Japan national under-23 football team

This article is about the men's team. For the women's team, see Japan women's national under-23 football team.
Japan U-23
Nickname(s)Olympic 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  
(Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; December 1990)[1]
Biggest win
  13–0 Philippines 
(Hong Kong; 12 June 1999)
Biggest defeat
 Denmark 6–1  
(Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; 6 February 1994)
Olympic Games
Appearances8 (first in 1996)
Best resultFourth place (2012, 2020)
Asian Games
Appearances6 (first in 2002)
Best result Gold medalists (2010)
AFC U-23 Asian Cup
Appearances6 (first in 2013)
Best result Champions (2016, 2024)

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 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 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

Main article: Japan–South Korea football rivalry

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

Results and fixtures

Main article: Japan national under-23 football team results (2020–present)
See also: 2025 in Japanese football
Legend

  Win   Draw   Lose   Fixture

2025

U-22

25 July Friendly Saudi Arabia  v   Tashkent, Uzbekistan
--:-- UTC+5 Stadium: JAR Stadium
28 July Friendly Uzbekistan  v   Tashkent, Uzbekistan
--:-- UTC+5 Stadium: JAR Stadium
3 September 2026 AFC U-23 Asian Cup qual.   v  Afghanistan Yangon, Myanmar
--:-- UTC+6:30 Stadium: TBC
6 September 2026 AFC U-23 Asian Cup qual. Myanmar  v   Yangon, Myanmar
--:-- UTC+6:30 Stadium: TBC
9 September 2026 AFC U-23 Asian Cup qual.   v  Kuwait Yangon, Myanmar
--:-- UTC+6:30 Stadium: TBC

2024

U-23

17 July Friendly France  1–1   Toulon, France
21:05 UTC+2
  • Olise 47'
 Report
Stadium: Stade Mayol
Attendance: 11,896
Referee: Mohammad Usman Aslam (Norway)
24 July 2024 Summer Olympic GS   5–0  Paraguay Bordeaux, France
19:00 UTC+2
Report Stadium: Stade de Bordeaux
Attendance: 14,000
Referee: François Letexier (France)
27 July 2024 Summer Olympic GS   1–0  Mali Bordeaux, France
21:00 UTC+2
Report Stadium: Stade de Bordeaux
Referee: Edina Alves Batista (Brazil)
30 July 2024 Summer Olympic GS Israel  0–1   Nantes, France
21:00 UTC+2 Report
Stadium: Stade de la Beaujoire
Referee: Saíd Martínez (Honduras)
2 August 2024 Summer Olympic QF   0–3  Spain Décines-Charpieu, France
17:00 UTC+2 Report
Stadium: Stade de Lyon
Referee: Dahane Beida (Mauritania)

Head-to-head record

As of 2 August 2024, after the match against Spain.

