Japan national under-23 football team

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Japan U-23
Shirt badge/Association crest
NicknameOlympic Japan
AssociationJFA
ConfederationAFC
Sub-confederationEAFF
Head coachGo Oiwa
Most capsMao Hosoya
(35)
Top scorerShoya Nakajima (19)
FIFA codeJPN
First colours
Second colours
First international
 Malaysia 1–1 Japan 
(Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; December 1990)[1]
Biggest win
 Japan 13–0 Philippines 
(Hong Kong; 12 June 1999)
Biggest defeat
 Denmark 6–1 Japan 
(Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; 6 February 1994)
Olympic Games
Appearances8 (first in 1996)
Best resultFourth place (2012, 2020)
Asian Games
Appearances7 (first in 2002)
Best result Gold medalists (2010)
AFC U-23 Asian Cup
Appearances7 (first in 2013)
Best result Champions (2016, 2024, 2026)

The Japan national under-23 football team (Japanese: U-23サッカー日本代表) is a national association football youth team of Japan and is controlled by the Japan Football Association. The team won a gold medal at the 2010 Asian Games, and the U-20 team, made up of university students and domestic league players, won the 2026 AFC U-23 Asian Cup for the second consecutive year. 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 prior. The exception to this was the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which was postponed one year, so in 2021, the team was called the Japan national under-24 football team. At the 2024 Olympics, they advanced to the Knockout stage without three overage players and several key players.

Team image

Nicknames

"サムライ・ブルー (Samurai Blue)" basically refers to the Japan national football team, but the under-23 football team are sometimes referred to as "Young" Samurai Blue. However, in reality, Samurai Blue is not often used. In the Olympic Games, the name Olympíc Japan "オリンピックジャパン (Orinpikku Japan)" is used to referred to U-23 national team.

Rivalries

South Korea

Japan maintains a strong football rivalry with South Korea, even in youth set-ups.

Results and fixtures

Legend

  Win   Draw   Lose   Fixture

2026

Jordan  v  Japan
1 January Friendly Jordan  1–1  Japan Doha, Qatar
16:00 UTC+3
Stadium: Hamad bin Khalifa Stadium
Note: The match was held behind closed doors.
Japan  v  Syria
7 January 2026 AFC U-23 Asian Cup GS Japan  5–0  Syria Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
14:30 UTC+3
Report Stadium: King Abdullah Sports City Hall Stadium
Attendance: 522
Referee: Zaid Thamer Mohammed (Iraq)
United Arab Emirates  v  Japan
10 January 2026 AFC U-23 Asian Cup GS United Arab Emirates  0–3  Japan Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
14:30 UTC+3 Report
Stadium: King Abdullah Sports City Hall Stadium
Attendance: 114
Referee: Qasim Al-Hatmi (Oman)
Japan  v  Qatar
13 January 2026 AFC U-23 Asian Cup GS Japan  2–0  Qatar Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
19:30 UTC+3
Report Stadium: King Abdullah Sports City Hall Stadium
Attendance: 190
Referee: Choi Hyun-jai (South Korea)
Japan  v  Jordan
16 January 2026 AFC U-23 Asian Cup QF Japan  1–1 (a.e.t.)
(4–2 p)		  Jordan Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
14:30 UTC+3
Report
Stadium: King Abdullah Sports City Hall Stadium
Attendance: 877
Referee: Asker Nadjafaliev (Uzbekistan)
Penalties
Japan  v  South Korea
20 January 2026 AFC U-23 Asian Cup SF Japan  1–0  South Korea Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
14:30 UTC+3
Report Stadium: King Abdullah Sports City Hall Stadium
Attendance: 188
Referee: Abdulla Al-Marri (Qatar)
China  v  Japan
24 January 2026 AFC U-23 Asian Cup Final China  0–4  Japan Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
18:00 UTC+3 Report
Stadium: Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Sports City Stadium
Attendance: 8,188
Referee: Faisal Al-Balawi (Saudi Arabia)
Japan  v  United States
27 March Friendly Japan  0–2  United States Cheonan, South Korea
2:00 am EDT Report
Stadium: Korea Football Park
South Korea  v  Japan
29 March Friendly South Korea  2–1  Japan Cheonan, South Korea
17:00 UTC+9 Lee Young-jun 34', 49' Report Ishii 77' Stadium: Korea Football Park
Japan  v  Hong Kong
16 September Asian Games GS Japan  2–0  Hong Kong Toyota, Japan
19:30 UTC+9
Report Stadium: Toyota Stadium
Attendance: 7,720
Referee: Tuan Yaasin (Malaysia)
Kyrgyzstan  v  Japan
20 September Asian Games GS Kyrgyzstan  0–7  Japan Toyota, Japan
19:30 UTC+8 Report
Stadium: Toyota Stadium
Attendance: 19,205
Referee: Payam Heydari (Iran)
Japan  v  Thailand
23 September Asian Games GS Japan  3–0  Thailand Toyota, Japan
19:30 UTC+8
Report Stadium: Toyota Stadium
Attendance: 18,408
Referee: Kim Woo-sung (South Korea)
Japan  v  North Korea
26 September Asian Games QF Japan  1–0  North Korea Toyota, Japan
19:30 UTC+9
Report Stadium: Toyota Stadium
Attendance: 18,912
Referee: Hanna Hattab (Syria)
South Korea  v  Japan
3 October Asian Games F South Korea  v  Japan Toyota, Japan
19:30 UTC+9 Report Stadium: Toyota Stadium
Referee: Adam Kersey (Australia)

