot

The mascots are "Karappe" (カラッペ) and "Karara" (カララ), two Yatagarasu wearing the Japan national football team kit. The mascots were designed by Japanese manga artist Susumu Matsushita. Each year when a new kit is launched, the mascots change uniforms.[clarification needed]

For the 2014 FIFA World Cup, the Pokémon character Pikachu served as the mascot.[49]

Media coverage

FIFA World Cup

Television channel Period
Japan Consortium (Fuji Television, NHK General TV, Nippon Television, TBS and TV Asahi; all matches in live telecast) 2018

AFC Asian Cup

Television channel Period
TV Asahi 2019

Friendly and Qualifiers

Television channel Period
Nippon Television 2021

FIFA world rankings

As of 23 April 2021[50]

  Best Ranking    Best Mover    Worst Ranking    Worst Mover  

Japan's FIFA world rankings
Rank Year Games
Played 		Won Lost Drawn Best Worst
Rank Move Rank Move
28 2021 2 2 0 0 27 Increase 0 28 Decrease 1
2020 Increase Decrease
28 2019 23 15 3 5 26 Increase 29 33 Decrease 7
50 2018 14 6 3 5 41 Increase 7 61 Decrease 5
57 2017 13 6 3 4 40 Increase 7 57 Decrease 11
45 2016 10 7 1 2 45 Increase 8 58 Decrease 7
53 2015 17 11 5 1 50 Increase 5 58 Decrease 8
54 2014 13 7 2 4 54 Increase 2 44 Decrease 4
47 2013 19 8 3 8 21 Increase 2 48 Decrease 7
22 2012 12 8 2 2 19 Increase 7 33 Decrease 11
19 2011 15 9 5 1 13 Increase 12 29 Decrease 2
29 2010 18 8 4 6 29 Increase 13 46 Decrease 6
43 2009 17 11 3 3 31 Increase 4 43 Decrease 9
35 2008 19 10 7 2 32 Increase 4 38 Decrease 6
34 2007 13 7 5 1 30 Increase 7 46 Decrease 5
  47 2006 19 9 4 6 15 Increase 1 49 Decrease 13
15 2005 20 11 3 6 13 Increase 5 19 Decrease 4
17 2004 22 17 2 3 17 Increase 4 29 Decrease 1
29 2003 16 6 5 5 22 Increase 2 29 Decrease 3
22 2002 13 5 5 3 22 Increase 8 38 Decrease 4
34 2001 13 6 3 4 26 Increase 11 44 Decrease 9
  38 2000 18 10 6 2 34 Increase 15 62 Decrease 6
57 1999 7 0 4 3 33 Increase 0 57 Decrease 13
  20 1998 18 7 2 8 9 Increase 10 30 Decrease 10
14 1997 22 11 7 4 14 Increase 4 20 Decrease 2
21 1996 13 10 1 2 20 Increase 6 30 Decrease 2
31 1995 17 6 4 7 31 Increase 7 41 Decrease 8
36 1994 9 3 4 2 36 Increase 14 54 Decrease 12
  43 1993 16 11 3 2 43 Increase 23 44 Decrease 1
66 1992 Increase Decrease

Results and fixtures

Main article: Japan national football team results (2020–present)
See also: 2020 in Japanese football and 2021 in Japanese football
  • The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.
Legend

  Win   Draw   Loss   Void or postponed   Fixture

2020

9 October Friendly Japan  0–0  Cameroon Utrecht, Netherlands
14:00 UTC+2 Report (JFA)
Report (JFA)
Report (Soccerway)		 Stadium: Stadion Galgenwaard
Attendance: 0
Referee: Bas Nijhuis (Netherlands)
13 October Friendly Japan  1–0  Ivory Coast Utrecht, Netherlands
  • Ueda 90+1'
 Report (JFA)
Report (JFA)
Report (Soccerway)		 Stadium: Stadion Galgenwaard
Attendance: 0
Referee: Jochem Kamphuis (Netherlands)
13 November Friendly Japan  1–0  Panama Graz, Austria
 Report (JFA)
Report (JFA)
Report (Soccerway)
Stadium: Liebenauer Stadium
Attendance: 0
Referee: Petru Ciochirca (Austria)
17 November Friendly Japan  0–2  Mexico Graz, Austria
Report (JFA)
Report (JFA)
Report (Soccerway)
Stadium: Liebenauer Stadium
Attendance: 0
Referee: Manuel Schüttengruber (Austria)

