Japan national football team

This article is about the men's team. For the women's team, see Japan women's national football team.

Japan
Shirt badge/Association crest
Nickname(s)サムライ・ブルー
(Samurai Blue)[1][2]
Since 19 October 2009[3]
AssociationJapan Football Association (JFA)
ConfederationAFC (Asia)
Sub-confederationEAFF (East Asia)
Head coachHajime Moriyasu[4][5][6]
CaptainWataru Endō
Most capsYasuhito Endō (152)
Top scorerKunishige Kamamoto (75)[7]
Home stadiumVarious
FIFA codeJPN
First colours
Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current 15 Increase 1 (24 October 2024)[8]
Highest9 (February–March 1998)
Lowest66 (December 1992)
First international
 Japan 0–5 China 
(Tokyo, Japan; 9 May 1917)
Biggest win
 Japan 15–0 Philippines 
(Tokyo; 27 September 1967)
Biggest defeat
 Japan 2–15 Philippines 
(Tokyo; 10 May 1917)
World Cup
Appearances7 (first in 1998)
Best resultRound of 16 (2002, 2010, 2018, 2022)
Asian Cup
Appearances11 (first in 1988)
Best resultChampions (1992, 2000, 2004, 2011)
Copa América (as guest)
Appearances2 (first in 1999)
Best resultGroup stage (1999, 2019)
EAFF Championship
Appearances9 (first in 2003)
Best resultChampions (2013, 2022)
Confederations Cup
Appearances5 (first in 1995)
Best resultRunners-up (2001)
Medal record
Men's football
Olympic Games
Bronze medal – third place 1968 Mexico Team
FIFA Confederations Cup
Silver medal – second place 2001 Korea/Japan Team
Asian Cup
Gold medal – first place 1992 Japan Team
Gold medal – first place 2000 Lebanon Team
Gold medal – first place 2004 China Team
Gold medal – first place 2011 Qatar Team
Silver medal – second place 2019 UAE Team
Asian Games
Bronze medal – third place 1951 New Delhi Team
Bronze medal – third place 1966 Bangkok Team
EAFF Championship
Gold medal – first place 2013 South Korea Team
Gold medal – first place 2022 Japan Team
Silver medal – second place 2003 Japan Team
Silver medal – second place 2005 South Korea Team
Silver medal – second place 2008 China Team
Silver medal – second place 2017 Japan Team
Silver medal – second place 2019 South Korea Team
Bronze medal – third place 2010 Japan Team
Websitewww.jfa.jp/eng/samuraiblue/

The Japan national football team (サッカー日本代表, Sakkā Nihon Daihyō or Sakkā Nippon Daihyō), also known by the nickname Samurai Blue (サムライ・ブルー, Samurai Burū),[1][2] represents Japan in men's international football. It is controlled by the Japan Football Association (JFA), the governing body for football in Japan.

Until the end of the 1980s, Japan was a small and amateur team. For a long time, football was less popular than baseball and sumo.[10][11] Since the early 1990s, when Japanese football became fully professionalized, Japan has emerged as one of the most successful teams in Asia; they have qualified for every FIFA World Cup since 1998 (including an automatic berth in 2002 as co-hosts with South Korea) with knockout stage appearances that year, and in 2010, 2018 and 2022. They have won the Asian Cup a record four times, in 1992, 2000, 2004 and 2011. The team also finished runners-up in the 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup and the 2019 Asian Cup. Japan is one of three teams from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) to have reached the final of a senior FIFA men's competition, the others being Australia and Saudi Arabia.

Japan's progression in a short period has served as an inspiration and example of how to develop football.[12][13] Their principal continental rivals are South Korea and, most recently, Australia; they also developed rivalries against Iran and Saudi Arabia.

Japan was the first team from outside the Americas to participate in the Copa América, having been invited in the 1999, 2011, 2015, and 2019 editions of the tournament, although they only played in the 1999 and 2019 events.[14]

As of October 2024, Japan is the highest-ranked AFC team at 15th, and has been since December 2022.[15]

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference :4 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b "SAMURAI BLUE". Archived from the original on 25 November 2020.
  3. ^ "日本代表チーム愛称は、「SAMURAI BLUES 」" [The nickname of the Japanese national team is "SAMURAI BLUE"]. Japan Football Association (in Japanese). 19 October 2009. Archived from the original on 18 May 2010. Retrieved 15 September 2021. Alt URL Archived 21 October 2021 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ "SAMURAI BLUE's Head Coach MORIYASU Hajime signs contract extension to 2026 "We want to see a new view at the next World Cup"". Japan Football Association (JFA). Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. 29 December 2022.
  5. ^ "12/28(水)17時30分～ SAMURAI BLUE（日本代表）監督就任会見をJFATVにてインターネットライブ配信" [SAMURAI BLUE (Japan National Team) Inauguration Press Conference will be streamed live on JFATV on 28 December 2022]. Japan Football Association (JFA) (in Japanese). Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. 28 December 2022.
  6. ^ "SAMURAI BLUE（日本代表）監督 森保一氏と契約合意" [Contract agreement with SAMURAI BLUE (Japan National Team) manager Hajime Moriyasu]. Japan Football Association (JFA) (in Japanese). Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. 28 December 2022.
  7. ^ "Kunishige Kamamoto - Goals in International Matches". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
  8. ^ "The FIFA/Coca-Cola Men's World Ranking". FIFA. 24 October 2024. Retrieved 24 October 2024.
  9. ^ Elo rankings change compared to one year ago. "World Football Elo Ratings". eloratings.net. 21 November 2024. Retrieved 21 November 2024.
  10. ^ Michail-Angelos Grigoropoulos (28 November 2022). "The Rise of Japanese Football: How the Nation Has Not-So-Quietly Become a Dark Horse Contender". Urban Pitch. Archived from the original on 3 December 2022. Retrieved 9 December 2022.
  11. ^ Ashfaq-Ul-Alam Nilo (2 December 2022). "Japan's rise and rise in football and the lessons for Bangladesh". Prothom Alo. Archived from the original on 8 December 2022. Retrieved 9 December 2022.
  12. ^ Williams, Aidan (4 January 2019). "How the 1992 Asian Cup awoke Japanese football, the continent's sleeping giant". These Football Times. Archived from the original on 4 May 2021. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
  13. ^ Anello, Gabriele (19 August 2018). "The model that saved Japanese football and made it an Asian powerhouse within two decades". Football Chronicle. Archived from the original on 5 June 2020. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
  14. ^ Japan Invited To Copa America 2011 Along With Mexico Archived 5 June 2009 at the Wayback Machine Goal.com 2 June 2009
  15. ^ "FIFA-Coca-Cola Men's World Ranking". FIFA. Retrieved 16 November 2024.