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

Against Played Won Drawn Lost GF GA GD Confederation
 Australia 11 5 0 6 20 15 +5 AFC
 Bahrain 3 1 1 1 6 2 +4 AFC
 Cambodia 2 2 0 0 6 0 +6 AFC
 China 8 4 0 4 10 5 +5 AFC
 Chinese Taipei 4 4 0 0 15 1 +14 AFC
 Hong Kong 7 6 0 1 19 4 +15 AFC
 Indonesia 3 3 0 0 10 3 +7 AFC
 India 1 1 0 0 1 0 +1 AFC
 Iran 5 2 2 1 10 7 +3 AFC
 Iraq 4 2 1 2 6 6 0 AFC
 Jordan 1 0 1 0 2 2 0 AFC
 Kuwait 5 3 2 0 15 2 +13 AFC
 Lebanon 2 2 0 0 6 1 +5 AFC
 Macau 3 3 0 0 21 0 +21 AFC
 Malaysia 17 13 4 0 47 7 +40 AFC
 Myanmar 3 3 0 0 23 0 +23 AFC
   Nepal 5 5 0 0 21 0 +21 AFC
 Oman 1 1 0 0 4 1 +3 AFC
 North Korea 4 3 0 1 7 4 +3 AFC
 Qatar 7 5 2 1 12 7 +5 AFC
 Saudi Arabia 5 5 1 1 9 6 +3 AFC
 South Korea 20 6 3 11 25 23 +2 AFC
 Palestine 6 6 0 0 11 1 +10 AFC
 Philippines 3 3 0 0 32 0 +32 AFC
 Pakistan 3 3 0 0 13 2 +11 AFC
 Singapore 2 2 0 0 4 1 +3 AFC
 Syria 2 1 0 1 2 2 0 AFC
 Tajikistan 1 1 0 0 3 0 +3 AFC
 Thailand 10 9 0 1 26 3 +23 AFC
 Timor-Leste 2 2 0 0 7 0 +7 AFC
 Uzbekistan 3 1 0 2 1 6 –5 AFC
 United Arab Emirates 6 5 1 1 10 2 +7 AFC
 Vietnam 5 4 0 1 9 1 +8 AFC
 Angola 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 CAF
 Egypt 6 2 1 3 2 8 –6 CAF
 Ghana 4 3 0 1 11 2 +9 CAF
 Mali 3 1 1 1 3 4 -1 CAF
 Morocco 3 3 0 0 7 2 +5 CAF
 Nigeria 3 0 0 3 5 9 –4 CAF
 South Africa 3 3 0 0 6 1 +5 CAF
 Tunisia 3 1 0 2 4 6 –2 CAF
 Canada 1 0 0 1 0 1 –1 CONCACAF
 Costa Rica 4 1 2 1 5 4 +1 CONCACAF
 Honduras 2 1 1 0 3 1 +2 CONCACAF
 Jamaica 2 2 0 0 13 0 +13 CONCACAF
 Mexico 5 2 1 2 10 10 0 CONCACAF
 United States 5 1 2 2 7 9 –2 CONCACAF
 Argentina 4 3 0 1 9 3 +6 CONMEBOL
 Brazil 5 2 2 1 6 5 +1 CONMEBOL
 Chile 1 1 0 0 6 1 +5 CONMEBOL
 Colombia 2 0 1 1 2 4 –2 CONMEBOL
 Ecuador 1 0 0 1 0 1 –1 CONMEBOL
 Paraguay 2 1 0 1 8 4 +4 CONMEBOL
 Venezuela 1 1 0 0 4 0 +4 CONMEBOL
 Belgium 1 0 0 1 2 3 –1 UEFA
 Croatia 1 1 0 0 1 0 +1 UEFA
 Denmark 2 0 1 1 1 6 –5 UEFA
 England 3 2 1 0 4 1 +3 UEFA
 Israel 1 1 0 0 1 0 +1 UEFA
 Italy 3 0 1 2 3 7 –4 UEFA
 France 2 1 1 0 5 1 +4 UEFA
 Germany 3 1 1 1 9 5 +4 UEFA
 Greece 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 UEFA
 Hungary 1 1 0 0 3 2 +1 UEFA
 Kazakhstan 2 2 0 0 5 1 +4 UEFA
 Netherlands 2 0 1 1 0 1 –1 UEFA
 Norway 1 0 0 1 2 3 –1 UEFA
 Portugal 2 1 0 1 2 2 0 UEFA
 Republic of Ireland 1 1 0 0 2 0 +2 UEFA
 Russia 5 2 2 1 7 5 +2 UEFA
 Spain 5 1 1 3 2 7 –5 UEFA
 Slovakia 1 1 0 0 2 1 +1 UEFA
 Sweden 1 1 0 0 1 0 +1 UEFA
  Switzerland 2 1 0 1 3 3 0 UEFA
 Ukraine 1 1 0 0 2 0 +2 UEFA
 New Zealand 4 2 2 0 9 1 +8 OFC
Against:76 Nations Played:270 Won:161 Drawn:42 Lost:67 GF GA GD Confederation

Coaching staff

Role Name
Head coach Go Oiwa
Assistant coach Kenji Haneda
Goalkeeper coach Yohei Sato
Fitness coach Kittipat Sasipitakwong

Players

Current squad

The following players were called up for the Olympic Games, which was held from July to August 2024. Due to injury, Riku Handa had to withdraw from the squad.[2]

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Club
1 1GK Leo Kokubo (2001-01-23) 23 January 2001 Sint-Truiden
12 1GK Taishi Brandon Nozawa (2002-12-25) 25 December 2002 Royal Antwerp
2 2DF Kaito Suzuki (2002-08-25) 25 August 2002 Tokyo Verdy
3 2DF Ryuya Nishio (2001-05-16) 16 May 2001 Cerezo Osaka
4 2DF Hiroki Sekine (2002-08-11) 11 August 2002 Reims
5 2DF Seiji Kimura (2001-08-24) 24 August 2001 FC Tokyo
15 2DF Kota Takai (2004-09-04) 4 September 2004 Tottenham
16 2DF Ayumu Ohata (2001-04-27) 27 April 2001 OH Leuven
6 3MF Sota Kawasaki (2001-07-30) 30 July 2001 Kyoto Sanga
7 3MF Rihito Yamamoto (2001-12-12) 12 December 2001 Sint-Truiden
8 3MF Joel Chima Fujita (2002-02-16) 16 February 2002 St. Pauli
13 3MF Ryotaro Araki (2002-01-29) 29 January 2002 Kashima Antlers
14 3MF Shunsuke Mito (2002-09-28) 28 September 2002 Sparta Rotterdam
9 4FW Shota Fujio (2001-05-02) 2 May 2001 Machida Zelvia
10 4FW Koki Saito (2001-08-10) 10 August 2001 Queens Park Rangers
11 4FW Mao Hosoya (2001-09-07) 7 September 2001 Kashiwa Reysol
17 4FW Yu Hirakawa (2001-01-03) 3 January 2001 Bristol City
18 4FW Kein Sato (2001-07-11) 11 July 2001 FC Tokyo

