Japan national football team records and statistics

The following is a list of the Japan national football team's competitive records and statistics.

Player records edit

As of 1 December 2022[1]
Players in bold are still active with Japan.

Most capped players edit

 
Yasuhito Endō is Japan's most capped player with 152 appearances
Rank Player Caps Goals Position Career
1 Yasuhito Endō 152 15 MF 2002–2015
2 Yuto Nagatomo 141 4 DF 2008–2022
3 Maya Yoshida 125 12 DF 2010–2022
4 Masami Ihara 122 5 DF 1988–1999
5 Shinji Okazaki 119 50 FW 2008–2019
6 Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi 116 0 GK 1997–2010
7 Makoto Hasebe 114 2 MF 2006–2018
8 Yuji Nakazawa 110 17 DF 1999–2010
9 Shunsuke Nakamura 98 24 MF 2000–2010
Keisuke Honda 98 37 MF 2008–2018

Top goalscorers edit

 
Kunishige Kamamoto is Japan's top goal scorer with 75 goals
Rank Player Goals Caps Ratio Career
1 Kunishige Kamamoto 75 76 0.99 1964–1977
2 Kazuyoshi Miura 55 89 0.62 1990–2000
3 Shinji Okazaki 50 119 0.42 2008–2019
4 Hiromi Hara 37 75 0.49 1978–1988
Keisuke Honda 37 98 0.38 2008–2018
6 Shinji Kagawa 31 97 0.32 2008–2019
7 Takuya Takagi 27 44 0.61 1992–1997
8 Kazushi Kimura 26 54 0.48 1979–1986
9 Yuya Osako 25 57 0.44 2013–2022
10 Shunsuke Nakamura 24 98 0.24 2000–2010

Other records edit

Updated 29 March 2022

  • Youngest player
Daisuke Ichikawa, 17 years and 322 days old, 1 April 1998 against   South Korea
  • Youngest goalscorer
Shinji Kagawa, 19 years and 206 days old, 9 October 2008 against   United Arab Emirates
  • Youngest captain
Gen Shoji, 24 years and 363 days old, 9 December 2017 EAFF E-1 Championship
  • Oldest player
Eiji Kawashima, 39 years and 9 days old, 29 March 2022 against   Vietnam
  • Oldest goalscorer
Masashi Nakayama, 33 years and 326 days old, 15 August 2001 against   Australia
  • Oldest captain
Shigeo Yaegashi, 35 years and 203 days old, 13 October 1968 Summer Olympics
  • Most hat-trick
8, Kunishige Kamamoto
  • Most goal in one match
6, Kunishige Kamamoto, 27 September 1967 against   Philippines
6, Kazuyoshi Miura, 22 June 1997 against   Macau
  • Most goal in calendar year
18, Kazuyoshi Miura, 1997

Manager records edit

Most appearances edit

Rank Manager Apps Wins Tenure
1   Zico 71 37 2002–2006
2   Alberto Zaccheroni 55 30 2010–2014
3   Philippe Troussier 50 23 1998–2002
  Takeshi Okada 50 26 2007–2010
5   Hajime Moriyasu 50 36 2018–
6   Shu Kamo 46 23 1994–1997
7   Takaji Mori 43 23 1981–1985
8   Ken Naganuma (2nd) 42 16 1972–1976
9   Vahid Halilhodžić 38 21 2015–2018
10   Ken Naganuma (1st) 31 18 1963–1969

Manager achievements edit

Manager Tournament
Zico AFC Asian Cup Winners (2004)
EAFF Championship Runners-up (2003, 2005)
Philippe Troussier FIFA Confederations Cup Runners-up (2001)
AFC Asian Cup Winners (2000)
Alberto Zaccheroni AFC Asian Cup Winners (2011)
EAFF Championship Winners (2013)
Ken Naganuma Summer Olympics Third place (1968)
Asian Games Third place (1966)
Hajime Moriyasu AFC Asian Cup Runners-up (2019)
EAFF Championship Runners-up (2019), Winners (2022)
Hans Ooft AFC Asian Cup Winners (1992)
Hirokazu Ninomiya Asian Games Third place (1951)
Takeshi Okada EAFF Championship Runners-up (2008), Third place (2010)
Vahid Halilhodžić EAFF Championship Runners-up (2017)

