Japan: 2026 World Cup Squad, Fixtures and Schedule | OneFootball

Japan will travel to North America for the FIFA World Cup this summer aiming to finally break their round of 16 curse and go further than ever before in the tournament.

Japan became the first team outside of the three host nations to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, securing their ticket with a victory against Bahrain in the AFC qualifiers back in March 2025.

This will be the second World Cup in charge for manager Hajime Moriyasu, who masterminded back-to-back away wins against Scotland and England in the final international fixtures before naming his tournament squad.

The Samurai Blue have beaten Germany, Brazil, England and Spain since 2022, and in the most recent edition of the tournament they claimed famous victories over Spain and Germany in the group stage to top the standings, before being stopped in the last 16 by Croatia on penalties

Ahead of this tournament, Japan delivered a statement result when they beat England 1-0 at Wembley in March — the first time England had been beaten by an Asian side in their history — which was only Thomas Tuchel’s second defeat as England manager following a perfect qualification campaign.

Japan have been drawn in Group F at the tournament, where they will play the Netherlands, Tunisia, and Sweden.

Japan 2026 World Cup fixtures

What time do Japan’s World Cup games kick-off?

All kick-off times are BST.

Japan 2026 FIFA World Cup Squad

Goalkeepers: Zion Suzuki (Parma), Keisuke Osako (Sanfrecce Hiroshima), Tomoki Hayakawa (Kashima Antlers)

Defenders: Yūto Nagatomo (FC Tokyo), Shogo Taniguchi (Sint-Truiden), Ko Itakura (Ajax), Tsuyoshi Watanabe (Feyenoord), Takehiro Tomiyasu (Ajax), Hiroki Ito (Bayern Munich), Ayumu Seko (Le Havre), Yukinari Sugawara (Werder Bremen)

Midfielders: Junnosuke Suzuki (Copenhagen), Wataru Endo (Liverpool), Junya Ito (Genk), Daichi Kamada (Crystal Palace), Ritsu Doan (Eintracht Frankfurt), Ao Tanaka (Leeds United), Keito Nakamura (Reims), Kaishu Sano (Mainz), Takefusa Kubo (Real Sociedad), Yuito Suzuki (Freiburg)

Forwards: Koki Ogawa (NEC Nijmegen), Daizen Maeda (Celtic), Ayase Ueda (Feyenoord), Kento Shiogai (VfL Wolfsburg), Keisuke Goto (Sint-Truiden)

Read Also – Five of the greatest goalkeepers in World Cup history

See More – Full 2026 FIFA World Cup fixture schedule and kick-off times

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