2021

25 March Friendly Japan  3–0  South Korea Yokohama, Japan
19:20 UTC+9
Report (JFA)
Report (JFA)
Report (Soccerway)		 Stadium: Nissan Stadium
Attendance: 8,356
Referee: Rowan Arumughan (India)
30 March 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC Second Round Group F Mongolia  0–14  Japan Chiba, Japan[note 1]
19:30 UTC+9 Report (FIFA)
Report (AFC)
Report (JFA)
Stadium: Fukuda Denshi Arena
Referee: Omar Mohamed Al-Ali (United Arab Emirates)
28 May 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC Second Round Group F Japan  v  Myanmar Chiba, Japan
--:-- UTC+9 [ Report (FIFA)]
[ Report (AFC)]
[ Report (JFA)]		 Stadium: Fukuda Denshi Arena
3 June Kirin Challenge Cup Japan  v TBD Hokkaido, Japan
--:-- UTC+9 Report (JFA)
[ Report (Soccerway)]		 Stadium: Sapporo Dome
7 June 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC Second Round Group F Japan  v  Tajikistan Suita, Japan
--:-- UTC+9 Report (FIFA)
Report (AFC)
Report (JFA)		 Stadium: Panasonic Stadium Suita
11 June Kirin Challenge Cup Japan  v TBD Kobe, Japan
--:-- UTC+9 Report (JFA)
[ Report (Soccerway)]		 Stadium: Noevir Stadium Kobe
15 June 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC Second Round Group F Japan  v  Kyrgyzstan Suita, Japan
--:-- UTC+9 Report (FIFA)
Report (AFC)
Report (JFA)		 Stadium: Panasonic Stadium Suita

Head-to-head record

Further information: Japan national football team head-to-head record
  • The following table shows Japan's all-time international record, correct as of 13 October 2020.
Confederation Pld W D L GF GA GD
AFC 498 261 104 133 960 539 +421
CAF 36 21 7 8 56 35 +21
CONCACAF 27 16 5 6 62 30 +32
CONMEBOL 63 16 18 29 63 105 –42
OFC 6 3 0 3 10 8 +2
UEFA 112 34 23 55 137 186 –49
Total 740 350 156 234 1,288 903 +385

Coaching staff

Current coaching staff

As of 19 March 2021[52]
Hajime Moriyasu, current head coach of Japan
Position Name
Head coach Japan Hajime Moriyasu
Assistant coach Japan Toshihide Saito
Assistant coach Japan Yusaku Ueno
Physical coach Japan Ryoichi Matsumoto
Goalkeeping coach Japan Takashi Shimoda

Manager history

Further information: Category:Japan national football team managers
See also: List of Asian national football team managers
Manager Period Record
Matches Won Draw Lost Win %
Japan Masujiro Nishida 1923 2 0 0 2 0%
Japan Goro Yamada 1925 2 0 0 2 0%
Vacant 1925 2 1 0 1 50%
Japan Shigeyoshi Suzuki (1st) 1930 2 1 1 0 50%
Japan Shigemaru Takenokoshi (1st) 1934 3 1 0 2 33.33%
Japan Shigeyoshi Suzuki (2nd) 1936 2 1 1 0 50%
Japan Shigemaru Takenokoshi (2nd) 1940 1 1 0 0 100%
Japan Hirokazu Ninomiya 1951 3 1 1 1 33.33%
Japan Shigemaru Takenokoshi (3rd) 1954–56 12 2 4 6 16.66%
Japan Taizo Kawamoto 1958 2 0 0 2 0%
Japan Shigemaru Takenokoshi (4th) 1958–59 12 4 2 6 33.33%
Vacant 1960 1 0 0 1 0%
Japan Hidetoki Takahashi 1961–1962 14 3 2 9 21.43%
Japan Ken Naganuma (1st) 1963–1969 31 18 7 6 58.06%
Japan Shunichiro Okano 1970–1971 19 11 2 6 57.90%
Japan Ken Naganuma (2nd) 1972–1976 42 16 6 20 38.09%
Japan Hiroshi Ninomiya 1976–1978 27 6 6 15 22.22%
Japan Yukio Shimomura 1979–1980 14 8 4 2 57.14%
Japan Masashi Watanabe 1980 3 2 0 1 66.67%
Japan Saburō Kawabuchi 1980–1981 10 3 2 5 30%
Japan Takaji Mori 1981–1985 43 22 5 16 51.16%
Japan Yoshinobu Ishii 1986–1987 17 11 2 4 64.70%
Japan Kenzo Yokoyama 1988–1991 24 5 7 12 20.83%
Netherlands Hans Ooft 1992–1993 27 16 7 4 59.25%
Brazil Paulo Roberto Falcão 1994 9 3 4 2 33.33%
Japan Shu Kamo 1994–1997 46 23 10 13 50%
Japan Takeshi Okada (1st) 1997–1998 15 5 4 6 33.33%
France Philippe Troussier 1998–2002 50 23 16 11 46%
Brazil Zico 2002–2006 71 37 16 18 52.11%
Bosnia and Herzegovina Ivica Osim 2006–2007 20 13 5 3 65%
Japan Takeshi Okada (2nd) 2007–2010 50 26 13 11 52%
Japan Hiromi Hara (caretaker) 2010 2 2 0 0 100%
Italy Alberto Zaccheroni 2010–2014 55 30 12 13 54.54%
Mexico Javier Aguirre 2014–2015 10 7 1 2 70%
Bosnia and Herzegovina Vahid Halilhodžić 2015–2018 38 21 9 8 55.26%
Japan Akira Nishino 2018 7 2 1 4 28.57%
Japan Hajime Moriyasu 2018– 32 21 5 6 65.63%
Manager Period Record
Matches Won Draw Lost Win %
  • Updated on 18 November 2020 after the match against  Mexico.

