Japan national football team

The Japan national football team (サッカー日本代表, Sakkā Nihon Daihyō or Sakkā Nippon Daihyō), nicknamed the 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.

Quick facts: Nickname(s), Association, Confederation, Sub-... ▼

Japan

Nickname(s)	サムライ・ブルー (Samurai Blue)[1][2] Since 19 October 2009[3]
Association	Japan Football Association (JFA)
Confederation	AFC (Asia)
Sub-confederation	EAFF (East Asia)
Head coach	Hajime Moriyasu[4][5][6]
Captain	Wataru Endō
Most caps	Yasuhito Endō (152)
Top scorer	Kunishige Kamamoto (75)[7]
Home stadium	Various
FIFA code	JPN
First colours Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current	19 1 (21 September 2023)[8]
Highest	9 (March 1998)
Lowest	66 (December 1992)
First international
Japan 0–5 China  (Tokyo, Japan; 9 May 1917)
Biggest win
Japan 15–0 Philippines  (Tokyo, Japan; 27 September 1967)
Biggest defeat
Japan 2–15 Philippines  (Tokyo, Japan; 10 May 1917)
World Cup
Appearances	7 (first in 1998)
Best result	Round of 16 (2002, 2010, 2018, 2022)
Asian Cup
Appearances	10 (first in 1988)
Best result	Champions (1992, 2000, 2004, 2011)
Copa América (as guest)
Appearances	2 (first in 1999)
Best result	Group stage (1999, 2019)
EAFF Championship
Appearances	9 (first in 2003)
Best result	Champions (2013, 2022)
FIFA Confederations Cup
Appearances	5 (first in 1995)
Best result	Runners-up (2001)
Medal record Men's football Olympic Games 1968 Mexico Team FIFA Confederations Cup 2001 Korea/Japan Team Asian Cup 1992 Japan Team 2000 Lebanon Team 2004 China Team 2011 Qatar Team 2019 UAE Team Asian Games 1951 New Delhi Team 1966 Bangkok Team EAFF Championship 2013 South Korea Team 2022 Japan Team 2003 Japan Team 2005 South Korea Team 2008 China Team 2017 Japan Team 2019 South Korea Team 2010 Japan Team
Website	Japanese English

Japan was not a major football force until the end of the 1980s, with a small and amateur team. For a long time in Japan, football was a less popular sport than baseball and sumo.[9][10] Since the 1990s, when Japanese football became fully professionalized, Japan has emerged as one of the most successful teams in Asia; they have qualified for the last seven FIFA World Cups (qualifying for the 2002 event as co-hosts with South Korea) with knockout stage appearances in 2002, 2010, 2018 and 2022, and won the AFC Asian Cup a record four times, in 1992, 2000, 2004 and 2011. The team also finished second in the 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup and the 2019 AFC Asian Cup. Japan remains the only team from the AFC other than Australia and Saudi Arabia to have reached the final of a senior FIFA men's competition.

Japan's progression in a short period has served as an inspiration and example of how to develop football.[11][12] 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 1999, 2011, 2015, and 2019 editions of the tournament, though they only played in the 1999 and 2019 events.[13]