Team records edit

Updated 19 January 2024[2]

Biggest victory
15–0 vs Philippines, 27 September 1967
Heaviest defeat
15–2 vs Philippines, 10 May 1917
Most consecutive victories
11, 15 June 2023 vs. El Salvador – 14 January 2024 vs. Vietnam
Most consecutive matches without defeat
20, 24 June 2010 vs. Denmark – 11 November 2011 vs. Tajikistan
Most consecutive defeats
6, 10 June 1956 vs. South Korea – 28 December 1958 vs. Malaya
Most consecutive matches without victory
11, 13 August 1976 vs. Burma – 15 June 1976 vs. South Korea
Most consecutive draws
4, 13 August 1976 vs. Burma – 20 August 1976 vs. Malaysia
Most consecutive matches scoring
17, 1 December 2022 vs. Spain – 24 January 2024 vs. Indonesia
Most consecutive matches without scoring
6, 18 June 1989 vs. Hong Kong – 31 July 1990 vs. North Korea
Most consecutive matches conceding a goal
28, 6 November 1960 vs. South Korea – 11 December 1966 vs. Iran
Most consecutive matches without conceding a goal
7, 19 November 2003 vs. Cameroon – 18 February 2004 vs. Oman

Competitive record edit

  Champions    Runners-up    Third place    Fourth place  

*Denotes draws includes knockout matches decided via penalty shoot-out. Red border indicates that the tournament was hosted on home soil. Gold, silver, bronze backgrounds indicate 1st, 2nd and 3rd finishes respectively. Bold text indicates best finish in tournament.

FIFA World Cup edit

FIFA World Cup record Qualification record
Year Result Position Pld W D* L GF GA Pld W D L GF GA
  1930 Did not enter No qualification
  1934 Did not enter
  1938 Withdrew Withdrew
  1950 Suspended from FIFA Suspended from FIFA
  1954 Did not qualify 2 0 1 1 3 7
  1958 Did not enter Did not enter
  1962 Did not qualify 2 0 0 2 1 4
  1966 Did not enter Did not enter
  1970 Did not qualify 4 0 2 2 4 8
  1974 4 1 0 3 5 4
  1978 4 0 1 3 0 5
  1982 4 2 0 2 4 2
  1986 8 5 1 2 15 5
  1990 6 2 3 1 7 3
  1994 13 9 3 1 35 6
  1998 Group stage 31st 3 0 0 3 1 4 15 9 5 1 51 12
    2002 Round of 16 9th 4 2 1 1 5 3 Qualified as hosts
  2006 Group stage 28th 3 0 1 2 2 7 12 11 0 1 25 5
  2010 Round of 16 9th 4 2 1 1 4 2 14 8 4 2 23 9
  2014 Group stage 29th 3 0 1 2 2 6 14 8 3 3 30 8
  2018 Round of 16 15th 4 1 1 2 6 7 18 13 3 2 44 7
  2022 Round of 16 9th 4 2 1 1 5 4 18 15 1 2 58 6
      2026 To be determined To be determined
Total Round of 16 7/22 25 7 6 12 25 33 138 83 27 28 305 91