Recent call-ups

The following players were called up to an U-23, U-22 or U-21 squad in the past 12 months.

Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club Latest call-up
GK Masato Sasaki (2002-05-01) 1 May 2002 Iwaki FC Olympic Games, July-August 2024 PRE
DF Takashi Uchino (2001-03-07) 7 March 2001 Al-Wasl Olympic Games, July-August 2024 PRE
DF Riku Handa (2002-01-01) 1 January 2002 Gamba Osaka Olympic Games, July-August 2024 INJ
MF Fuki Yamada (2001-07-10) 10 July 2001 Kyoto Sanga Olympic Games, July-August 2024 PRE
MF Kodai Sano (2003-09-25) 25 September 2003 NEC Olympic Games, July-August 2024 PRE/WD
FW Asahi Uenaka (2001-11-01) 1 November 2001 Yokohama F. Marinos Olympic Games, July-August 2024 PRE

INJ Withdrew due to injury
PRE Preliminary squad / standby
TRP Training partner
WD Player withdrew from the squad due to non-injury issue.

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

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
1996
 not selected
2000
 Seigo Narazaki (GK) Ryuzo Morioka (DF) Atsuhiro Miura (MF)
2004
 Hitoshi Sogahata (GK) Shinji Ono (MF) not selected
2008
 not selected
2012
 Maya Yoshida (DF) Yūhei Tokunaga (DF) not selected
2016
 Hiroki Fujiharu (DF) Tsukasa Shiotani (DF) Shinzo Koroki (FW)
2020
 Maya Yoshida (DF) Hiroki Sakai (DF) Wataru Endo (MF)
2024
 not selected

Manager history

Name 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
Hajime Moriyasu 2020–2021
Koichi Togashi 2021
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.

Competitive record

  Champions    Runners-up    Third place    Fourth place  

Olympic Games

Main article: Japan at the Olympics
See also: Football at the Summer Olympics
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
1992 Did not qualify 11 6 1 4 22 11 Link
1996 Group stage 9th 3 2 0 1 4 4 9 7 1 1 25 6 Link
2000 Quarter-finals 5th 4 2 1 1 6 5 12 12 0 0 66 3 Link
2004 Group stage 13th 3 1 0 2 6 7 8 6 1 1 19 2 Link
2008 Group stage 15th 3 0 0 3 1 4 12 9 2 1 24 4 Link
2012 Fourth place 4th 6 3 1 2 6 5 8 6 0 2 17 6 Link
2016 Group stage 10th 3 1 1 1 7 7 via AFC U-23 Asian Cup
2020 Fourth place 4th 6 3 1 2 8 5
2024 Quarter-finals 5th 4 3 0 1 7 3
Total Fourth place 8/9 32 15 4 13 45 40 60 46 5 9 173 32 Link

Match history

Summer Olympics history
Year Round Opponent Score Result
1996 Group stage  Brazil 1–0 Win
 Nigeria 0–2 Loss
 Hungary 3–2 Win
2000 Group stage  South Africa 2–1 Win
 Slovakia 2–1 Win
 Brazil 0–1 Loss
Quarter-finals  United States 2–2
4–5		 Draw
Loss
2004 Group stage  Paraguay 3–4 Loss
 Italy 2–3 Loss
 Ghana 1–0 Win
2008 Group stage  United States 0–1 Loss
 Nigeria 1–2 Loss
 Netherlands 0–1 Loss
2012 Group stage  Spain 1–0 Win
 Morocco 1–0 Win
 Honduras 0–0 Draw
Quarter-finals  Egypt 3–0 Win
Semi-finals  Mexico 1–3 Loss
Bronze Play-off  South Korea 0–2 Loss
2016 Group stage  Nigeria 4–5 Loss
 Colombia 2–2 Draw
 Sweden 1–0 Win
2020 Group stage  South Africa 1–0 Win
 Mexico 2–1 Win
 France 4–0 Win
Quarter-finals  New Zealand 0–0
(4–2 p.)		 Draw Win
Semi-finals  Spain 0–1 Loss
Bronze Play-off  Mexico 1–3 Loss
2024 Group stage  Paraguay 5–0 Win
 Mali 1–0 Win
 Israel 1–0 Win
Quarter-finals  Spain 0–3 Loss

