Japan national under-23 football team

Japan U23
Nickname(s)	サムライ・ブルー; (Samurai Blue)
Association	Japan Football Association
Confederation	AFC (Asia)
Sub-confederation	EAFF (East Asia)
Head coach	Akinobu Yokouchi
Captain	Tsuyoshi Watanabe
Most caps	Kensuke Nagai (31) Keigo Higashi (31)
Top scorer	Shoya Nakajima (19)
FIFA code	JPN
First colours	Second colours
First international
	Malaysia 1–1 Japan ; (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; December 1990)
Biggest win
	Japan 13–0 Philippines ; (Hong Kong; 12 June 1999)
Biggest defeat
	Denmark 6–1 Japan ; (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; 6 February 1994)
Summer Olympics
Appearances	7 (first in 1996)
Best result	Fourth place (2012)
AFC U-23 Championship
Appearances	4 (first in 2013)
Best result	Winner (2016)
Asian Games
Appearances	5 (first in 2002)
Best result	Gold Medal (2010)

The Japan national under-23 football team is a national association football youth team of Japan and is controlled by the Japan Football Association. The team won the gold medal at the 2010 Asian Games and were champions in the 2016 AFC U-23 Championship. Since 1992, it was decided that teams targeting athletes under the age of 23 will participate in the Olympics (additional provisions for overage limits have been added since 1996). Therefore, the name changes to Japan national under-22 football team the year before the Olympics and Japan national under-21 football team two years ago.

History

Coaching staff

Position	Name
Head Coach
Assistant Coach
Goalkeeping Coach
Physical Coach

Reference: National Coaching Staff of Japan, JFA.jp (in English)

Players

Current squad

The final squad was announced on 29 December 2019.^[2]

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Club
1	1GK	Ryosuke Kojima	(1997-01-30)30 January 1997 (aged 22)	Oita Trinita
2	2DF	Yugo Tatsuta	(1998-06-21)21 June 1998 (aged 21)	Shimizu S-Pulse
3	2DF	Tsuyoshi Watanabe	(1997-02-05)5 February 1997 (aged 22)	FC Tokyo
4	3MF	Daiki Suga	(1998-09-10)10 September 1998 (aged 21)	Consadole Sapporo
5	2DF	Daiki Sugioka	(1998-09-08)8 September 1998 (aged 21)	Shonan Bellmare
6	3MF	Mitsuki Saito	(1999-01-10)10 January 1999 (aged 20)	Shonan Bellmare
7	3MF	Shunta Tanaka	(1997-05-26)26 May 1997 (aged 22)	Osaka University
8	3MF	Ao Tanaka	(1998-09-10)10 September 1998 (aged 21)	Kawasaki Frontale
9	4FW	Koki Ogawa	(1997-08-08)8 August 1997 (aged 22)	Mito HollyHock
10	3MF	Ryotaro Meshino	(1998-06-18)18 June 1998 (aged 21)	Heart of Midlothian
11	3MF	Keita Endo	(1997-11-22)22 November 1997 (aged 22)	Yokohama F. Marinos
12	1GK	Keisuke Osako	(1999-07-28)28 July 1999 (aged 20)	Sanfrecce Hiroshima
13	4FW	Ayase Ueda	(1998-09-10)10 September 1998 (aged 21)	Kashima Antlers
14	3MF	Tsukasa Morishima	(1997-04-25)25 April 1997 (aged 22)	Sanfrecce Hiroshima
15	2DF	Makoto Okazaki	(1998-10-10)10 October 1998 (aged 21)	FC Tokyo
16	3MF	Yuki Soma	(1997-02-25)25 February 1997 (aged 22)	Kashima Antlers
17	2DF	Koki Machida	(1997-08-25)25 August 1997 (aged 22)	Kashima Antlers
18	4FW	Kyosuke Tagawa	(1999-02-11)11 February 1999 (aged 20)	FC Tokyo
19	4FW	Reo Hatate	(1997-11-21)21 November 1997 (aged 22)	Juntendo University
20	2DF	Taiyo Koga	(1998-10-28)28 October 1998 (aged 21)	Kashiwa Reysol
21	3MF	Taishi Matsumoto	(1998-04-22)22 April 1998 (aged 21)	Sanfrecce Hiroshima
22	2DF	Daiki Hashioka	(1999-05-17)17 May 1999 (aged 20)	Urawa Red Diamonds
23	1GK	Kosei Tani	(2000-11-22)22 November 2000 (aged 19)	Gamba Osaka