Head-to-head record

As of 30 September 2026, after the match against Uzbekistan.

The following table shows Japan under-23 team's all-time international record.

Against Played Won Drawn Lost GF GA GD Confederation
 Afghanistan110030+3AFC
 Australia115062015+5AFC
 Bahrain311162+4AFC
 Cambodia220060+6AFC
 China9504145+9AFC
 Chinese Taipei4400151+14AFC
 Hong Kong8701214+17AFC
 India110010+1AFC
 Indonesia3300103+7AFC
 Iran5221107+3AFC
 Iraq4212660AFC
 Jordan3030440AFC
 Kuwait6420213+18AFC
 Kyrgyzstan2200100+10AFC
 Lebanon220061+5AFC
 Macau3300210+21AFC
 Malaysia171340477+40AFC
 Myanmar4400251+24AFC
   Nepal5500210+21AFC
 North Korea540184+4AFC
 Oman110041+3AFC
 Pakistan3300132+11AFC
 Palestine6600111+10AFC
 Philippines3300320+32AFC
 Qatar9621147+7AFC
 Saudi Arabia8611147+7AFC
 Singapore220041+3AFC
 South Korea2273122725+2AFC
 Syria320172+5AFC
 Tajikistan110030+3AFC
 Thailand111001293+26AFC
 Timor-Leste220070+7AFC
 United Arab Emirates8611132+11AFC
 Uzbekistan521247–3AFC
 Vietnam540191+8AFC
 Angola1010110CAF
 Egypt621328–6CAF
 Ghana4301112+9CAF
 Mali311134-1CAF
 Morocco330072+5CAF
 Nigeria300359–4CAF
 South Africa330061+5CAF
 Tunisia310246–2CAF
 Canada100101–1CONCACAF
 Costa Rica412154+1CONCACAF
 Honduras211031+2CONCACAF
 Jamaica2200130+13CONCACAF
 Mexico521210100CONCACAF
 United States6123711–4CONCACAF
 Argentina430193+6CONMEBOL
 Brazil522165+1CONMEBOL
 Chile110061+5CONMEBOL
 Colombia201124–2CONMEBOL
 Ecuador100101–1CONMEBOL
 Paraguay210184+4CONMEBOL
 Venezuela110040+4CONMEBOL
 Belgium100123–1UEFA
 Croatia110010+1UEFA
 Denmark201116–5UEFA
 England321041+3UEFA
 Israel110010+1UEFA
 Italy301237–4UEFA
 France211051+4UEFA
 Germany311195+4UEFA
 Greece1010110UEFA
 Hungary110032+1UEFA
 Kazakhstan220051+4UEFA
 Netherlands201101–1UEFA
 Norway100123–1UEFA
 Portugal2101220UEFA
 Republic of Ireland110020+2UEFA
 Russia522175+2UEFA
 Spain511327–5UEFA
 Slovakia110021+1UEFA
 Sweden110010+1UEFA
  Switzerland2101330UEFA
 Ukraine110020+2UEFA
 New Zealand422091+8OFC
Against:78 Nations Played:287 Won:175 Drawn:43 Lost:69 GF GA GD Confederation

Coaching staff

As of 31 July 2026.

