Samurai Blue

Japan will face Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Myanmar and Mongolia in the second round of 2022 World Cup Asian qualifying after being drawn in Group F on Wednesday. The draw at the Asian Football Confederation's headquarters in Kuala Lumpur saw the 34 top-ranked sides in Asia, along ...

Akira Nishino, who guided Japan to the last 16 at the 2018 World Cup, was officially named head coach Wednesday of the Thailand national and under-23 men's teams. The 64-year-old will lead the War Elephants in the upcoming 2022 World Cup Asian qualifiers, as well ...

When goalkeeper Daniel Schmidt lines up between the posts on Saturday night, he will be wearing Vegalta Sendai's crest for the last time. The 27-year-old's next stop will be Europe after agreeing on a full transfer to Belgium's Sint-Truiden earlier this month. While he's far from ...

In the space of nearly 24 hours, Japan's hopes at two major international tournaments were extinguished. On Monday, the Samurai Blue's Copa America campaign ended — not with a bang but with a relative whimper — following a 1-1 draw against Ecuador in Belo Horizonte, ...

On a continent where "imitation" Galacticos are a dime a dozen, Takefusa Kubo could just be the real deal. Snapped up by Real Madrid on Friday from under the noses of some of the world's other top clubs, the teenage sensation is about to demonstrate ...

Between the U-20 World Cup, the U-22 Toulon Tournament and a Copa America which could see over a dozen Tokyo 2020-eligible players earn their first Samurai Blue caps, it's been an exciting month for Japan supporters awaiting the Olympic men's soccer tournament. The performance of ...

Kensuke Nagai scored his first goals for Japan on Sunday in a 2-0 friendly victory over El Salvador as 18-year-old Takefusa Kubo made his highly anticipated national team debut. Nagai, earning his first cap for Japan in four years, scored in the 19th and 41st ...

Japan manager Hajime Moriyasu on Friday named a young and inexperienced squad for the upcoming Copa America in Brazil, giving a preview of his potential lineup for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. Seventeen-year-old FC Tokyo star Takefusa Kubo headlines a host of newcomers who will ...

Seventeen-year-old J. League star Takefusa Kubo on Thursday received his first call-up to Japan's senior national squad for next month's friendlies against Trinidad and Tobago and El Salvador. Kubo, an attacking midfielder for FC Tokyo, was one of three uncapped players named to the squad, ...

Three of the J. League's youngest stars will likely receive Samurai Blue debuts and a trip to Brazil as head coach Hajime Moriyasu looks to accelerate their development. Following their omissions from Japan's squad for the upcoming FIFA U-20 World Cup, 17-year-old FC Tokyo midfielder ...

Former Japan manager Vahid Halilhodzic withdrew the lawsuit he filed against the Japan Football Association over his dismissal just two months before last year's World Cup finals on Wednesday. According to Halilhodzic's lawyer, the Bosnian will not go forward with his claim that the JFA ...