Football World Cup 2006 Germany

Japan

Japan

Nickname	Blues
Association	Japan Football Association
Coach	Zico, (2002-)
Most caps	Masami Ihara (123)
Top scorer	Kunishige Kamamoto (73)
First international Japan 0 - 5 China (Tokyo, Japan; May 9, 1917)
Largest win Japan 15 - 0 Philippines (Tokyo, Japan; September 27, 1967)
Worst defeat Japan 2 - 15 Philippines (Tokyo, Japan; September 10, 1917)
World Cup
Appearances	3 (First in 1998)
Best result	Round 2, 2002
AFC Asian Cup
Appearances	5 (First in 1988)
Best result	Winners, 1992, 2000, 2004

The Japan national football team is the national football team of Japan and is controlled by the Japan Football Association. It is currently the highest-ranked Asian (AFC) national team in the official FIFA World Rankings.

After being overshadowed for years by baseball and sumo wrestling, football has been rapidly growing in popularity in Japan. The nation's first World Cup appearance was in 1998, where they lost their first two fixtures 1-0 to Argentina and Croatia, despite playing well in both games. Their campaign ended with a surprise 2-1 defeat by rank outsiders Jamaica.

Four years later, they co-hosted the 2002 World Cup with South Korea. Despite being held to a 2-2 draw by Belgium in their opening game, they advanced to the second round with an impressive 1-0 win over Russia and a comfortable 2-0 victory against Tunisia. However, they subsequently exited the tournament in disappointing fashion, giving a poor performance as they lost 1-0 to eventual third-place finishers Turkey.

The Japanese team has had considerably more success in the Asian Cup, taking home the winner's trophy in three of the last four finals. Their principal continental rivals are Iran, and South Korea.

On June 8, 2005, Japan qualified for their third consecutive World Cup by beating North Korea 2-0 in Bangkok, Thailand. For the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Japan is in Group F along with Australia, Brazil, and Croatia.

World Cup record

1930 - Did not enter
1934 - Did not enter
1938 - Withdrew
1950 - Did not enter
1954 - Did not qualify
1958 - Did not enter
1962 - Did not qualify
1966 - Did not enter
1970 to 1994 - Did not qualify
1998 - Round 1
2002 - Round 2
2006 - Qualified

Asian Cup record

1956 to 1964 - Did not enter
1968 - Did not qualify
1972 - Did not enter
1976 - Did not qualify
1980 - Did not enter
1984 - Did not enter
1988 - Round 1
1992 - Champions
1996 - Quarterfinals
2000 - Champions
2004 - Champions

East Asian Cup record

2003 - Second place
2005 - Second place

Top goalscorers

Kunishige Kamamoto - 73 (1964-1977)
Kazuyoshi Miura - 56 (1990-2000)
Takuya Takagi - 28 (1992-1997)
Hiromi Hara - 24 (1978-1988)
Masashi Nakayama - 21 (1990-2003)

Current players

Goalkeepers

Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi (Jubilo Iwata)
Takashi Shimoda (Sanfrecce Hiroshima)
Ryota Tsuzuki (Urawa Reds)

Defenders

Makoto Tanaka (Jubilo Iwata)
Tsuneyasu Miyamoto (Gamba Osaka) - Captain
Alex (Urawa Reds)
Yuji Nakazawa (Yokohama F. Marinos)
Koji Nakata (FC Basel, Switzerland)
Keisuke Tsuboi (Urawa Reds)
Akira Kaji (Gamba Osaka)
Yuichi Komano (Sanfrecce Hiroshima)
Teruyuki Moniwa (FC Tokyo)

Midfielders

Takashi Fukunishi (Jubilo Iwata)
Hidetoshi Nakata (Bolton Wanderers, England)
Shunsuke Nakamura (Celtic Glasgow, Scotland)
Mitsuo Ogasawara (Kashima Antlers)
Junichi Inamoto (West Bromwich Albion, England)
Shinji Ono (Urawa Reds)
Yasuhito Endo (Gamba Osaka)
Daisuke Matsui (Le Mans, France)

Forwards

Tatsuhiko Kubo (Yokohama F. Marinos)
Atsushi Yanagisawa (Kashima Antlers)
Naohiro Takahara (Hamburger SV, Germany)
Masashi Oguro (Grenoble, France)

other famous players

Masashi Motoyama
Takayuki Suzuki

External links

• Japan Football Association national teams
• RSSSF archive of national team results
• RSSSF archive of most capped players and highest goalscorers

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This guide is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.