Japan has unveiled the list of its 26-man squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup on Tuesday, becoming the first out of all 32 competing teams to reveal the names just 19 days ahead of the kick off date, Abbeylivenetwork.com reports.
Midfielder Daichi Kamada and attacker Takefusa Kubo are headlining Japan’s Samurai Blue.
“I’ve made the best, comprehensive selection possible, placing importance on our activities thus far, the situations the players are facing [at their clubs] and with how we plan to play at the World Cup in mind,” said manager Hajime Moriyasu during the announcement.
“There really are lots of players in all positions that could have been picked. It was extremely difficult,” said Moriyasu.
Squad list
- Goalkeepers:
- Eiji Kawashima (Strasbourg),
- Shuichi Gonda (Shimizu S-Pulse)
- Daniel Schmidt (Sint-Truiden)
- Defenders:
- Yuto Nagatomo (FC Tokyo)
- Maya Yoshida (Schalke)
- Hiroki Sakai (Urawa Reds)
- Shogo Taniguchi (Kawasaki Frontale)
- Miki Yamane (Kawasaki Frontale)
- Ko Itakura (Borussia Monchengladbach)
- Yuta Nakayama (Huddersfield), Hiroki Ito (Stuttgart)
- Takehiro Tomiyasu (Arsenal)
- Midfielders/Forwards:
- Gaku Shibasaki (Leganes)
- Wataru Endo (Stuttgart)
- Junya Ito (Reims)
- Takuma Asano (Bochum)
- Takumi Minamino (Monaco)
- Hidemasa Morita (Sporting Lisbon)
- Daichi Kamada (Eintracht Frankfurt)
- Yuki Soma (Nagoya Grampus)
- Kaoru Mitoma (Brighton)
- Daizen Maeda (Celtic)
- Ritsu Doan (Freiburg)
- Ayase Ueda (Cercle Brugge)
- Ao Tanaka (Fortuna Dusseldorf)
- Takefusa Kubo (Real Sociedad)
The Japanese team is scheduled to arrive at its base camp in Qatar on 7 November, making them the first to arrive in the Gulf state.
The Samurai Blue will be stationed at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Doha and will use Al Sadd Sports Club’s New Training Facility 1 as their base camp.
Japan is scheduled to play its first game at the World Cup on 23 November against Germany, followed by another match against Costa Rica on 27 November, and a third game against Spain on 1 December.
