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

As of 1 December 2022^[1]

Players in bold are still active with Japan.

Most capped players

Top goalscorers

Other records

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

Most appearances

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

Team records

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

  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

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

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

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

CONMEBOL Copa América history
Year	Round	Date	Opponent	Result	Stadium
1999	Group stage	29 June	Peru	L 2–3	Estadio Defensores del Chaco, Asunción
		2 July	Paraguay	L 0–4
		5 July	Bolivia	D 1–1	Monumental Rio Parapiti, Pedro Juan Caballero
2019	Group stage	17 June	Chile	L 0–4	Estádio do Morumbi, São Paulo
		20 June	Uruguay	D 2–2	Arena do Grêmio, Porto Alegre
		24 June	Ecuador	D 1–1	Estádio Mineirão, Belo Horizonte

FIFA Confederations Cup

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

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.

Summer Olympics record Qualification record Year Result Position Pld W D L GF GA Pld W D L GF GA 1908 Did not enter 0 0 0 0 0 0 1912 0 0 0 0 0 0 1920 0 0 0 0 0 0 1924 0 0 0 0 0 0 1928 0 0 0 0 0 0 1936 Quarter-finals 8th 2 1 0 1 3 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 1948 Did not enter 0 0 0 0 0 0 1952 0 0 0 0 0 0 1956 First round 10th 1 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1960 Did not qualify 0 0 0 0 0 0 1964 Quarter-finals 8th 3 1 0 2 5 9 Qualified as hosts 1968 Bronze medalists 3rd 6 3 2 1 9 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 1972 Did not enter 0 0 0 0 0 0 1976 Did not qualify 0 0 0 0 0 0 1980 Did not enter 0 0 0 0 0 0 1984 Did not qualify 0 0 0 0 0 0 1988 0 0 0 0 0 0 1992–present See Japan national under-23 team 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total Bronze medalists 4/17 12 5 2 5 17 29 0 0 0 0 0 0

Summer Olympics history Year Round Score Result 1936 First round Japan  3–2  Sweden Win Quarter-finals Japan  0–8  Italy Loss 1956 First round Japan  0–2  Australia Loss 1964 Group stage Japan  3–2  Argentina Win Group stage Japan  2–3  Ghana Loss Quarter-finals Japan  0–4  Czechoslovakia Loss 1968 Group stage Japan  3–1  Nigeria Win Group stage Japan  1–1  Brazil Draw Group stage Japan  0–0  Spain Draw Quarter-finals Japan  3–1  France Win Semi-finals Japan  0–5  Hungary Loss Bronze medal match Japan  2–0  Mexico Win

Asian Games

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

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

Summary

As of 21 March 2024

AFC

As of 21 March 2024^[7]

Opponent	First meeting	Last meeting	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
Afghanistan	1951	2015	3	3	0	0	13	0	+13
Australia	1956	2017	25	9	9	7	35	31	+4
Bahrain	1978	2010	10	8	0	2	17	7	+10
Bangladesh	1975	1993	5	5	0	0	22	1	+21
Brunei	1980	2000	3	3	0	0	18	2	+16
Cambodia	1970	2015	4	4	0	0	10	1	+9
China	1917	2022	36	15	9	12	45	52	−7
Chinese Taipei	1963	1983	7	4	2	1	17	8	+9
Hong Kong	1958	2022	24	13	5	6	48	21	+29
India	1954	2006	12	9	0	3	36	11	+25
Indonesia	1934	2024	19	11	2	6	42	26	+16
Iran	1951	2019	18	6	6	6	21	19	+2
Iraq	1978	2024	14	7	3	4	20	12	+8
Jordan	1988	2024	7	3	3	1	18	6	+12
Kuwait	1978	1996	5	1	0	4	2	8	−6
Kyrgyzstan	2018	2019	2	2	0	0	6	0	+6
Lebanon	1967	1967	1	1	0	0	3	1	+2
Macau	1980	2000	4	4	0	0	26	0	+26
Malaysia	1958	2004	26	9	7	10	40	43	−3
Mongolia	2019	2021	2	2	0	0	20	0	+20
Myanmar	1955	2023	15	8	5	2	34	12	+22
Nepal	1986	1997	5	5	0	0	28	0	+28
North Korea	1975	2024	20	9	4	7	20	14	+6
Oman	1988	2021	13	9	3	1	20	5	+15
Pakistan	1962	1988	2	1	1	0	5	2	+3
Palestine	2015	2015	1	1	0	0	4	0	+4
Philippines	1915	1983	20	15	0	5	88	35	+53
Qatar	1983	2019	10	2	4	4	12	15	−3
Saudi Arabia	1990	2022	16	10	1	5	25	13	+12
Singapore	1959	2015	26	21	2	3	58	18	+40
South Korea	1954	2022	78	15	23	40	74	119	−45
South Vietnam	1961	1973	5	4	0	1	14	5	+9
South Yemen	1982	1982	1	1	0	0	3	1	+2
Sri Lanka	1972	1993	3	3	0	0	16	0	+16
Syria	1978	2023	12	10	2	0	32	9	+23
Tajikistan	2011	2021	4	4	0	0	19	1	+18
Thailand	1962	2024	23	17	4	2	57	16	+41
Turkmenistan	2019	2019	1	1	0	0	3	2	+1
United Arab Emirates	1981	2017	19	6	9	4	22	17	+5
Uzbekistan	1996	2019	11	7	3	1	30	10	+20
Vietnam	2007	2024	6	5	1	0	12	4	+8
Yemen	2006	2010	4	4	0	0	8	3	+5
Total	1917	2022	519	276	107	137	1,033	551	+484

