On November 1, the Japan Football Association announced the final 26 members of the Japan national football team for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Samurai Blue will be making their seventh consecutive appearance at the tournament starting on November 20th.
Japan, ranked 24th internationally, will face Germany, Costa Rica and Spain in Group E. The team kicks off their campaign on November 23 against four-time champions Germany, who are currently eleventh. Therefore, they face Spain in the seventh match on November 27, Costa Rica on November 31 and December 1 (December 2 in Japan).
Despite being grouped with Germany and Spain, Japan are looking to qualify for the knockout stages for the third season in a row, hoping to reach the quarter-finals for the first time.
Head Coach Moriyasu said.
I couldn’t invite everyone who was waiting for this World Cup, but I thank and respect everyone who expressed the desire to represent Japan: “No matter how many we can choose, there are many good players and even if we choose 30 difficult decisions.
We have selected players who are on the same wavelength as the team, who can move and combine, who can use their individual strengths through their organization.
“I’ve made the best, comprehensive selection possible, placing importance on our activities thus far, the situations the players are facing [at their clubs] and with how we plan to play at the World Cup in mind,” said manager Hajime Moriyasu during the announcement.”
Japan kicks off in Qatar on November 10. The team had one pre-tournament warm-up against Canada on November 17 in Abu Dhabi.
Will make his debut against Germany on the 23rd. After November, Samurai Blue will face Costa Rica on November 27, followed by the Group E final against Spain 0n December 2.
Japan squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup:
Goalkeepers:
Shuichi Gonda
Daniel Schmidt
Defenders:
Maya Yoshida
Hiroki Sakai
Shogo Taniguchi
Miki Yamane
Ko Itakura
Yuta Nakayama
Hiroki Ito
Takehiro Tomiyasu
Midfielders:
Wataru Endo
Junya Ito
Takumi Minamino
Hidemasa Morita
Daichi Kamada
Yuki Soma
Kaoru Mitoma
Ritsu Doan
Ao Tanaka
Takefusa Kubo
Forwards:
Takuma Asano
Ayase Ueda
Manager
Moriyasu Hajime