Previous squads

Olympics Games

AFC U-23 Championship

Asian Games

Managers

Name	Nat.	Period
Yoshitada Yamaguchi		1990–1992
Akira Nishino		1993–1996
Philippe Troussier		1998–2000
Masakuni Yamamoto		2002–2004
Yasuharu Sorimachi		2006–2008
Takashi Sekizuka		2010–2012
Makoto Teguramori		2014–2016
Hajime Moriyasu		2017–2020
Akinobu Yokouchi		2020-Present

Schedule and results

Win Draw Lose

2019

22 March 2019 (2019-03-22) 2020 AFC U23 Q	Japan	8–0	Macau	Yangon, Myanmar
15:00	Machida 51' Ueda 54', 60', 70' Endo 67' Maeda 69', 72' Itakura 90+5'	Report		Stadium: Thuwunna Stadium Attendance: 303 Referee: Mooud Bonyadifard (Iran)

24 March 2019 (2019-03-24) 2020 AFC U23 Q	East Timor	0–6	Japan	Yangon, Myanmar
15:00		Report	Tagawa 24' Kubo 54', 75' Tatsuta 60' Itakura 71' Ueda 77'	Stadium: Thuwunna Stadium Attendance: 753 Referee: Hussein Abo Yehia (Lebanon)

24 March 2019 (2019-03-24) 2020 AFC U23 Q	Japan	7–0	Myanmar	Yangon, Myanmar
15:00	Maeda 7', 9', 44' Iwasaki 18', 69' Nakayama 38', 79'	Report		Stadium: Thuwunna Stadium Attendance: 9,875 Referee: Mooud Bonyadifard (Iran)

1 June 2019 (2019-06-01) Toulon Tournament	England	1–2	Japan	Aubagne, France
15:05	Chalobah 38'	Report	Ominami 47' Naganuma 68'	Stadium: Stade de Lattre-de-Tassigny Referee: Felipe González Alveal (Chile)

4 June 2019 (2019-06-04) Toulon Tournament	Japan	6–1	Chile	Salon-de-Provence, France
16:05	Mitoma 7' Hatate 12', 18', 63' Iwasaki 39', 45+1'	Report	Araos 35'	Stadium: Stade d'Honneur Marcel Roustan Referee: Robert Hennessy (Republic of Ireland)

7 June 2019 (2019-06-07) Toulon Tournament	Portugal	1–0	Japan	Fos-sur-Mer, France
17:05	Umaro Embaló 85'	Report		Stadium: Stade Parsemain Referee: Aliyar Aghayev (Azerbaijan)

12 June 2019 (2019-06-12) Toulon Tournament	Japan	2–2 (5–4 p)	Mexico	Aubagne, France
15:00	Soma 72' Ogawa 89'	Report	Godínez 50' E. Aguirre 86'	Stadium: Stade de Lattre-de-Tassigny Referee: Horațiu Feșnic (Romania)
	Penalties
	Ogawa Soma Iwasaki Naganuma Hatate		E. Aguirre Cardona López Mozo Córdova

15 June 2019 (2019-06-15) Toulon Tournament	Brazil	1–1 (5–4 p)	Japan	Salon-de-Provence, France
16:00	Antony 19'	Report	Ogawa 39'	Stadium: Stade d'Honneur Marcel Roustan Referee: António Nobre (Portugal)
	Penalties
			Soma Mitoma Kamiya Naganuma Hatate

2020

15 January 2020 2020 AFC U-23 Championship

Japan

1-1

Qatar

Honours

Competitive record

Olympic Games

Olympic Games record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1908–1988	See Japan national team
1992	Did Not Qualify
1996	Group Stage	9th	3	2	0	1	4	4
2000	Quarter-finals	5th	4	2	1	1	6	5
2004	Group Stage	13th	3	1	0	2	6	7
2008	Group Stage	15th	3	0	0	3	1	4
2012	Fourth Place	4th	6	3	1	2	6	5
2016	Group Stage	10th	3	1	1	1	7	7
2020	Qualified as host
Total	Fourth Place	7/8	22	9	3	10	30	33