Players

Main article: List of Japan international footballers
See also: Category:Japan international footballers

Current squad

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
1 1GK Shusaku Nishikawa (1986-06-18) 18 June 1986 (age 38) 31 0 Japan Urawa Red Diamonds
12 1GK Shūichi Gonda (1989-03-03) 3 March 1989 (age 35) 20 0 Japan Shimizu S-Pulse
23 1GK Daiya Maekawa (1994-09-08) 8 September 1994 (age 30) 0 0 Japan Vissel Kobe
2 2DF Ken Matsubara (1993-02-16) 16 February 1993 (age 31) 1 0 Japan Yokohama F. Marinos
3 2DF Ryoya Ogawa (1996-11-24) 24 November 1996 (age 28) 2 0 Japan FC Tokyo
4 2DF Shinnosuke Hatanaka (1995-08-25) 25 August 1995 (age 29) 8 0 Japan Yokohama F. Marinos
13 2DF Miki Yamane (1993-12-22) 22 December 1993 (age 31) 1 1 Japan Kawasaki Frontale
16 2DF Takehiro Tomiyasu (1998-11-05) 5 November 1998 (age 26) 23 1 Italy Bologna
19 2DF Sho Sasaki (1989-10-02) 2 October 1989 (age 35) 10 0 Japan Sanfrecce Hiroshima
20 2DF Shinnosuke Nakatani (1996-03-24) 24 March 1996 (age 28) 1 0 Japan Nagoya Grampus
22 2DF Maya Yoshida (captain) (1988-08-24) 24 August 1988 (age 36) 106 11 Italy Sampdoria
5 3MF Hidemasa Morita (1995-05-10) 10 May 1995 (age 29) 5 1 Portugal Santa Clara
6 3MF Wataru Endo (1993-02-09) 9 February 1993 (age 31) 27 2 Germany VfB Stuttgart
7 3MF Ataru Esaka (1992-05-31) 31 May 1992 (age 32) 1 0 Japan Kashiwa Reysol
8 3MF Sho Inagaki (1991-12-25) 25 December 1991 (age 33) 1 2 Japan Nagoya Grampus
9 3MF Daichi Kamada (1996-08-05) 5 August 1996 (age 28) 10 3 Germany Eintracht Frankfurt
10 3MF Takumi Minamino (1995-01-16) 16 January 1995 (age 29) 28 13 England Southampton
11 3MF Kyogo Furuhashi (1995-01-20) 20 January 1995 (age 29) 3 2 Japan Vissel Kobe
14 3MF Junya Ito (1993-03-09) 9 March 1993 (age 31) 22 4 Belgium Genk
17 3MF Yasuto Wakizaka (1995-06-11) 11 June 1995 (age 29) 1 0 Japan Kawasaki Frontale
21 3MF Hayao Kawabe (1995-09-08) 8 September 1995 (age 29) 1 0 Japan Sanfrecce Hiroshima
15 4FW Yuya Osako (1990-05-18) 18 May 1990 (age 34) 48 18 Germany Werder Bremen
18 4FW Takuma Asano (1994-11-10) 10 November 1994 (age 30) 24 5 Serbia Partizan

