Japan Squad

Known as the Samurai Blues to the world and Sakkā Nippon Daihyō to their countrymen, Japan is one of the best football teams to come out from Asia. Having first qualified in the World Cup in 1998, they have come back to play in every World Cup series ever since, appearing in the last six.

Placed in Group H alongside Colombia, Senegal and Poland, we have to say that Japan stands a pretty decent chance of proceeding from the Group stages.

Anyone looking to follow Japan’s journey in the World Cup or place some bets on their games will want to know the details of the squad. The following is the finalized 23 man squad who will be heading to Russia to represent Japan.

Goalkeepers:

Eiji Kawashima (Metz), Masaaki Higashiguchi (Gamba Osaka), Kosuke Nakamura (Kashiwa Reysol).

Defenders:

Yuto Nagatomo (Galatasaray), Tomoaki Makino (Urawa Reds), Maya Yoshida (Southampton), Hiroki Sakai (Marseille), Gotoku Sakai (Hamburg), Gen Shoji (Kashima Antlers), Naomichi Ueda (Kashima Antlers), Wataru Endo (Urawa Reds).

Midfielders:

Makoto Hasebe (Eintracht Frankfurt), Keisuke Honda (Pachuca), Takashi Inui (Eibar), Shinji Kagawa (Borussia Dortmund), Hotaru Yamaguchi (Cerezo Osaka), Genki Haraguchi (Fortuna Dusseldorf), Takashi Usami (Fortuna Dusseldorf), Gaku Shibasaki (Getafe), Ryota Oshima (Kawasaki Frontale).

Forwards:

Shinji Okazaki (Leicester City), Yuya Osako (Werder Bremen), Yoshinori Muto (Mainz).

Japan World Cup 2018 Squad: Top Goal Scorer

Maya Yoshida, a Southampton player is the man to watch in the Japanese team. World Cup 2018 will be his third appearance in the World Cup series.