Japan will face fellow World Cup qualifier the United States in one of two September friendlies in Europe, the Japan Football Association said Tuesday.
Japan, 23rd in the FIFA rankings, will take on the 15th-ranked United States on Sept. 23 in a country to be announced at a later date. The Americans have reached the World Cup in Qatar — their first in eight years after missing the 2018 edition in Russia — following a third-placed finish in qualifying out of CONCACAF, the confederation covering North and Central America as well as the Caribbean region.
"They'll come out fighting with high motivation. We are grateful we can play them," Japan manager Hajime Moriyasu said of the United States, whose squad features Europe-based stars including Chelsea attacker Christian Pulisic, Leeds attacker Brendon Aaronson and Juventus midfielder Weston McKennie.
Japan and the United States each have one win from their past two meetings, the most recent of which took place in San Francisco on Feb. 10, 2006.
Moriyasu also said his domestic-based squad for the East Asian Football Federation E-1 Championship in July will not include players with previous World Cup experience.
FC Tokyo full-back Yuto Nagatomo, Urawa Reds defender Hiroki Sakai and Vissel Kobe forward Yuya Osako are all set to be exempted from the tournament in Japan with the manager hinting at calling up under-21 national team members for this particular occasion.
"They'll be players who have the chance of making the World Cup squad and are playing in the J. League first division," he said.