Role Name
Head coach Japan Go Oiwa
Assistant coach Japan Kenji Haneda
Japan Shigeyuki Ochi
Goalkeeper coach Japan Yohei Sato
Physical coach Japan Yoshiharu Yano
Technical staff Japan Shohei Waki
Japan Haruto Hayama

Players

Current squad

The following U-21 players were called up on 31 July 2026 for the 2026 Asian Games, held between September and October.[2]

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Club
1 1GK Alexandre Pisano (2006-01-10) 10 January 2006 Japan Football Association Nagoya Grampus
12 1GK Masataka Kobayashi (2005-09-20) 20 September 2005 Japan Football Association Matsumoto Yamaga
23 1GK Rui Araki (2007-10-14) 14 October 2007 Japan Football Association Gamba Osaka
2 2DF Rei Umeki (2005-08-25) 25 August 2005 Japan Football Association FC Imabari
3 2DF Keita Kosugi (2006-03-18) 18 March 2006 German Football Association Eintracht Frankfurt
4 2DF Kaito Tsuchiya (2006-05-12) 12 May 2006 Japan Football Association Fukushima United
5 2DF Rion Ichihara (2005-07-07) 7 July 2005 Royal Dutch Football Association AZ Alkmaar
6 2DF Shuto Nagano (2006-04-01) 1 April 2006 Japan Football Association FC Tokyo
15 2DF Soichiro Mori (2007-06-29) 29 June 2007 Japan Football Association Fagiano Okayama
21 2DF Mihiro Sato (2007-02-26) 26 February 2007 Japan Football Association Albirex Niigata
22 2DF Tariqkani Hayato Okabe (2006-07-05) 5 July 2006 Japan Football Association Toyo University
7 3MF Nelson Ishiwatari (2005-05-10) 10 May 2005 Royal Belgian Football Association Sint-Truiden
8 3MF Kenshin Yasuda (2005-03-05) 5 March 2005 Japan Football Association V-Varen Nagasaki
10 3MF Hisatsugu Ishii (2005-07-07) 7 July 2005 Japan Football Association Shonan Bellmare
14 3MF Yuto Ozeki (2005-02-06) 6 February 2005 Japan Football Association Kawasaki Frontale
17 3MF Yotaro Nakajima (2006-04-22) 22 April 2006 Japan Football Association Sanfrecce Hiroshima
18 3MF Yudai Shimamoto (2006-10-26) 26 October 2006 Japan Football Association Shimizu S-Pulse
9 4FW Yutaka Michiwaki (2006-04-05) 5 April 2006 Japan Football Association Iwaki FC
11 4FW Yumeki Yokoyama (2005-09-23) 23 September 2005 Japan Football Association Cerezo Osaka
13 4FW Shusuke Furuya (2005-01-26) 26 January 2005 Japan Football Association Tokyo International University
16 4FW Yuya Fukunaga (2005-08-29) 29 August 2005 Japan Football Association Kyoto Sangyo University
19 4FW Brian Nwadike (2005-07-07) 7 July 2005 Danish Football Association Aalborg
20 4FW Sena Ishibashi (2006-04-22) 22 April 2006 Japan Football Association Shonan Bellmare

Previous squads

Bold indicates winning squads
Olympic Games
AFC U-23 Asian Cup
Asian Games

Overaged players in the Olympic Games

Tournament Player 1 Player 2 Player 3
not selected
Seigo Narazaki (GK) Ryuzo Morioka (DF) Atsuhiro Miura (MF)
Hitoshi Sogahata (GK) Shinji Ono (MF) not selected
not selected
Maya Yoshida (DF) Yūhei Tokunaga (DF) not selected
Hiroki Fujiharu (DF) Tsukasa Shiotani (DF) Shinzo Koroki (FW)
Maya Yoshida (DF) Hiroki Sakai (DF) Wataru Endo (MF)
not selected

Manager history

Name Period
Japan Yoshitada Yamaguchi 1990–1992
Japan Akira Nishino 1993–1996
France Philippe Troussier 1998–2000
Japan Masakuni Yamamoto 2002–2004
Japan Yasuharu Sorimachi 2006–2008
Japan Takashi Sekizuka 2010–2012
Japan Makoto Teguramori 2014–2016
Japan Hajime Moriyasu 2017–2020
Japan Akinobu Yokouchi 2020
Japan Hajime Moriyasu 2020–2021
Japan Koichi Togashi 2021
Japan Go Oiwa 2021–present[3]

Records

As of 2 August 2024
Players in bold are still active, at least at club level.
Caps and goals are calculated taking into account all national team levels, including U21, U22, and U23.