Olympic Games history
Year	Round	Score	Result
1996	Round 1	Japan 1–0 Brazil	Win
	Round 1	Japan 0–2 Nigeria	Loss
	Round 1	Japan 3–2 Hungary	Win
2000	Round 1	Japan 2–1 South Africa	Win
	Round 1	Japan 2–1 Slovakia	Win
	Round 1	Japan 0–1 Brazil	Loss
	Quarter-finals	Japan 2–2 United States	Draw
2004	Round 1	Japan 3–4 Paraguay	Loss
	Round 1	Japan 2–3 Italy	Loss
	Round 1	Japan 1–0 Ghana	Win
2008	Round 1	Japan 0–1 United States	Loss
	Round 1	Japan 1–2 Nigeria	Loss
	Round 1	Japan 0–1 Netherlands	Loss
2012	Round 1	Japan 1–0 Spain	Win
	Round 1	Japan 1–0 Morocco	Win
	Round 1	Japan 0–0 Honduras	Draw
	Quarter-finals	Japan 3–0 Egypt	Win
	Semi-finals	Japan 1–3 Mexico	Loss
	Bronze Play-off	Japan 0–2 South Korea	Loss
2016	Round 1	Japan 4–5 Nigeria	Loss
	Round 1	Japan 2–2 Colombia	Draw
	Round 1	Japan 1–0 Sweden	Win
2020	Host

AFC U-23 Championship

AFC U-22/U-23 Championship record
Hosts / Year	Result	Position	GP	W	D	L	GS	GA
2013	Quarter-finals	7	4	1	2	1	8	5
2016	Champions	1	6	6	0	0	15	4
2018	Quarter-finals	5	4	3	0	1	5	5
2020	Group Stage	15	3	0	1	2	3	5
Total	4/4	Champions	17	10	3	4	31	19

AFC U-22/U-23 Championship history
Year	Round	Score	Result
2013	Preliminary Stage	Japan 6–0 Macau	Win
	Preliminary Stage	Japan 3–1 Singapore	Win
	Preliminary Stage	Japan 1–0 East Timor	Win
	Preliminary Stage	Japan 5–1 Indonesia	Win
	Preliminary Stage	Japan 5–0 Australia	Win
	Group Stage	Japan 3–3 Iran	Draw
	Group Stage	Japan 0–0 Kuwait	Draw
	Group Stage	Japan 4–0 Australia	Win
	Quarter-finals	Japan 0–1 Iraq	Loss
2016	Preliminary Stage	Japan 7–0 Macau	Win
	Preliminary Stage	Japan 2–0 Vietnam	Win
	Preliminary Stage	Japan 1–0 Malaysia	Win
	Group Stage	Japan 1–0 North Korea	Win
	Group Stage	Japan 4–0 Thailand	Win
	Group Stage	Japan 2–1 Saudi Arabia	Win
	Quarter-finals	Japan 3–0 Iran	Win
	Semi-finals	Japan 2–1 Iraq	Win
	Final	Japan 3–2 South Korea	Win
2018	Preliminary Stage	Japan 8–0 Philippines	Win
	Preliminary Stage	Japan 2–0 Cambodia	Win
	Preliminary Stage	Japan 1–2 China	Loss
	Group Stage	Japan 1–0 Palestine	Win
	Group Stage	Japan 1–0 Thailand	Win
	Group Stage	Japan 3–1 North Korea	Win
	Quarter-finals	Japan 0–4 Uzbekistan	Loss
2020	Preliminary Stage	Japan 8–0 Macau	Win
	Preliminary Stage	Japan 6–0 East Timor	Win
	Preliminary Stage	Japan 7–0 Myanmar	Win
	Group Stage	Japan 1–2 Saudi Arabia	Loss
	Group Stage	Japan 1–2 Syria	Loss
	Group Stage	Japan 1–1 Qatar	Draw

Asian Games

Asian Games record
Hosts / Year	Result	Position	GP	W	D	L	GS	GA
2002	Silver	2	6	5	0	1	13	4
2006	Round 1	11	3	2	0	1	5	4
2010	Gold	1	7	7	0	0	17	1
2014	Quarter-finals	6	5	3	0	2	10	5
2018	Silver	2	7	5	0	2	10	4
Total	5/5	Gold	28	22	0	6	55	18

