Japan men's national football team

History

1910s–1930s: Pre-war era

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. Nevertheless, the game was promoted in Japanese schools in the 1920s. The Japan Football Association was formed in 1921, and Japan joined FIFA in May 1929. However, Japan refused to participate in the 1930 FIFA World Cup.

Japan's first "true" national team (as opposed to a university team chosen to represent the country) was fielded at the 1930 Far Eastern Championship Games, and drew with China for the championship title. Shigeyoshi Suzuki coached the national team to its first Olympic appearance at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin. Japan was an entrant for 1938 FIFA World Cup qualifying, but withdrew before its scheduled qualifying match against the Dutch East Indies.

After World War II began, Japan did not play in international competition, except for a handful of matches against Manchuria and other colonies. Its last prewar match for purposes of Elo ratings was a friendly against the Philippines in June 1940. While Korea was under Japanese rule, multiple Koreans played in international competition for Japan, including Kim Yong-sik (1936–40), Kim Sung-gan (1940) and Lee Yoo-hyung (1940).

1950s–1980s: Post-war era

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

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. 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 World Cup until 30 years later. Nonetheless, Japan were close to qualifying for the 1986 FIFA World Cup, but lost to South Korea in the deciding matches.

Japan made its first appearance in the AFC 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.

1990s: Rise

In the 1990s, the Japan Football Association began the professionalization of its national football team. 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 the 1992 AFC Asian Cup and won their first title by defeating Saudi Arabia 1–0 in the final. The J.League was officially launched in 1993.

However, in its first attempt to qualify with professional players, Japan narrowly missed a ticket to the 1994 FIFA 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 AFC 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 FIFA 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, however, as all three defeats were only by a one goal margin.

2000s: Two Asian Cup titles, World Cup co-hosts

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 FIFA 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 in extra time.

With the 2004 AFC Asian Cup hosted by China, the Japanese managed to retain the title by winning their group after two victories over Thailand and Oman, before achieving victories against Jordan and Bahrain. They defeated the hosts in the final 3–1.

On 8 June 2005, Japan qualified for the 2006 FIFA 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 future AFC rival Australia 3–1, drawing Croatia 0–0 and falling to Brazil 4–1.

The 2007 AFC Asian Cup saw Japan fail to defend its title. Although easily winning the group over Vietnam, Qatar and the UAE, the Japanese were totally exhausted in their game against Australia, where Japan won only by a penalty shootout. Japan lost to Saudi Arabia in the semi-finals, before failing in the third-place match against South Korea.

2010s

During the 2010 FIFA 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 drawn in Group E along with the Netherlands, Denmark and Cameroon. Japan started with a 1–0 win against Cameroon, before subsequently losing to the Netherlands 1–0. Then, Japan resoundingly beat Denmark 3–1 to advance to the next round against Paraguay. In the round of 16, Japan were eliminated from the competition following penalties after a 0–0 draw against Paraguay.

After the 2010 FIFA 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 a 1–0 victory over Argentina.

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. The country then started their road to the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. Throughout, they suffered only two losses to Uzbekistan and Jordan, and drew against Australia. After a 1–1 draw with Australia, they qualified for the 2014 World Cup, becoming the first nation aside from the hosts to qualify.

Japan started their 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup campaign with a 3–0 loss to Brazil. They were then eliminated from the competition after losing to Italy 4–3. 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 tournament to claim the title.

Japan was placed into Group C at the 2014 FIFA World Cup alongside the Ivory Coast, Greece and Colombia. They fell in their first match to Ivory Coast 2–1 after 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 Greece to win against Ivory Coast. Greece beat Ivory Coast 2–1, but Colombia won 4–1, eliminating Japan from the World Cup. Alberto Zaccheroni resigned as head coach. 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.

2020s

After China was removed as host of the 2022 EAFF E-1 Football Championship, it was announced that Japan was the new host. After topping the table with two wins and one draw, Japan won the competition for the second time in their history.

Japan qualified for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, and were drawn into Group E with Germany, Costa Rica and Spain. On 23 November, Japan produced an upset, beating Germany 2–1, with two goals in an eight-minute span during the second half. After losing to Costa Rica 1–0, going into the final matchday, every team in Group E could qualify or be eliminated, with no team assured of any placement. In the end, Japan managed to qualify for the round of 16 by defeating Spain 2–1 in their final group stage match, while also contributing to Germany's elimination from the tournament. By topping their group, Japan went on to face Croatia in the round of 16 where they would lose 3–1 on penalties after a 1–1 draw. It was the third team in 52 years to have come from behind twice in one tournament, following Brazil and (West) Germany. They beat Spain with the lowest possession (18%) of the ball for a winning side since the 1966 FIFA World Cup. It also was the first time that an Asian team topped their FIFA World Cup group held outside their home country, and also the first Asian team to reach the knockouts twice in a row.

