Japan national under-23 football team

Japan national under-23 football team
The Japan national under-23 football team（Japanese: U-23サッカー日本代表）is a national association football youth team of Japan and is controlled by the Japan Football Association. The team won the gold medal at the 2010 Asian Games and were champions in the 2016 AFC U-23 Championship. Since 1992, it was decided that teams targeting athletes under the age of 23 will participate in the Olympics (additional provisions for overage limits have been added since 1996). Therefore, the name changes to Japan national under-22 football team the year before the Olympics and Japan national under-21 football team two years prior. The exception to this was the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which was postponed one year, so in 2021, the team was called the Japan national under-24 football team.
Team image
Nicknames
"サムライ・ブルー (Samurai Blue)" basically refers to the Japan national football team, but the under-23 football team are sometimes referred to as "Young" Samurai Blue. However, in reality, Samurai Blue is not often used.
Rivalries
South Korea
Japan maintains a strong football rivalry with South Korea, even in youth set-ups.
Results and fixtures
Legend
2023
U-22
Fixtures & Results (2023), JFA.jp
2022
U-21
Fixtures & Results (2022), JFA.jp
Head-to-head record
, after the match against .
The following table shows Japan under-23 team's all-time international record.
Coaching staff
U-22 staff
The following staff managed the players selected for friendly matches on March 2023.
Players
Caps and goals are counted in this section separately, with players in each age group (U-23, U-22 and U-21) having a distinct amount of caps and goals.
Current U-22 squad
The following players were called up for matches against and , played on 14 and 17 October 2023, respectively.
Caps and goals updated as of 18 October 2023, after the match against .
Recent U-22 call-ups
The following players were called up to the squad in the past 12 months.
INJ Withdrew due to injury
PRE Preliminary squad / standby
RET Retired from the national team
SUS Serving suspension
WD Player withdrew from the squad due to non-injury issue.
(Players are listed within position group by order of latest call-up, seniority, caps, goals, and then alphabetically)
Current U-21 squad
The following players were called up for friendly matches against Spain and Portugal on 18 and 22 November 2022, respectively.
Caps and goals as of 22 November 2022, after the match against .
Recent U-21 call-ups
The following players have been called up in the past 12 months.
INJ Withdrew due to injury
PRE Preliminary squad / standby
RET Retired from the national team
SUS Serving suspension
WD Player withdrew from the squad due to non-injury issue.
(Players are listed within position group by order of latest call-up, seniority, caps, goals, and then alphabetically)
Previous squads
Bold indicates winning squads
Olympic Games
1996 Summer Olympics Squad
2000 Summer Olympics Squad
2004 Summer Olympics Squad
2008 Summer Olympics Squad
2012 Summer Olympics Squad
2016 Summer Olympics Squad
2020 Summer Olympics Squad
AFC U-23 Asian Cup
2013 AFC U-22 Championship Squad
2016 AFC U-23 Championship Squad
2018 AFC U-23 Championship Squad
2020 AFC U-23 Championship Squad
2022 AFC U-23 Asian Cup Squad
Asian Games
2002 Asian Games Squad
2006 Asian Games Squad
2010 Asian Games Squad
2014 Asian Games Squad
2018 Asian Games Squad
Overaged players in the Olympic Games
Manager history
Records
Players in bold are still active, at least at club level.
Caps and goals is calculated by all national team level include U21, U22, and U23.
Most capped players
Top goalscorers
Competitive record
Champions Runners-up Third place Fourth place
Olympic Games
Match history
AFC U-23 Asian Cup
Match history
Asian Games
Match history
See also
Sport in Japan
Football in Japan
Women's football in Japan
Japan Football Association (JFA)
Kirin Cup (Invitational tournament)
(International friendly match)
Kirin Company
National teams
Men's
National football team
Results and fixtures
2020–present
International footballers
National under-23 football team
National under-20 football team
National under-17 football team
National futsal team
National under-20 futsal team
National beach soccer team
Women's
National football team
Results and fixtures
2021
International footballers
National under-20 football team
National under-17 football team
National futsal team
References
External links
Japan national under-21 football team (2022) – official website at JFA.jp
Japan national under-24 football team (2021) – official website at JFA.jp
Japan national under-23 football team (2020) – official website at JFA.jp
Japan national team 2021 schedule at JFA.jp
Youth football in Japan
Asian national under-23 association football teams
Football