Recent call-ups

  • The following players have been called up to a Japan squad in the last 12 months.
Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club Latest call-up
GK Eiji Kawashima (1983-03-20) 20 March 1983 (age 41) 91 0 France Strasbourg v.  Mexico, 17 November 2020
GK Daniel Schmidt (1992-02-03) 3 February 1992 (age 32) 7 0 Belgium Sint-Truiden v.  Mexico, 17 November 2020
DF Yuto Nagatomo (1986-09-12) 12 September 1986 (age 38) 123 4 France Marseille v.  Mexico, 17 November 2020
DF Hiroki Sakai (1990-04-12) 12 April 1990 (age 34) 64 1 France Marseille v.  Mexico, 17 November 2020
DF Naomichi Ueda (1994-10-24) 24 October 1994 (age 30) 13 1 France Nîmes v.  Mexico, 17 November 2020
DF Sei Muroya (1994-04-05) 5 April 1994 (age 30) 12 0 Germany Hannover 96 v.  Mexico, 17 November 2020
DF Ko Itakura (1997-01-27) 27 January 1997 (age 27) 4 0 Netherlands Groningen v.  Mexico, 17 November 2020 U23
DF Yukinari Sugawara (2000-06-28) 28 June 2000 (age 24) 1 0 Netherlands AZ v.  Mexico, 17 November 2020 U23
DF Kōki Anzai (1995-05-31) 31 May 1995 (age 29) 5 0 Portugal Portimonense v.  Ivory Coast, 13 October 2020
MF Riki Harakawa (1993-08-18) 18 August 1993 (age 31) 0 0 Japan Cerezo Osaka v.  South Korea, 25 March 2021 INJ
MF Tatsuhiro Sakamoto (1996-10-22) 22 October 1996 (age 28) 0 0 Japan Cerezo Osaka v.  South Korea, 25 March 2021 INJ
MF Genki Haraguchi (1991-05-09) 9 May 1991 (age 33) 57 11 Germany Hannover 96 v.  Mexico, 17 November 2020 COV
MF Gaku Shibasaki (1992-05-28) 28 May 1992 (age 32) 49 3 Spain Leganés v.  Mexico, 17 November 2020
MF Takefusa Kubo (2001-06-04) 4 June 2001 (age 23) 11 0 Spain Getafe v.  Mexico, 17 November 2020 U23
MF Kento Hashimoto (1993-08-16) 16 August 1993 (age 31) 9 0 Russia Rostov v.  Mexico, 17 November 2020
MF Kōji Miyoshi (1997-03-26) 26 March 1997 (age 27) 5 2 Belgium Antwerp v.  Mexico, 17 November 2020 U23
MF Yūta Nakayama (1997-02-16) 16 February 1997 (age 27) 5 0 Netherlands PEC Zwolle v.  Mexico, 17 November 2020 U23
MF Ritsu Dōan (1998-06-16) 16 June 1998 (age 26) 20 3 Germany Arminia Bielefeld v.  Panama, 13 November 2020 WD
MF Masaya Okugawa (1996-04-14) 14 April 1996 (age 28) 0 0 Germany Arminia Bielefeld v.  Panama, 13 November 2020 WD
FW Musashi Suzuki (1994-02-11) 11 February 1994 (age 30) 9 1 Belgium Beerschot v.  Mexico, 17 November 2020
FW Shinji Okazaki (1986-04-16) 16 April 1986 (age 38) 119 50 Spain Huesca v.  Cameroon, 9 October 2020 INJ

INJ Withdrew due to injury
PRE Preliminary squad / standby
RET Retired from the national team
SUS Serving suspension
WD Player withdrew from the squad due to non-injury issue.

(Players are listed within position group by order of latest call-up, caps, and then alphabetically)

Previous squads

Captains

Records

Individual records

Main article: List of Japan international footballers
See also: Category:Japan international footballers
As of 14 November 2020[55]
Players in bold are still active at international level.