With a successful 2022 World Cup behind them and a run of 10 consecutive victories in all competitions since June 2023, many of them in style, Japan were considered the favourites for the 2023 Asian Nations Cup in Qatar, especially as the Samurai Blue had a strong squad. Japan, however, were the biggest disappointment of the tournament, putting in a catastrophic performance. Hajime Moriyasu's men began the tournament with an unconvincing victory over a Vietnamese side deprived of a number of key players (4–2, having broken the deadlock in the 85th minute and trailed 1–2 shortly after the half-hour mark), before going on to play a nightmarish game against Iraq (1–2). This defeat, Japan's first in the group phase since their first appearance at the continental showpiece in 1988, condemned them to finish at best 2nd in the group due to their unfavourable head-to-head record. The Land of the Rising Sun made sure of the points by overcoming Indonesia (3–1) and then eliminated Bahrain by the same scoreline in the Round of 16. Japan met Iran in the quarter-finals for a rematch of the previous edition's semi-final, and got the game off to a perfect start with Hidemasa Morita's 28th-minute opener, before falling completely flat in the second half, succumbing to Iran's fiery attacks and lacking the ideas to trouble Team Melli on the counter-attack, who exacted revenge and turned the match on its head thanks to some blatant defensive errors by Kō Itakura (1–2). This elimination was a real fiasco for a Japanese team that had suffered 2 defeats in the same competition, including one in the 1st round, something that hadn't happened since the 1988 edition (a draw and 3 defeats), but it was the first time since Japanese football turned professional. In particular, Japan showed worrying signs at the back, conceding at least one goal in every match, many of them from avoidable errors by inexperienced goalkeeper Zion Suzuki (due to the withdrawal of the usual starting goalkeepers) or by their defensive hinge, which, unlike the previous edition, was often overwhelmed; all this while often playing on alternating current and reacting too late or intermittently showing an apathetic face (a non-match in the first half against Iraq, the botched 2nd half against Iran). The squad also had to contend with an extra-sporting controversy, with the sudden departure of Junya Itō shortly before the crucial match against the Persians, the player from Reims having been accused of sexual assault.

Team image

Nicknames

Japan's national football team is nicknamed the Samurai Blue (サムライ・ブルー, Samurai Burū) by the JFA. The team also is often known by the last name of the manager. For example, under Takeshi Okada, the team was known as Okada Japan (岡田ジャパン, Okada Japan), or during the 2022 World Cup, the team is referred by the current manager's (Hajime Moriyasu) name, as "Moriyasu Japan" (森保ジャパン, Moriyasu Japan).

Kit

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 the 1996 Asian Cup and the 1998 World Cup, 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.

JFA has historically been identified with the colors blue and white, as opposed to the white and red of the Flag of Japan. Prior to 1930, the best ranked university team of the year would represent Japan, and wear their school's own uniform. JFA first formed an independent national squad for the 1930 Far Eastern Championship Games, selecting the best players from across the country, and the players chose Imperial University's color of light blue for their first uniform. They did attempt to switch to a red and white colorway in 1989, failed to qualify for the 1990 World Cup and the 1992 Summer Olympics, and switched back to blue in 1992. In 2021, Japan released a special 100th anniversary kit for a friendly match against Jamaica. The kit was also used by the U-24 team against Ghana on 5 June 2021.

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

Crest

The crest or emblem of the national team was adopted in late 2017 as part of a larger rebranding by the Japan Football Association. The crest features the Yatagarasu, a three-legged crow from Japanese mythology that is a symbol for the sun, holding a solid red ball that is like the sun from national flag. 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.

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.

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. 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.

Home stadium

Japan plays its home matches among various stadiums, in rotation, around the country, especially the Saitama Stadium 2002.

Rivalries

Japan maintains a strong football rivalry with South Korea. Japan have met South Korea 80 times, trailing the statistic at 17 wins, 23 draws, and 42 losses, while scoring 74 goals and conceding 124. Since November 1991, when the Japan Professional Football League was launched, the record is even with 10 wins, 12 draws and 10 losses. Both countries have made themselves unrivalled in both Asian Cup and World Cup records, being two of the most successful Asian football teams, and they hosted the 2002 World Cup in a joint bid.

