The Tricolor academy player who represented Japan

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São Paulo

·14 June 2026

The Tricolor academy player who represented Japan

São Paulo’s relationship with the World Cup involves not only players who represented the Brazilian National Team, but also athletes who played for other countries. At the 1998 World Cup in France, Wagner Lopes, a player developed through São Paulo’s youth ranks and, at the time, a forward for Bellmare Hiratsuka, was one of Japan’s standout names in the tournament.

Born in Igaçaba, a district of Pedregulho, in the state of São Paulo, on January 29, 1969, Wagner arrived at Tricolor at age 15, in August 1984, and quickly showed himself to be a promising player, winning that year’s São Paulo state youth championship. Unlike the other boys in his age group, he skipped steps and was never even registered to play in a Copa São Paulo de Juniores.

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He made his professional debut on April 21, 1985, in a match by the mixed squad—then nicknamed Expressinho—against Bragantino in Bragança Paulista (a 4-3 win for the home side), and he quickly earned a place in the main squad, despite being used only sparingly on the field.

In all, he played 15 matches for the Morumbis club, with three wins, eight draws, four losses, and 1 goal scored: in the 2-1 defeat to Santo André on April 2, 1986. Still, he left Tricolor with two titles on his résumé: the 1985 and 1987 Paulista Championship. After saying goodbye to the team on May 31, 1987 (a 0-0 draw against Mogi Mirim at Morumbis), Wagner Lopes headed East.

— I come from a poor, humble family. My parents were farm workers, I have eight siblings, and I’m the youngest. São Paulo gave me the chance to become a professional. At 18, Careca was the starter, an above-average player we all looked up to. I wanted to play, but he was much better. Dr. Juvenal Juvêncio told me to go to Japan for three years and then come back. I ended up staying 17.

The forward was loaned to Nissan Motors (now Yokohama F. Marinos) in Japan. In the still-developing Japanese game, he stood out tremendously, winning in a short time the Japanese league title (Japan Soccer League), the JSL Cup, and the Emperor’s Cup—the latter twice in a row.

In 1990, he was loaned out again, this time to Hitachi (now Kashiwa Reysol). He was only granted a free transfer from Tricolor on February 25, 1993. In the Land of the Rising Sun, he would also play for Honda FC (1995), Bellmare Hiratsuka (now Shonan Bellmare, in 1997), Nagoya Grampus (1999), FC Tokyo (2001), and Avispa Fukuoka (where he retired, in 2002).

After so many years of work and residence in Japan, Lopes acquired Japanese citizenship in September 1997 and was then promptly called up to represent the Japanese national team, which was still competing in the qualifiers for the 1998 World Cup. He was an extremely important figure in that team, which for the first time had earned the right to take part in the final stage of the competition, scoring three goals in six matches.

In France, Japan did not go very far. Wagner played in all three matches and provided the assist for Masashi Nakayama’s goal against Jamaica—the first in Japanese World Cup history. Wearing the blue shirt, he also played in the 1999 Copa América (CONMEBOL things…), even scoring two goals. In total, he made 20 appearances and scored five goals for Japan.

Currently, Wagner Lopes, back in Brazil, is a coach and has already led teams at dozens of clubs, both here and in Japan (and even in Indonesia!), and since 2025 he has been in charge of Luverdense, from Mato Grosso.