AFC Asian Cup edit

AFC Asian Cup record Qualification record
Year Result Position Pld W D L GF GA Pld W D L GF GA
  1956 Withdrew Withdrew
  1960 Withdrew
  1964 Withdrew
  1968 Did not qualify 4 3 1 0 8 4
  1972 Withdrew Withdrew
  1976 Did not qualify 5 2 1 2 4 4
  1980 Withdrew Withdrew
  1984 Withdrew
  1988 Group stage 10th 4 0 1 3 0 6 4 2 1 1 6 3
  1992 Champions 1st 5 3 2 0 6 3 Qualified as hosts
  1996 Quarter-finals 5th 4 3 0 1 7 3 Qualified as champions
  2000 Champions 1st 6 5 1 0 21 6 3 3 0 0 15 0
  2004 Champions 1st 6 4 2 0 13 6 Qualified as champions
        2007 Fourth place 4th 6 2 3 1 11 7 6 5 0 1 15 2
  2011 Champions 1st 6 4 2 0 14 6 6 5 0 1 17 4
  2015 Quarter-finals 5th 4 3 1 0 8 1 Qualified as champions
  2019 Runners-up 2nd 7 6 0 1 12 6 8 7 1 0 27 0
  2023 Qualified To be determined
Total 4 Titles 10/18 48 30 12 6 92 44 36 27 4 5 92 17

Copa América edit

Japan is the first team from outside the Americas to participate in the Copa América, having been invited to the 1999 Copa América. Japan was also invited to the 2011 tournament and initially accepted the invitation. However, following the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, the JFA later withdrew on 16 May 2011, citing the difficulty of releasing some Japanese players from European teams to play as replacements.[3] On the next day, CONMEBOL invited Costa Rica to replace Japan in the competition.

On 16 August 2013, CONMEBOL president Eugenio Figueredo announced that Japan was invited to the 2015 Copa América.[4] However, Japan later declined the invitation due to scheduling problems.[5]

On 14 May 2018, CONMEBOL announced that Japan, alongside Qatar, would be the two invited teams for the 2019 Copa América.[6]

Copa América record
Year Result Position Pld W D L GF GA
  1999 Group stage 10th 3 0 1 2 3 8
  2011 Withdrew
  2015 Withdrew
  2019 Group stage 9th 3 0 2 1 3 7
Total Group stage 2/47 6 0 3 3 6 15

FIFA Confederations Cup edit

FIFA Confederations Cup record
Year Result Position Pld W D L GF GA Squad
  1992 Did not qualify
  1995 Group stage 6th 2 0 0 2 1 8 Squad
  1997 Did not qualify
  1999
    2001 Runners-up 2nd 5 3 1 1 6 1 Squad
  2003 Group stage 6th 3 1 0 2 4 3 Squad
  2005 Group stage 5th 3 1 1 1 4 4 Squad
  2009 Did not qualify
  2013 Group stage 7th 3 0 0 3 4 9 Squad
  2017 Did not qualify
Total Runners-up 5/10 16 5 2 9 19 25

Olympic Games edit

Since 1992, the Olympic team has been drawn from a squad with a maximum of three players over 23 years age, and the achievements of this team are not generally regarded as part of the national team's records, nor are the statistics credited to the players' international records.

Asian Games edit

Football at the Asian Games has been an under-23 tournament since 2002.
Asian Games record
Year Result Pld W D L GF GA
  1951 Third place 3 1 1 1 4 3
  1954 10th 2 0 0 2 5 8
  1958 12th 2 0 0 2 0 3
  1962 6th 3 1 0 2 3 4
  1966 Third place 7 6 0 1 18 5
  1970 Fourth place 7 5 0 2 8 5
  1974 9th 3 1 1 1 5 4
  1978 9th 3 1 0 2 5 5
  1982 5th 4 3 0 1 6 3
  1986 9th 4 2 0 2 9 4
  1990 8th 3 1 0 2 3 3
  1994 7th 4 1 2 1 9 5
  1998 9th 5 3 0 2 8 4
2002–present See Japan national under-23 football team
Total 13/13 50 25 4 21 83 56

Head-to-head record edit

The list shown below shows the Japan national football team head-to-head record. As of 21 March 2024.

