[Official] Japan Football AG Squad Announced... 'Without Wildcards,' 2-Year-Younger U21 Team to Compete

*This content was translated by AI.

The squad for the Japanese national football team set to compete at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games has been announced. Despite being eligible to use up to three wildcards and holding a tournament typically reserved for Under-23 (U23) teams, Japan has opted to field an Under-21 (U21) Seon Su-deul-ro (CEO) team that is two years younger.

Kō Oiwata, head coach of the Japan U21 national team, held a press conference on the 31st and announced the Japanese Asian Games squad. Coach Oiwata also serves as the head coach of the Olympic team preparing for the 2026 Los Angeles Olympics and is set to take over as the manager of the senior A national team following Hajime Moriyasu, who will step down after leading the team at the January AFC Asian Cup next year.

Japan has assembled a squad consisting entirely of 23 players under the age of 21. The roster includes four teenagers. Four players are based in Europe: Nelson Ishiwatari (Sint-Truiden) and Keita Gosugi (Eintracht Frankfurt), among others. Conversely, there are also three university students on the team. This stands in sharp contrast to South Korea, which is expected to utilize all three wildcards (Lee Ki-hyuk, Eom Ji-sung, Yang Hyun-jun) in addition to its U23-based core.

Recent predictions suggested that Japan might use a wildcard for this tournament, given that it lost to South Korea in the finals of the last two consecutive tournaments—settling for silver medals—and because the event is being hosted on home soil. However, like in recent competitions, the Japan Football Association has decided to compete with its U21 national team without using any wildcards.

Nevertheless, Japan's strength should not be underestimated. Just this past January at the AFC U23 Asian Cup held in Saudi Arabia, Japan sent its U21 squad and went on to win the championship. At that time, South Korea, led by coach Min Seong-sung, was unable to overcome Japan's wall. The current squad is built around members of that Asian Cup-winning team.

- Goalkeepers: Masataka Kobayashi (20·Matsumoto Yamaga FC), Alexandre Goto Pisano (20·Nagoya Grampus), Rui Araki (18·Gamba Osaka)

- Defenders: Rion Ichihara (21·AZ Alkmaar / Netherlands), Rei Umeiki (20·FC Imabari), Keita Gosugi (20·Eintracht Frankfurt / Germany), Shuto Nagano (20·FC Tokyo), Kaito Tsuchiya (20·Fukushima United FC), Tarik Kanai Hayato Okabe (20·Toyohashi University of Technology), Mahiro Sato (19·Albirex Niigata), Soichiro Mori (19·Fagiano Okayama)

- Midfielders: Yuto Ozeki (21·Kawasaki Frontale), Kenshin Yasuda (21·V-Varen Nagasaki), Nelson Ishiwatari (21·Sint-Truiden VV / Belgium), Hisatsugu Ishii (21·Shonan Bellmare), Yotaro Nakajima (20·Sanfrecce Hiroshima), Yudai Shimamoto (19·Shimizu S-Pulse)

- Forwards: Shusuke Furuya (21·Tokyo International University), Uwadike Uche Brian Seo (21·Aalborg BK / Denmark), Yuya Fukunaga (20·Kyoto Sangyo University), Yumeki Yokoyama (20·Cerezo Osaka), Yutaka Michiwaki (20·Iwaki FC), Sena Ishibashi (20·Shonan Bellmare)

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*This content was translated by AI.