Team records

Updated 23 January 2015[56]

Biggest victory
15–0 vs Philippines, 27 September 1967
Heaviest defeat
15–2 vs Philippines, 10 May 1917
Most consecutive victories
8, 8 August 1970 vs. Indonesia – 17 December 1970 vs. India
8, 14 March 1993 vs. United States – 5 May 1995 vs. Sri Lanka
8, 26 May 1996 vs. Yugoslavia – 12 December 1996 vs. China
Most consecutive matches without defeat
20, 24 June 2010 vs. Denmark – 11 November 2011 vs. Tajikistan
Most consecutive defeats
6, 10 June 1956 vs. South Korea – 28 December 1958 vs. Malaya
Most consecutive matches without victory
11, 13 August 1976 vs. Burma – 15 June 1976 vs. South Korea
Most consecutive draws
4, 13 August 1976 vs. Burma – 20 August 1976 vs. Malaysia
Most consecutive matches scoring
13, 19 December 1966 vs. Singapore – 16 October 1969 vs. Australia
13, 7 February 2004 vs. Malaysia – 24 July 2004 vs. Thailand
Most consecutive matches without scoring
6, 18 June 1989 vs. Hong Kong – 31 July 1990 vs. North Korea
Most consecutive matches conceding a goal
28, 6 November 1960 vs. South Korea – 11 December 1966 vs. Iran
Most consecutive matches without conceding a goal
7, 19 November 2003 vs. Cameroon – 18 February 2004 vs. Oman

Honours

Titles

Intercontinental

Bronze medalists: 1968
Runners-up: 2001

Continental

Champions: 1992, 2000, 2004, 2011
Runners-up: 2019
Fourth place: 2007
Third place: 1951, 1966
Fourth place: 1970

Regional

Champions: 1930
Champions: 1992, 1995, 1998
Fourth place: 1990
Runners-up: 2003, 2005, 2008
Third place: 2010
Champions: 2013
Fourth place: 2015
Runners-up: 2017,2019

Other

Champions: 1993, 2007
Champions: 2001

Minor-friendly

Champions: (12): 1991, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2001, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2015

Awards

Years: 2000, 2005, 2008, 2010, 2011
Years: 2002

Competitive record

  Champions    Runners-up    Third place    Fourth place  

*Denotes draws includes knockout matches decided on penalty shootouts. Red border indicates that the tournament was hosted on home soil. Gold, silver, bronze backgrounds indicate 1st, 2nd and 3rd finishes respectively. Bold text indicates best finish in tournament.

FIFA World Cup

Main article: Japan at the FIFA World Cup
FIFA World Cup record Qualification record
Year Result Position Pld W D* L GF GA Pld W D L GF GA
Uruguay 1930 Did not enter No qualification
Italy 1934 Did not enter
France 1938 Withdrew Withdrew
Brazil 1950 Suspended from FIFA Suspended from FIFA
Switzerland 1954 Did not qualify 2 0 1 1 3 7
Sweden 1958 Did not enter Did not enter
Chile 1962 Did not qualify 2 0 0 2 1 4
England 1966 Did not enter Did not enter
Mexico 1970 Did not qualify 4 0 2 2 4 8
West Germany 1974 4 1 0 3 5 4
Argentina 1978 4 0 1 3 0 5
Spain 1982 4 2 0 2 4 2
Mexico 1986 8 5 1 2 15 5
Italy 1990 6 2 3 1 7 3
United States 1994 13 9 3 1 35 6
France 1998 Group stage 31st 3 0 0 3 1 4 15 9 5 1 51 12
South Korea Japan 2002 Round of 16 9th 4 2 1 1 5 3 Qualified as hosts
Germany 2006 Group stage 28th 3 0 1 2 2 7 12 11 0 1 25 5
South Africa 2010 Round of 16 9th 4 2 1 1 4 2 14 8 4 2 23 9
Brazil 2014 Group stage 29th 3 0 1 2 2 6 14 8 3 3 30 8
Russia 2018 Round of 16 15th 4 1 1 2 6 7 18 13 3 2 44 7
Qatar 2022 To be determined To be determined
Canada Mexico United States 2026
Total Round of 16 6/21 21 5 5 11 20 29 120 68 26 26 247 85