Summary edit

As of 21 March 2024
Confederation Pld W D L GF GA GD
AFC 523 279 108 136 1,044 550 +494
CAF 38 22 7 9 63 39 +24
CONCACAF 35 21 5 9 76 36 +40
CONMEBOL 70 16 22 32 74 114 –40
OFC 8 5 0 3 14 9 +5
UEFA 118 38 24 56 151 197 –46
Total 792 382 166 244 1,411 946 +465

AFC edit

As of 21 March 2024[7]

CAF edit

As of 17 October 2023[7]

CONCACAF edit

As of 13 October 2023[7]

CONMEBOL edit

As of 20 June 2023[7]

OFC edit

As of 12 October 2021[7]

UEFA edit

As of 12 September 2023[7]

FIFA World Ranking edit

As of 20 February 2022, after the match against   Saudi Arabia.

  Best Ranking    Best Mover    Worst Ranking    Worst Mover  

Japan's FIFA World Ranking History
Rank Year Games
Played
Won Lost Drawn Best Worst
Rank Move Rank Move
18   (4 April 2024)[8] 2022 2 0 23 (February)   3 26  
26 2021 12 10 2 0 26 (November)   2 28   1
27 2020 4 2 1 1 27   1 28   0
28 2019 23 15 3 5 26   29 33   7
50 2018 14 6 3 5 41   7 61   5
57 2017 13 6 3 4 40   7 57   11
45 2016 10 7 1 2 45   8 58   7
53 2015 17 11 5 1 50   5 58   8
54 2014 13 7 2 4 54   2 44   4
47 2013 19 8 3 8 21   2 48   7
22 2012 12 8 2 2 19   7 33   11
19 2011 15 9 5 1 13   12 29   2
29 2010 18 8 4 6 29   13 46   6
43 2009 17 11 3 3 31   4 43   9
35 2008 19 10 7 2 32   4 38   6
34 2007 13 7 5 1 30   7 46   5
  47 2006 19 9 4 6 15   1 49   13
15 2005 20 11 3 6 13   5 19   4
17 2004 22 17 2 3 17   4 29   1
29 2003 16 6 5 5 22   2 29   3
22 2002 13 5 5 3 22   8 38   4
34 2001 13 6 3 4 26   11 44   9
  38 2000 18 10 6 2 34   15 62   6
57 1999 7 0 4 3 33   0 57   13
  20 1998 18 7 2 8 9   10 30   10
14 1997 22 11 7 4 14   4 20   2
21 1996 13 10 1 2 20   6 30   2
31 1995 17 6 4 7 31   7 41   8
36 1994 9 3 2 36   14 54   12
  43 1993 16 11 3 43   23 44   1
66 1992    

See also edit

Japan
Men's
Women's

References edit

  1. ^ Mamrud, Roberto. "Japan - Record International Players". RSSSF.
  2. ^ "Team Records". Japan National Football Team Database. Retrieved 15 May 2014.
  3. ^ "Soccer Teams, Scores, Stats, News, Fixtures, Results, Tables - ESPN".
  4. ^ "El Presidente Figueredo Aguerre anunció la presencia del Japón en la Copa América Chile 2015" [President Figueredo Aguerre announced the presence of Japan at the 2015 Copa América in Chile] (in Spanish). CONMEBOL. 16 August 2013. Retrieved 1 July 2018. I want to announce that the Japan national team will participate at the 2015 Copa América.
  5. ^ Sánchez Sandoval, Édgar (2 June 2016). "Copa América: Japón, el invitado más extraño" [Copa América: Japan, the most strange invitee] (in Spanish). Publimetro Chile. Archived from the original on 1 July 2018. Retrieved 1 July 2018. Even in 2015, the japanese were asked to be part of the Copa América in Chile, but they withdrew again due to problems with their calendar and previously scheduled matches.
  6. ^ González, Christian (4 May 2018). "Conmebol confirma a Japón y Qatar en la Copa América de 2019" (in Spanish). La Tercera. Retrieved 1 July 2018. CONMEBOL confirmed, via its website, what has been speculated several months ago: Japan and Qatar will be invited at the event that will be held in Brazil.
  7. ^ a b c d e f "World Football Elo Ratings: Japan". Elo Ratings. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  8. ^ "The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking". FIFA. 4 April 2024. Retrieved 4 April 2024.