*This content was translated by AI.
Japan's Under-21 football team, which beat the "two-year-old" South Korean U-23 national team in the semifinals of the 2026 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Under-23 Asian Cup, will play in an away evaluation match in Europe in March.
The Japan Football Association announced on the 23rd that "Japan's U-21 national team aiming for the 2028 Los Angeles (LA) Olympics will play an exhibition match against Albania's U-21 and Serbia's U-21 teams in Antalya, Turkiye, in March." Albania and Serbia are co-hosts of the 2027 UEFA U-21 Championship, which will be held in June next year.
Japan's U-21 national team, which is currently participating in the 2026 AFC U-23 Asian Cup in Saudi Arabia, will take advantage of the A-match period in March to test its competitiveness against European teams.
"The match against the host countries of the UEFA U-21 Championship will be a great experience for us," said Oiwa Ko, head coach of Japan's U-21 national team through the Japan Football Association. "It is a valuable opportunity to raise the level of individual players through competition with European teams with strong physical and power, along with their experience at the AFC U-23 Asian Cup."
Japan, which is preparing for the LA Olympics two years later, also participated in the 2026 AFC U-23 Asian Cup, a two-year-old U-21 national team. The Asian Games in Aichi and Nagoya, which will be held in the country in September, will also participate as a U-21 national team without wild cards (over 24 years old). This year's U-21 generation will be the mainstay of the U-23 national team, the Olympic generation, in two years, so the intention is to prepare for the Olympic qualifiers and finals early. Nevertheless, Japan's U-21 national team advanced to the final by beating South Korea led by head coach Lee Min-sung in the semifinals of the tournament.
Japan's U-21 national team has already gained experience by going on an away trip to Europe last year. In November last year, Japan's U-20 team went on an away match in England and played a warm-up match against England's U-20 team, and then held a closed practice match against Bournemouth in the English Premier League (EPL). This is in contrast to Korea's participation in the Panda Cup held in China during the same period and playing against Uzbekistan, China and Vietnam.
While the Japanese Football Association confirmed and announced the U-21 national team's away match in Europe during the AFC U-23 Asian Cup, the future schedule of the U-23 national team led by head coach Lee Min-sung is undecided. Lee Min-sung will return home via Incheon International Airport on the afternoon of the 25th after a third-place match with Vietnam.
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*This content was translated by AI.