Asian Games history
Year	Round	Score	Result
2002	Round 1	Japan 2–0 Palestine	Win
	Round 1	Japan 5–2 Bahrain	Win
	Round 1	Japan 1–0 Uzbekistan	Win
	Quarter-finals	Japan 1–0 China	Win
	Semi-finals	Japan 3–0 Thailand	Win
	Final	Japan 1–2 Iran	Loss
2006	Round 1	Japan 3–2 Pakistan	Win
	Round 1	Japan 1–0 Syria	Win
	Round 1	Japan 1–2 North Korea	Loss
2010	Round 1	Japan 3–0 China	Win
	Round 1	Japan 2–0 Malaysia	Win
	Round 1	Japan 3–0 Kyrgyzstan	Win
	Round 2	Japan 5–0 India	Win
	Quarter-finals	Japan 1–0 Thailand	Win
	Semi-finals	Japan 2–1 Iran	Win
	Final	Japan 1–0 UAE	Win
2014	Round 1	Japan 4–1 Kuwait	Win
	Round 1	Japan 1–3 Iraq	Loss
	Round 1	Japan 4–0 Nepal	Win
	Round 2	Japan 4–0 Palestine	Win
	Quarter-finals	Japan 0–1 South Korea	Loss
2018	Round 1	Japan 1–0 Nepal	Win
	Round 1	Japan 4–0 Pakistan	Win
	Round 1	Japan 0–1 Vietnam	Loss
	Round 2	Japan 1–0 Malaysia	Win
	Quarter-finals	Japan 2–1 Saudi Arabia	Win
	Semi-finals	Japan 1–0 UAE	Win
	Final	Japan 1–2 South Korea	Loss

References

^ Hyung-Jin Yoon (6 May 2006). "Japan - International Results U-23 (Olympic) Team [Malaysia (1) – Japan (1)]". RDFC. Archived from the original on 29 March 2016. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
^ "U-23 Japan National Team Squad, Schedule - AFC U-23 Championship Thailand 2020". JFA. 29 December 2019. Retrieved 2 January 2020.

External links

Official website, JFA.jp (in English)

[1] Hyung-Jin Yoon (6 May 2006). "Japan - International Results U-23 (Olympic) Team [Malaysia (1) – Japan (1)]". RDFC. Archived from the original on 29 March 2016. Retrieved 29 March 2016.

[2] "U-23 Japan National Team Squad, Schedule - AFC U-23 Championship Thailand 2020". JFA. 29 December 2019. Retrieved 2 January 2020.

[1]

[2]

v t e National sports teams of Japan
Men	A1GP American football Australian rules football Bandy Baseball U-18 Basketball U-17 U-19 3x3 U-23 3x3 Wheelchair Boxing Cricket U-19 Field hockey Floorball U-19 Football U-23 U-20 U-17 Futsal U-23 U-20 Beach soccer eFootball Cerebral palsy Goalball Gymnastics Handball MJ MY Ice hockey Junior U-18 Kabaddi Korfball Lacrosse Roller hockey Rugby league Rugby union 7s U-20 Wheelchair Softball U-19 Squash Tennis Volleyball U-21 U-19 Water polo
Women	Baseball Basketball U-19 U-17 3x3 U-23 3x3 Wheelchair Beach handball Cricket Field hockey U-21 Floorball Football U-23 U-20 U-17 Futsal U-20 Goalball Gymnastics Handball W-J Ice hockey F U-18 Rugby union 7s Softball U-19 Squash Tennis Volleyball U-18 U-20 U-23 Water polo
Mixed	Badminton Baseball5 Boxing Tennis Wheelchair handball
Olympics Paralympics Asian Games

v t e National under-23 football teams of Asia (AFC)
AFC U-23 Asian Cup
West Asia (WAFF)	Bahrain Iraq Jordan Kuwait Lebanon Oman Palestine Qatar Saudi Arabia Syria United Arab Emirates Yemen
Central Asia (CAFA)	Afghanistan Iran Kyrgyzstan Tajikistan Turkmenistan Uzbekistan
South Asia (SAFF)	Bangladesh Bhutan India Maldives Nepal Pakistan Sri Lanka
East Asia (EAFF)	China Chinese Taipei¹ Guam Hong Kong Japan Macau Mongolia North Korea Northern Mariana Islands² South Korea
Southeast Asia (AFF)	Australia Brunei Cambodia Indonesia Laos Malaysia Myanmar Philippines Singapore Thailand Timor-Leste Vietnam
¹ Taiwan, officially the Republic of China, competes as "Chinese Taipei" ² Not a member of FIFA

History

Coaching staff

Players

Current squad

Previous squads

Olympics Games

AFC U-23 Championship

Asian Games

Managers

Schedule and results

2019

2020

Honours

Competitive record

Olympic Games

AFC U-23 Championship

Asian Games

See also

References

External links