AFC Asian Cup

Main article: Japan at the AFC Asian Cup
AFC Asian Cup record Qualification record
Year Result Position Pld W D L GF GA Pld W D L GF GA
Hong Kong 1956 Withdrew Withdrew
South Korea 1960 Withdrew
Israel 1964 Withdrew
Iran 1968 Did not qualify 4 3 1 0 8 4
Thailand 1972 Withdrew Withdrew
Iran 1976 Did not qualify 5 2 1 2 4 4
Kuwait 1980 Withdrew Withdrew
Singapore 1984 Withdrew
Qatar 1988 Group stage 10th 4 0 1 3 0 6 4 2 1 1 6 3
Japan 1992 Champions 1st 5 3 2 0 6 3 Qualified as hosts
United Arab Emirates 1996 Quarter-finals 5th 4 3 0 1 7 3 Qualified as champions
Lebanon 2000 Champions 1st 6 5 1 0 21 6 3 3 0 0 15 0
China 2004 Champions 1st 6 4 2 0 13 6 Qualified as champions
Indonesia Malaysia Thailand Vietnam 2007 Fourth place 4th 6 2 3 1 11 7 6 5 0 1 15 2
Qatar 2011 Champions 1st 6 4 2 0 14 6 6 5 0 1 17 4
Australia 2015 Quarter-finals 5th 4 3 1 0 8 1 Qualified as champions
United Arab Emirates 2019 Runners-up 2nd 7 6 0 1 12 6 8 7 1 0 27 0
China 2023 To be determined To be determined
Total 4 Titles 9/17 48 30 12 6 92 44 36 27 4 5 92 17

CONMEBOL Copa América

Japan is the first team from outside the Americas to participate in the Copa América, having been invited to the 1999 Copa América.[57] Japan was also invited to the 2011 tournament and initially accepted the invitation. However, following the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, the JFA later withdrew on 16 May 2011, citing the difficulty of releasing some Japanese players from European teams to play as replacements.[58] On the next day, CONMEBOL invited Costa Rica to replace Japan in the competition.

On 16 August 2013, CONMEBOL president Eugenio Figueredo announced that Japan was invited to the 2015 Copa América.[59] However, Japan later declined the invitation due to scheduling problems.[60]

On 14 May 2018, CONMEBOL announced that Japan, alongside Qatar, would be the two invited teams for the 2019 Copa América.[61]

CONMEBOL Copa América record
Year Result Position Pld W D L GF GA
Paraguay 1999 Group stage 10th 3 0 1 2 3 8
Argentina 2011 Withdrew
Chile 2015 Withdrew
Brazil 2019 Group stage 9th 3 0 2 1 3 7
Total Group stage 2/46 6 0 3 3 6 15

FIFA Confederations Cup

FIFA Confederations Cup record
Year Result Position Pld W D L GF GA Squad
Saudi Arabia 1992 Did not qualify
Saudi Arabia 1995 Group stage 6th 2 0 0 2 1 8 Squad
Saudi Arabia 1997 Did not qualify
Mexico 1999
South Korea Japan 2001 Runners-up 2nd 5 3 1 1 6 1 Squad
France 2003 Group stage 6th 3 1 0 2 4 3 Squad
Germany 2005 Group stage 5th 3 1 1 1 4 4 Squad
South Africa 2009 Did not qualify
Brazil 2013 Group stage 7th 3 0 0 3 4 9 Squad
Russia 2017 Did not qualify
Total Runners-up 5/10 16 5 2 9 19 25 –

Olympic Games

Since 1992, the Olympic team has been drawn from a squad with a maximum of three players over 23 years age, and the achievements of this team are not generally regarded as part of the national team's records, nor are the statistics credited to the players' international records.

Asian Games

Football at the Asian Games has been an under-23 tournament since 2002.
See also: Japan national under-23 football team
Asian Games record
Year Result Pld W D L GF GA
India 1951 Third place 3 1 1 1 4 3
Philippines 1954 10th 2 0 0 2 5 8
Japan 1958 12th 2 0 0 2 0 3
Indonesia 1962 6th 3 1 0 2 3 4
Thailand 1966 Third place 7 6 0 1 18 5
Thailand 1970 Fourth place 7 5 0 2 8 5
Iran 1974 9th 3 1 1 1 5 4
Thailand 1978 9th 3 1 0 2 5 5
India 1982 5th 4 3 0 1 6 3
South Korea 1986 9th 4 2 0 2 9 4
China 1990 8th 3 1 0 2 3 3
Japan 1994 7th 4 1 2 1 9 5
Thailand 1998 9th 5 3 0 2 8 4
2002–present See Japan national under-23 football team
Total 13/13 50 25 4 21 83 56

See also

National teams
Men's
Women's

Notes

  1. ^ The match between Mongolia and Japan will be played in Chiba, Japan.[51]