Japan maintains a rivalry with North Korea, although the rivalry is infrequent due to political circumstances. Japan have met North Korea 22 times, with a record of 10 wins, 4 draws and 8 losses.

Previously, when Japan had not established professional football, Japan had only 4 wins, 3 draws and 13 losses against China. However, Japan's establishment of professional football helped turn the tide, and the Japanese have been able to exert domination with 16 wins, 6 draws and just 2 losses. China has not beaten Japan since March 1998, and lost to them 3–1 in the 2004 AFC Asian Cup final.

Japan began to develop a fierce rivalry with fellow Asian powerhouse Australia, shortly after the latter joined the Asian Football Confederation. The rivalry is regarded as one of Asia's biggest football rivalries. 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. 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.

Japan have met Australia 28 times, with a record of 11 wins, 10 draws and 7 losses.

Japan and Saudi Arabia are two of the most historically successful national teams in Asia and have frequently met each other in many major tournaments, including in the Asian Cup and World Cup qualification. The frequency is also rivalled by high-level performances of Japan and Saudi Arabia in the Asian and global football stage, as they are two of the three AFC members (alongside Australia) to reach the final of any senior FIFA competition. Both countries also gained headlines for producing "unexpected" wins in the 2022 World Cup, with Japan earning wins against Germany and Spain and Saudi Arabia against eventual champions Argentina in the group stage. These wins over World Cup-winning oppositions have allowed comparisons of developments between Japan and Saudi Arabia to emerge.

Supporters

Japanese national team supporters are known for chanting "Nippon Ole" and "Vamos Nippon".

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, ANA, Kirin, Saison Card International, Toyo Tires, Mitsui Fudosan, MS&AD Insurance Group, Yomiuri Shimbun, Mizuho Financial, APA Group, Toyota and au.

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' uniforms are updated in order to match the kit being used by the team.

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

Results and fixtures

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

Fixture

2025

Fixtures and Results (2025) – JFA.jp

2026

Fixtures and Results (2026) – JFA.jp

Coaching staff

Current staff

As of 16 April 2026

Players and staff for (2026), JFA.jp

Manager history

As of 29 June 2026 after the match against Brazil.

Players

Current squad

The following 26 players were called up to the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Wataru Endo withdrew injured and was replaced by Shūto Machino on 11 June.

Caps and goals as of 29 June 2026, after the match against Brazil.

Recent call-ups

The following players have also been called up to the squad within the last 12 months.

Records

As of 25 June 2026.

Players in bold are still active with Japan.

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.

Copa América

Japan was the first team from outside the Americas to participate in the Copa América, having been invited to the 1999 tournament. Japan was also invited in 2011 and initially accepted the invitation. However, following the Tōhoku earthquake, the JFA later withdrew on 16 May 2011, citing the difficulty of releasing some Japanese players from European teams to play as replacements. 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. However, Japan later declined the invitation due to scheduling problems.

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

Head-to-head record

The following table shows Japan's all-time international record, correct as of 29 June 2026.

Honours

Global

FIFA Confederations Cup

Runners-up (1): 2001

Olympic Games

Bronze medal (1): 1968

Intercontinental

Afro-Asian Cup of Nations

Champions (2): 1993, 2007

AFC–OFC Challenge Cup

Champions (1): 2001

Continental

AFC Asian Cup

Champions (4): 1992, 2000, 2004, 2011

Runners-up (1): 2019

Asian Games1

Bronze medal (2): 1951, 1966

Regional

Far Eastern Games

Gold medal (1): 1930

EAFF East Asian Cup / EAFF E-1 Football Championship

Champions (3): 2013, 2022, 2025

Runners-up (5): 2003, 2005, 2008, 2017, 2019

Third place (1): 2010

Friendly

Kirin Cup: 1991, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2001, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2015

Dynasty Cup: 1992, 1995, 1998

Bangabandhu Cup: 1999

Awards

FIFA Confederations Cup Fair Play Award: 2001, 2003

AFC National Team of the Year: 2000, 2004, 2005, 2008, 2010, 2011

AFC Asian Cup Fair Play Award: 2007, 2019

EAFF Championship Fair Play Award: 2005

Japan Professional Sports Grand Prize: 2002

Summary

Only official honours are included, according to FIFA statutes (competitions organized/recognized by FIFA or an affiliated confederation).

Notes

Competition organized by OCA, officially not recognized by FIFA.