Takefusa Kubo

is a Japanese football player. He plays for the Japan national team.

Fame
He started with the training organization of the world-famous football club FC Barcelona. At that time, he was called “Japanese Messi” and “Left handed Iniesta” because his play style is similar to Lionel Messi and Andrés Iniesta. His number one feature is ball control skill. Due to his great dribbling these nicknames are well-deserved.

Career before becoming a professional
He began to play soccer at 3 years old. In August 2009, he saw an advertisement saying that Barcelona Camp would be held in Japan and you could play against Barcelona if you could become an MVP there. In April 2010, he participated in a tournament held in Belgium as a Barcelona school selection and was selected as a tournament MVP. After that, he joined the  Kawasaki Frontale. In August 2011, he passed the trial match of FC Barcelona’s subordinate organization Cantera and went to Spain. He played soccer in Spain until 2015, but an accident happened and he returned to Japan. And then he joined FC Tokyo’s subordinate organization. In May 2017, he made his debut at a top team. He became the first J-League player born in the 21th century.

 Career after becoming a professional 
In November 2017, it was announced that he had signed a professional contract with FC Tokyo. He made his first team debut in the match on November 26, and became the third youngest player in J.League history. He transferred to Yokohama F. Marinos for a limited time in order to improve the quality of his performance. He had played there for 5 months. He returned to FC Tokyo in 2019 and played for half  a year. Then in June 2019 he moved to Real Madrid's B team. He was promoted to the top team. In the Spanish newspaper Maruka, he was in the first place in the  ranking. In August 2019, he transferred to Mallorca for a limited time. In August 2020, it was announced that he transferred to Villarreal for a limited time. And recently it was announced that he would leave Villarreal.

National team
In May 2017, at the age of 15, Kubo was selected the Japan U-20 national team for 2017 U-20 World Cup. In October 2017, he also played for the Japan U-17 national team for 2017 U-17 World Cup. On June 9, 2019, he debuted for the Japan national team against El Salvador. He also participated 2019 Copa América.

Career statistics
Club
Nippon Sports Kikaku Publishing inc./日本スポーツ企画出版社, "J1&J2&J3選手名鑑ハンディ版 2019 (NSK MOOK)", 9 February 2019, Japan,  (p. 50 out of 289)Nippon Sports Kikaku Publishing inc./日本スポーツ企画出版社, "2017 J1&J2&J3選手名鑑 (NSK MOOK)", 8 February 2017, Japan,  (p. 82 out of 289)

+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeagueNational cupLeague cupContinentalTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsFC Tokyo U-232016J3 League30———302017J3 League212———2122018J3 League103———103Total345———345FC Tokyo2017J1 League200020—402018J1 League400061—1012019J1 League1340031—165Total19400112—306Yokohama F. Marinos (loan)2018J1 League511000—61Real Madrid2019–20La Liga0000——00Mallorca (loan)2019–20La Liga35410——364Villarreal (loan)2020–21La Liga13010—51191Getafe (loan)2020–21La Liga18100—00181Mallorca (loan)2021–22La Liga28131——312Real Sociedad2022–23La Liga35920—704492023–24La Liga9500—30125Total421420—1005614Career total193288111215123034

International

+ Appearances and goals by national team and yearNational teamYearAppsGoalsJapan201970202040202120202291202351Total272

Scores and results list Japan's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Kubo goal.

+ List of international goals scored by Takefusa KuboNo.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition1  10 June 2022  Noevir Stadium Kobe, Kobe, Japan  3–1 4–1  2022 Kirin Cup2  15 June 2023  Toyota Stadium, Toyota, Japan   3–0  6–0  2023 Kirin Challenge Cup

Honours
Individual
La Liga Player of the Month: September 2023
UEFA La Liga Revelation Team of the Year: 2019–20
Japan Pro-Footballers Association awards: Best XI (2022)Japan Pro-Footballers Association awards
Real Sociedad Player of the Season: 2022–23

References

Other websites


Category:2001 births
Category:Living people
Category:Footballers from Kanagawa Prefecture
Category:Japan international footballers
Category:J1 League players
Category:J3 League players
Category:FC Tokyo players
Category:FC Tokyo U-23 players
Category:Yokohama F. Marinos players
Category:Association football forwards
Category:Association football midfielders
Category:Kawasaki Frontale players
Category:2022 FIFA World Cup players