References

  1. ^ Elo rankings change compared to one year ago. "World Football Elo Ratings". eloratings.net. 25 December 2024. Retrieved 25 December 2024.
  2. ^ "Japan National Football Team Results: 1910–1919". Football Japan. p. 29 December 2012. Retrieved 17 July 2014.
  3. ^ Motoaki Inukai 「日本代表公式記録集2008」 Japan Football Association p.206
  4. ^ a b c Horne, John, ed. (2002). Japan, Korea and the 2002 World Cup. Psychology Press. pp. 121–122. ISBN 0415275636. {{cite book}}: |first= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  5. ^ a b "World Football Elo Ratings". www.eloratings.net. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference :1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ a b "Origins and History｜JFA｜Japan Football Association". www.jfa.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved 19 June 2018.
  8. ^ Matsushima, Ken. "History of the J. League". Rising Sun News. Archived from the original on 12 May 2006. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
  9. ^ Hongo, Jun (9 February 2010). "Japan team has foot in World Cup door but can it kick?". Japan Times. p. 3. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
  10. ^ Staff and agencies (29 January 2011). "Australia 0 Japan 1 (aet): match report". The Daily Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group Limited. Retrieved 2 February 2011.
  11. ^ "Japan coach gamble to pay off?". Pete Hall. Sky Sports. 19 June 2018. Retrieved 1 July 2018.
  12. ^ "Japan make history with World Cup win against 10-man Colombia". Agence France Presse. 19 June 2018. Retrieved 25 June 2018.
  13. ^ Gendler, Daniel (24 June 2018). "Japan and Senegal Control World Cup Fates After Draw". New York Times. The New York Times Company. Retrieved 25 June 2018.
  14. ^ Mather, Victor (27 June 2018). "Japan Advances in World Cup 2018 Despite Losing to Poland". New York Times. The New York Times Company. Retrieved 28 June 2018.
  15. ^ Tweedale, Alistair; Ducker, James (28 June 2018). "Lucky Japan qualify for knockout stages through Fifa's fair play rules despite losing 1-0 to Poland". The Daily Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group Limited. Retrieved 28 June 2018.
  16. ^ "World Cup's most shameful moment". NewsComAu. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
  17. ^ "World Cup 2018: Japan go through but final group game ends in 'mind-boggling farce'". BBC Sport. 28 June 2018. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
  18. ^ Glendenning, Barry (28 June 2018). "Japan 0-1 Poland: World Cup 2018 – as it happened". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
  19. ^ "'Anti-football': World Cup fair play farce embarrasses Japanese fans". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
  20. ^ FIFA.com. "2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™ - FIFA.com". www.fifa.com. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
  21. ^ "World Cup 2018: Belgium stun Japan to reach quarters". BBC Sport. 2 July 2018. Retrieved 2 July 2018.
  22. ^ "A two-goal comeback after 48 years, and a new high for AFC". Debayan Sen. ESPN. 2 July 2018. Retrieved 3 July 2018.
  23. ^ Dominic Fifield (14 July 2018). "England finish fourth at World Cup after Eden Hazard seals Belgium win". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 July 2018.
  24. ^ https://dailyfootballshow.com/talking-points-belgium-3-japan-2-blue-samurai-heartbreak-after-a-miracle-comeback/
  25. ^ https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2019/01/d5913d4da0ef-soccer-japan-come-back-to-beat-turkmenistan-3-2-in-asian-cup-opener.html
  26. ^ https://www.fourfourtwo.com/news/oman-0-japan-1-controversial-haraguchi-penalty-seals-progress
  27. ^ https://www.foxsports.com/soccer/story/qatar-japan-advance-in-asian-cup-with-perfect-record-011719
  28. ^ https://www.foxsports.com/soccer/story/asian-cup-japan-tops-saudi-arabia-australia-wins-shootout-012119
  29. ^ https://baokhanhhoa.vn/english/sports/201901/afc-asian-cup-quarter-finals-vietnam-0-1-japan-8103948/
  30. ^ https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/47092164
  31. ^ "Alexis Sánchez scores first goal since January as Chile beat Japan". Guardian. Retrieved 18 June 2019.
  32. ^ https://www.apnews.com/45d46d5605f148c8804e8755b5d48fc0
  33. ^ https://www.foxsportsasia.com/football/copa-america/1125799/ecuador-1-japan-1-draw-sees-both-nations-exit-copa-america/
