# Yukinari Sugawara

Yukinari Sugawara (菅原 由勢, Sugawara Yukinari, born 28 June 2000) is a Japanese professional footballer who plays as a right-back for Premier League club Southampton and the Japan national team.

## Club career
### Nagoya Grampus

On 23 February 2018, it was announced that Nagoya Grampus had registered Sugawara as a player. Sugawara made his debut the following day, the opening day of the 2018 season, in a match against Gamba Osaka. At 17 years, 7 months, and 27 days, Sugawara's starting appearance in the J1 League opening match was the second youngest record in history (the youngest being Junichi Inamoto at 17 years and 6 months). On 6 April 2018, Sugawara signed his first professional contract with Nagoya Grampus, the youngest in the club's history to sign a professional deal, at 17 years and 10 months.

#### Loan to AZ

Sugawara joined Eredivisie club AZ on 21 June 2019 on a season-long loan. He made his first-team debut on 25 July, as a 59th-minute substitute during AZ's 0–0 home draw against BK Häcken in the second qualifying round of the Europa League. At AZ he was mainly utilised as a right back, where he competed with the older Jonas Svensson, and was set to become his future successor. On 4 August 2019, Sugawara started in the home match against Fortuna Sittard and scored the final goal in the 84th minute, to make it 4–0 after preliminary work by Calvin Stengs. Both in the league and group stage of the 2019–20 UEFA Europa League, Sugawara was a regular rotational player during the season, while also making some appearances for the reserve team of Jong AZ in the second-tier Eerste Divisie. During this season he played 16 league games in which he scored two goals.

### AZ

On 23 February 2020, it was announced that Sugawara would sign a five-year contract to join AZ permanently from 1 June 2020. He was awarded by the Eredivisie in January 2022 and August 2023.
In October 2023, he became the record-holder for the highest number of European appearances for AZ, reaching his 47th game in European competitions during a match against Aston Villa.

### Southampton

On 14 July 2024, Sugawara signed for Premier League club Southampton on a four-year contract. He became the fourth Japanese in history to sign with the club. On 17 August 2024, Sugawara made his debut for the club in a 1–0 away defeat against Newcastle United. He scored his first goal for the club on 31 August 2024 in a 3–1 away defeat against Brentford.

## International career

Sugawara represented Japan at the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup. He made his debut with the senior Japan national team in a friendly 0–0 tie with Cameroon on 9 October 2020. In March 2023, Sugawara made his first start for Japan against Uruguay. In September of the same year, he provided the assist for the first goal against Germany and was also the starting point for the second goal.

## Career statistics
### Club

    As of match played 15 March 2025
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition :
| Club | Season | League | League | League | National cup | National cup | League cup | League cup | Continental | Continental | Total | Total |
| Club | Season | Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Nagoya Grampus | 2018 | J1 League | 13 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | — | — | 19 | 0 |
| Nagoya Grampus | 2019 | J1 League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | — | — | 6 | 0 |
| Nagoya Grampus | Total | Total | 13 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 0 | — | — | 25 | 0 |
| Jong AZ | 2019–20 | Eerste Divisie | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 7 | 0 |
| Jong AZ | 2020–21 | Eerste Divisie | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 5 | 1 |
| Jong AZ | Total | Total | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 12 | 1 |
| AZ (loan) | 2019–20 | Eredivisie | 16 | 2 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 11 | 1 | 27 | 3 |
| AZ | 2020–21 | Eredivisie | 25 | 2 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 5 | 0 | 30 | 2 |
| AZ | 2021–22 | Eredivisie | 33 | 1 | 4 | 0 | — | — | 8 | 0 | 42 | 1 |
| AZ | 2022–23 | Eredivisie | 31 | 3 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 14 | 1 | 47 | 4 |
| AZ | 2023–24 | Eredivisie | 30 | 4 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 10 | 0 | 42 | 4 |
| AZ | Total | Total | 119 | 10 | 9 | 0 | — | — | 37 | 1 | 165 | 11 |
| Southampton | 2024–25 | Premier League | 26 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 28 | 1 |
| Career total | Career total | Career total | 186 | 14 | 12 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 48 | 2 | 262 | 16 |
* ↑ Includes Emperor's Cup, KNVB Cup, FA Cup
* ↑ Includes J.League Cup, EFL Cup
* ↑ Appearances in UEFA Europa League
* ↑ Two appearances in UEFA Champions League, three appearances in UEFA Europa League
* 1 2 3 Appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League

### International

    As of match played 15 November 2024
Appearances and goals by national team and year :
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
| Japan | 2020 | 1 | 0 |
| Japan | 2023 | 7 | 1 |
| Japan | 2024 | 6 | 1 |
| Total | Total | 14 | 2 |
    Scores and results list Japan's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Sugawara goal.
List of international goals scored by Yukinari Sugawara :
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
| 1 | 21 November 2023 | Prince Abdullah Al Faisal Stadium, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia | Syria | 4–0 | 5–0 | 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 2 | 15 November 2024 | Gelora Bung Karno Stadium, Jakarta, Indonesia | Indonesia | 4–0 | 4–0 | 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification |

## Honours

Japan U19
* AFC U-19 Championship third place: 2018
Individual
* Eredivisie Talent of the Month: January 2022
* Eredivisie Team of the Month: January 2022, March 2023, August 2023, September 2023, October 2023
* JPFA [ja] Awards Best XI: 2024
Records
* Most appearances for AZ in UEFA club competitions