Most capped players

# Name Caps Goals Pos Career
1 Mao Hosoya 35 16 FW 2021–2024
2 Kein Sato 33 8 MF 2021–2024
3 Keigo Higashi 31 5 MF 2010–2012
Kensuke Nagai 31 13 FW 2009–2012
Reo Hatate 31 8 MF 2017–2021
6 Shoya Nakajima 30 19 FW 2014–2016
7 Hotaru Yamaguchi 29 1 MF 2010–2012
8 Kazuya Yamamura 26 1 DF 2010–2012
Hiroki Sakai 26 3 DF 2011–2021
10 Daisuke Matsui 25 2 MF 2002–2004

Top goalscorers

# Name Goals Caps Ratio Career
1 Shoya Nakajima 19 30 0.63 2014–2016
2 Mao Hosoya 16 35 0.46 2021–2024
3 Kensuke Nagai 13 31 0.42 2009–2012
4 Ayase Ueda 12 24 0.5 2017–2021
5 Daizen Maeda 9 18 0.5 2018–2021
6 Reo Hatate 8 31 0.26 2017–2021
Kein Sato 8 33 0.24 2021–2024
7 Musashi Suzuki 7 10 0.7 2014–2016
Takefusa Kubo 7 18 0.39 2018–2021
Yuito Suzuki 7 20 0.35 2021–2023

Competitive record

  Champions    Runners-up    Third place    Fourth place  

Olympic Games

Summer Olympics record Qualification record
Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA Pld W D L GF GA Link
1908–1988 See Japan national team See Japan national team
Spain 1992 Did not qualify 116142211Link
United States 1996 Group stage 9th 3 2 0 1 4 4 9711256Link
Australia 2000 Quarter-finals 5th 4 2 1 1 6 5 121200663Link
Greece 2004 Group stage 13th 3 1 0 2 6 7 8611192Link
China 2008 Group stage 15th 3 0 0 3 1 4 12921244Link
United Kingdom 2012 Fourth place 4th 6 3 1 2 6 5 8602176Link
Brazil 2016 Group stage 10th 3 1 1 1 7 7 via AFC U-23 Asian Cup
Japan 2020 Fourth place 4th 6 3 1 2 8 5
France 2024 Quarter-finals 5th 4 3 0 1 7 3
United States 2028 To be determinated To be determinated
Australia 2032
TotalFourth place12/1332154134540 60465917332Link

Match history

A match vs Spain at the 2012 Summer Olympics at Glasgow in the United Kingdom
Summer Olympics history
Year Round Opponent Score Result
1996 Group stage Brazil1–0Win
 Nigeria0–2Loss
 Hungary3–2Win
2000 Group stage South Africa2–1Win
 Slovakia2–1Win
 Brazil0–1Loss
Quarter-finals United States2–2 (a.e.t.)
4–5 (p)		Draw
Loss
2004 Group stage Paraguay3–4Loss
 Italy2–3Loss
 Ghana1–0Win
2008 Group stage United States0–1Loss
 Nigeria1–2Loss
 Netherlands0–1Loss
2012 Group stage Spain1–0Win
 Morocco1–0Win
 Honduras0–0Draw
Quarter-finals Egypt3–0Win
Semi-finals Mexico1–3Loss
Bronze Play-off South Korea0–2Loss
2016 Group stage Nigeria4–5Loss
 Colombia2–2Draw
 Sweden1–0Win
2020 Group stage South Africa1–0Win
 Mexico2–1Win
 France4–0Win
Quarter-finals New Zealand0–0 (a.e.t.)
4–2 (p)		Draw
Win
Semi-finals Spain0–1 (a.e.t.)Loss
Bronze Play-off Mexico1–3Loss
2024 Group stage Paraguay5–0Win
 Mali1–0Win
 Israel1–0Win
Quarter-finals Spain0–3Loss