  34. ^ A common methodology of nickname creation is done by taking the last name of incumbent head coach followed by "Japan". Past teams have been referred to as, "Osim Japan" (オシムジャパン, Oshimu Japan), "Zico Japan" (ジーコジャパン, Jīko Japan), "Troussier Japan" (トルシエジャパン, Torushie Japan)
  35. ^ ハリルジャパン、白星発進!!岡崎&本田のゴールで初陣飾る. Gekisaka (in Japanese). Kodansha. 27 March 2015. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
  36. ^ 岡崎、本田がゴール！　ハリルジャパン初陣を勝利で飾る. Football Channel (in Japanese). Kanzen ltd. 27 March 2015. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
  37. ^ Curing the “Samurai Blues”: Bringing a Great Wave of Improvement to Japan’s Soccer, nippon.com
  38. ^ "Why does Japan wear blue soccer uniforms?". The Wichita Eagle.
  39. ^ 11月6日、日本代表新ユニフォーム発表…歴代戦闘服を写真で振り返る
  40. ^ "JFA renews visual identity and reconstructs brand values". Japan Football Association. 1 November 2017. Retrieved 27 July 2018.
  41. ^ a b "NEW JAPANESE NATIONAL TEAM LOGO UNVEILED". Soccer 365. 1 November 2017. Retrieved 27 July 2018.
  42. ^ D'Asaro, Filippo. "The new Japan's National Team Logo". NSS Magazine. Retrieved 27 July 2018.
  43. ^ "Australia, Japan rivalry hits new heights". Football Federation Australia. Retrieved 30 September 2013.
  44. ^ "Highlights". Foxtel.com.au. Archived from the original on 16 November 2014. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
  45. ^ Sebastian Hassett. "Socceroos to resume Japan rivalry in qualifying group for Brazil". Smh.com.au. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
  46. ^ "Japan-Australia: a classic football rivalry". theroar.com.au. Retrieved 30 September 2013.
  47. ^ https://supersport.com/football/fifa-confederations-cup/confederations-cup-history
  48. ^ Chant of JAPAN National Team "NIPPON Ole" YT
  49. ^ Sanchez, Miranda (15 March 2014). "Pikachu Named Mascot of the 2014 World Cup".
  50. ^ "The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking - Associations - Japan - Men's". FIFA. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  51. ^ "SAMURAI BLUE　FIFAワールドカップカタール2022アジア2次予選 兼 AFCアジアカップ中国2023予選　3/30 SAMURAI BLUE 対 モンゴル代表戦 日本での開催決定". Japan Football Association. 10 February 2021.
  52. ^ "SAMURAI BLUE (Japan National Team) Squad - International Friendly Match & World Cup Qualification Match [Korea Republic National Team (3/25), Mongolia National Team (3/30)]". Retrieved 19 March 2021.
  53. ^ "International Friendly Match[3/25] TOP". Japan Football Association (JFA). March 2021. Retrieved 19 March 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  54. ^ "SAMURAI BLUE (Japan National Team) Squad - International Friendly Match & World Cup Qualification Match [Korea Republic National Team (3/25), Mongolia National Team (3/30)]". Japan Football Association (JFA). 18 March 2021. Retrieved 19 March 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  55. ^ Mamrud, Roberto. "Japan - Record International Players". RSSSF.
  56. ^ "Team Records". Japan National Football Team Database. Retrieved 15 May 2014.
  57. ^ Cite error: The named reference goal.com was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  58. ^ [1]
  59. ^ "El Presidente Figueredo Aguerre anunció la presencia del Japón en la Copa América Chile 2015" [President Figueredo Aguerre announced the presence of Japan at the 2015 Copa América in Chile] (in Spanish). CONMEBOL. 16 August 2013. Retrieved 1 July 2018. I want to announce that the Japan national team will participate at the 2015 Copa América.
  60. ^ Sánchez Sandoval, Édgar (2 June 2016). "Copa América: Japón, el invitado más extraño" [Copa América: Japan, the most strange invitee] (in Spanish). Publimetro Chile. Retrieved 1 July 2018. Even in 2015, the japanese were asked to be part of the Copa América in Chile, but they withdrew again due to problems with their calendar and previously scheduled matches.
  61. ^ González, Christian (4 May 2018). "Conmebol confirma a Japón y Qatar en la Copa América de 2019" (in Spanish). La Tercera. Retrieved 1 July 2018. CONMEBOL confirmed, via its website, what has been speculated several months ago: Japan and Qatar will be invited at the event that will be held in Brazil.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Japan national football team.
Preceded by Asian Champions
1992 (1st title) 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Asian Champions
2000 (2nd title)
2004 (3rd title) 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Asian Champions
2011 (4th title) 		Succeeded by

Template:EAFF Championship winners Template:Afro-Asian Cup of Nations winners

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