The Japan national football team, nicknamed the Samurai Blue, represents Japan in men's international football. It is controlled by the Japan Football Association (JFA), the governing body for football in Japan.
Japan was not a major football force until the end of the 1980s, with a small and amateur team. Since the 1990s, when Japanese football became fully professionalized, Japan has emerged as one of the most successful teams in Asia; they have qualified for the last seven FIFA World Cups with knockout stage appearances in 2002, 2010, and 2018, and won the AFC Asian Cup a record four times, in 1992, 2000, 2004 and 2011. The team also finished second in the 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup and the 2019 AFC Asian Cup. Japan remains the only team from the AFC other than Australia and Saudi Arabia to have reached the final of a senior FIFA men's competition.
Japan's progression in a short period has served as an inspiration and example of how to develop football. Their principal continental rivals are South Korea, North Korea, China and, most recently, Australia; they also developed rivalries against Iran and Saudi Arabia.
Japan was the first team from outside the Americas to participate in the Copa América, having been invited in 1999, 2011, 2015, and 2019 editions of the tournament, though they only played in the 1999 and 2019 events.<\/P>","E4FAE8AE56FCFFF1DC7AFC02ACE5DEE8":"79","42B1B76A697DFC47":"27.20","D818D0DBB58D9A673E378E57E02D444F9E96A907729BB512":"1921","89F75C88F810F7B54F1BC067C7848CF5":"Japan National Stadium","500D9C7B9500177D0E53F89F378715C8":"Hajime Moriyasu (\u68ee\u4fdd \u4e00, Moriyasu Hajime, born 23 August 1968) is a Japanese football manager and former player. He made more than 250 appearances in 14 years with Sanfrecce Hiroshima, including a year on loan to Kyoto Purple Sanga, before spending his final season as a professional with Vegalta Sendai. He also played 35 times for the Japan national team. His brother Hiroshi and his sons Shohei and Keigo are also footballers. He is current manager of Japan senior and olympic teams.","686A4807662B110DEF267ED94EA5AF8C":"Japan","0284C3E6252CDEEA":"Hajime Moriyasu","4268BF6963F167300062241A864D4973":"JFA House,3-10-15, Hongo,Bunkyo-ku,Tokyo 113-0033","0357E9507AE48270":"1","2C96C5176EAF712DA7D4D953D3793B1F":"Hajime Moriyasu","761C3792446BE5ED2EFE4C1CAFC95D68":"1968-8-23","A7F9B63E25A659E5":"Japan","D5AF1249DEAE15446FB07F95BE07BAC61FCF1CF21901A599":"1","7B11A9E5D141DF5785F9EF965C7D588D":"Japan(U23),Japan,Sanfrecce Hiroshima,Vegalta Sendai","00E1A43DD023DEC2DFC0A799EF9025A4":"
Player International First international
INTERNATIONAL
<\/U><\/STRONG>
Japan<\/STRONG>
AFC Asian Cup (1): 1992
Manager<\/STRONG>
CLUB<\/U><\/STRONG>
Sanfrecce Hiroshima<\/STRONG>
J1 League (3): 2012, 2013, 2015
Japanese Super Cup (2): 2013, 2014
FIFA Club World Cup: Third Place 2015
INTERNATIONAL
<\/U><\/STRONG>
Japan U23
<\/STRONG>Asian Games: Silver medal 2018
Japan<\/STRONG>
AFC Asian Cup: Runner-up 2019
EAFF E-1 Football Championship: 2022
INDIVIDUAL<\/U><\/STRONG>
J.League Manager of the Year (3):<\/STRONG>
2012, 2013, 2015<\/P>","937DE1BE2366A0DF":"http:\/\/www.jfa.jp","3D9B31C67DFDD0FC8C73053EF2ADBD66":"
<\/STRONG>Olympic Games
Bronze Medal: 1968
FIFA Confederations Cup
Runners-Up: 2001
Continental
<\/STRONG>AFC Asian Cup
Champions: 1992, 2000, 2004, 2011
Runners-up: 2019
Fourth place: 2007
Asian Games
Third place: 1951, 1966
Fourth place: 1970
Regional
<\/STRONG>Dynasty Cup
Champions: 1992, 1995, 1998
EAFF East Asian Cup
Champions: 2013, 2022
Runners-up: 2003, 2005, 2008, 2017, 2019
Third place: 2010
Far Eastern Games
Champions: 1930
Other
<\/STRONG>Afro-Asian Cup of Nations
Champions: 1993, 2007
AFC – OFC Challenge Cup
Champions: 2001
Invitational
<\/STRONG>Kirin Cup
Champions: 1991, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2001, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2015
Individual awards
<\/STRONG>Japan Professional Sports Grand Prize
Years: 2002
AFC National Team of the Year
Years: 2000, 2005, 2008, 2010, 2011<\/P>","729294714CECF588":"
<\/STRONG>Japan 0–5 Republic of China (1912–1949) (Tokyo; 9 May 1917)
Biggest win
<\/STRONG>Japan 15–0 Philippines (Tokyo; 27 September 1967)
Biggest defeat
<\/STRONG>Japan 2–15 Philippines (Tokyo; 10 May 1917)
Most caps
<\/STRONG>Yasuhito Endo (152)
Top scorer
<\/STRONG>Kunishige Kamamoto (75)<\/P>","92DC52DD0D4041625C68AA7C024C7F67":"Japan","8524B53828524224755A552E6AAA1E77":"Japan(U23)","5E8F53D0A504BF86":"Japan","e_index":1};