AFC U-23 Asian Cup

AFC U-23 Asian Cup record Qualifier record
Year Result Position GP W D L GS GA GP W D L GS GA
Oman 2013Quarter-finals7th412185 5500202
Qatar 2016Champions1st6600154 3300100
China 2018Quarter-finals5th430155 3300112
Thailand 2020Group stage15th301235 3300210
Uzbekistan 2022Third place3rd6411113 220080
Qatar 2024Champions1st6501103 321070
Saudi Arabia 2026Champions1st6510161 3300112
Japan 2028Qualified as host Qualified as host
Total8/83 Titles3524566826 222110886

Match history

AFC U-23 Asian Cup history
Year Round Opponent Score Result
2013 Group stage Iran3–3Draw
 Kuwait0–0Draw
 Australia4–0Win
Quarter-finals Iraq0–1Loss
2016 Group stage North Korea1–0Win
 Thailand4–0Win
 Saudi Arabia2–1Win
Quarter-finals Iran3–0 (a.e.t.)Win
Semi-finals Iraq2–1Win
Final South Korea3–2Win
2018 Group stage Palestine1–0Win
 Thailand1–0Win
 North Korea3–1Win
Quarter-finals Uzbekistan0–4Loss
2020 Group stage Saudi Arabia1–2Loss
 Syria1–2Loss
 Qatar1–1Draw
2022 Group stage UAE2–1Win
 Saudi Arabia0–0Draw
 Tajikistan3–0Win
Quarter-finals South Korea3–0Win
Semi-finals Uzbekistan0–2Loss
3rd place match Australia3–0Win
2024 Group stage China1–0Win
 UAE2–0Win
 South Korea0–1Loss
Quarter-finals Qatar4–2 (a.e.t.)Win
Semi-finals Iraq2–0Win
Final Uzbekistan1–0Win
2026 Group stage Syria5–0Win
 UAE3–0Win
 Qatar2–0Win
Quarter-finals Jordan1–1 (a.e.t.)
4–2 (p)		Draw
Win
Semi-finals South Korea1–0Win
Final China4–0Win

Asian Games

Asian Games record
Hosts / Year Result Position GP W D L GS GA
South Korea 2002 Silver26501134
Qatar 2006Round 111320154
China 2010 Gold17700171
South Korea 2014Quarter-finals65302105
Indonesia 2018 Silver27502104
China 2022 Silver26501184
Japan 2026 Silver26411142
Qatar 2030
Saudi Arabia 2034
Total7/7 Gold4031188724

Match history

Asian Games history
Year Round Opponent Score Result
2002 Round 1 Palestine2–0Win
 Bahrain5–2Win
 Uzbekistan1–0Win
Quarter-finals China1–0Win
Semi-finals Thailand3–0Win
Final Iran1–2Loss
2006 Round 1 Pakistan3–2Win
 Syria1–0Win
 North Korea1–2Loss
2010 Round 1 China3–0Win
 Malaysia2–0Win
 Kyrgyzstan3–0Win
Round 2 India5–0Win
Quarter-finals Thailand1–0Win
Semi-finals Iran2–1Win
Final UAE1–0Win
2014 Round 1 Kuwait4–1Win
 Iraq1–3Loss
   Nepal4–0Win
Round 2 Palestine4–0Win
Quarter-finals South Korea0–1Loss
2018 Round 1   Nepal1–0Win
 Pakistan4–0Win
 Vietnam0–1Loss
Round 2 Malaysia1–0Win
Quarter-finals Saudi Arabia2–1Win
Semi-finals UAE1–0Win
Final South Korea1–2Loss
2022 Round 1 Qatar3–1Win
 Palestine1–0Win
 Myanmar7–0Win
Quarter-finals North Korea2–1Win
Semi-finals Hong Kong4–0Win
Final South Korea1–2Loss
2026 Round 1 Hong Kong2–0Win
 Kyrgyzstan7–0Win
 Thailand3–0Win
Quarter-finals North Korea1–0Win
Semi-finals Uzbekistan1–1 (9–8 pen.)Win
Final South Korea0–1Loss

See also

National teams
Men's
Women's

References

  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-21 Japan National Team squad - 20th Asian Games Aichi-Nagoya 2026". 31 July 2026. Retrieved 22 September 2026.
  3. "Mr. OIWA Go appointed as Head Coach of U-21 Japan National Team". Japan Football Association (JFA). Tokyo. 16 December 2021. Retrieved 27 December 2021.