AFC U-23 Asian Cup

See also: 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
2013 Quarter-finals 7th 4 1 2 1 8 5 5 5 0 0 20 2
2016 Champions 1st 6 6 0 0 15 4 3 3 0 0 10 0
2018 Quarter-finals 5th 4 3 0 1 5 5 3 3 0 0 11 2
2020 Group stage 15th 3 0 1 2 3 5 3 3 0 0 21 0
2022 Third place 3rd 6 4 1 1 11 3 2 2 0 0 8 0
2024 Champions 1st 6 5 0 1 10 3 3 2 1 0 7 0
2026 To be determined To be determined
Total 6/7 Champions 26 19 4 6 52 25 16 16 0 0 70 4

Match history

AFC U-23 Asian Cup history
Year Round Opponent Score Result
2013 Group stage  Iran 3–3 Draw
 Kuwait 0–0 Draw
 Australia 4–0 Win
Quarter-finals  Iraq 0–1 Loss
2016 Group stage  North Korea 1–0 Win
 Thailand 4–0 Win
 Saudi Arabia 2–1 Win
Quarter-finals  Iran 3–0 Win
Semi-finals  Iraq 2–1 Win
Final  South Korea 3–2 Win
2018 Group stage  Palestine 1–0 Win
 Thailand 1–0 Win
 North Korea 3–1 Win
Quarter-finals  Uzbekistan 0–4 Loss
2020 Group stage  Saudi Arabia 1–2 Loss
 Syria 1–2 Loss
 Qatar 1–1 Draw
2022 Group stage  UAE 2–1 Win
 Saudi Arabia 0–0 Draw
 Tajikistan 3–0 Win
Quarter-finals  South Korea 3–0 Win
Semi-finals  Uzbekistan 0–2 Loss
3rd place match  Australia 3–0 Win
2024 Group stage  China 1–0 Win
 UAE 2–0 Win
 South Korea 0–1 Loss
Quarter-finals  Qatar 4–2 Win
Semi-finals  Iraq 2–0 Win
Final  Uzbekistan 1–0 Win

Asian Games

Main article: Japan at the Asian Games
See also: Football at the 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
2022  Silver 2 6 5 0 1 18 4
2026
2030
2034
Total 6/6  Gold 34 27 0 7 73 22

Match history

Asian Games history
Year Round Opponent Score Result
2002 Round 1  Palestine 2–0 Win
 Bahrain 5–2 Win
 Uzbekistan 1–0 Win
Quarter-finals  China 1–0 Win
Semi-finals  Thailand 3–0 Win
Final  Iran 1–2 Loss
2006 Round 1  Pakistan 3–2 Win
 Syria 1–0 Win
 North Korea 1–2 Loss
2010 Round 1  China 3–0 Win
 Malaysia 2–0 Win
 Kyrgyzstan 3–0 Win
Round 2  India 5–0 Win
Quarter-finals  Thailand 1–0 Win
Semi-finals  Iran 2–1 Win
Final  UAE 1–0 Win
2014 Round 1  Kuwait 4–1 Win
 Iraq 1–3 Loss
   Nepal 4–0 Win
Round 2  Palestine 4–0 Win
Quarter-finals  South Korea 0–1 Loss
2018 Round 1    Nepal 1–0 Win
 Pakistan 4–0 Win
 Vietnam 0–1 Loss
Round 2  Malaysia 1–0 Win
Quarter-finals  Saudi Arabia 2–1 Win
Semi-finals  UAE 1–0 Win
Final  South Korea 1–2 Loss
2022 Round 1  Qatar 3–1 Win
 Palestine 1–0 Win
Round 2  Myanmar 7–0 Win
Quarter-finals  North Korea 2–1 Win
Semi-finals  Hong Kong 4–0 Win
Final  South Korea 1–2 Loss

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-23日本代表 メンバー・スケジュール（7.11-8.11 フランス） 第33回オリンピック競技大会（2024／パリ）" (in Japanese). 3 July 2024. Retrieved 3 July 2024.
  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.
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