CAF

As of 17 October 2023^[7]

Opponent	From	To	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
Angola	2005	2005	1	1	0	0	1	0	+1
Cameroon	2001	2020	5	3	2	0	5	0	+5
Egypt	1998	2007	2	2	0	0	5	1	+4
Ghana	1964	2022	8	5	0	3	18	14	+4
Ivory Coast	1993	2020	5	3	0	2	4	4	0
Mali	2018	2018	1	0	1	0	1	1	0
Nigeria	1968	2003	4	2	1	1	8	6	+2
Senegal	1987	2018	4	0	2	2	4	7	−3
South Africa	2009	2009	1	0	1	0	0	0	0
Togo	2009	2009	1	1	0	0	5	0	+5
Tunisia	1996	2023	6	5	0	1	8	3	+5
Zambia	2014	2014	1	1	0	0	4	3	+1
Total	1964	2021	37	22	7	8	59	35	+24

CONCACAF

As of 13 October 2023^[7]

Opponent	From	To	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
Canada	2001	2023	4	3	0	1	10	4	+6
Costa Rica	1995	2022	5	3	1	1	10	3	+7
El Salvador	2019	2023	2	2	0	0	8	0	+8
Guatemala	2010	2013	2	2	0	0	5	1	+4
Haiti	2017	2017	1	0	1	0	3	3	0
Honduras	2002	2014	3	2	1	0	14	7	+7
Jamaica	1998	2014	4	2	1	1	7	3	+4
Mexico	1996	2013	6	1	0	5	6	11	−5
Panama	2018	2020	2	2	0	0	4	0	+4
Trinidad and Tobago	2006	2019	2	1	1	0	2	0	+2
United States	1993	2006	3	2	0	1	7	4	+3
Total	1993	2023	32	19	5	8	74	34	+40

CONMEBOL

As of 20 June 2023^[7]

Opponent	From	To	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
Argentina	1992	2010	7	1	0	6	4	15	−11
Bolivia	1999	2019	3	2	1	0	4	1	+3
Brazil	1989	2022	13	0	2	11	6	36	−30
Chile	2008	2019	3	1	1	1	4	4	0
Colombia	2003	2023	6	1	1	4	4	9	−5
Ecuador	1995	2022	4	2	2	0	5	1	+4
Paraguay	1995	2022	11	5	4	2	15	10	+5
Peru	1967	2023	8	2	3	3	8	6	+2
Uruguay	1985	2023	10	2	4	4	20	26	−6
Venezuela	2010	2019	5	0	4	1	5	8	−3
Total	1967	2019	66	17	19	30	69	109	−40

OFC

As of 12 October 2021^[7]

Opponent	From	To	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
New Zealand	1981	2017	6	3	0	3	10	8	+2
Australia	2021	2021	1	1	0	0	2	1	+1
Total	1981	2021	7	4	0	3	12	9	+3

UEFA

As of 12 September 2023^[7]

Opponent	From	To	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
Austria	2007	2007	1	0	1	0	0	0	0
Azerbaijan	2012	2012	1	1	0	0	2	0	+2
Belarus	2013	2013	1	0	0	1	0	1	−1
Belgium	1999	2018	6	2	2	2	11	8	+3
Bosnia and Herzegovina	2006	2016	3	1	1	1	6	4	+2
Bulgaria	1976	2016	6	1	1	4	10	13	−3
Croatia	1997	2022	4	1	2	1	5	5	0
Cyprus	2014	2014	1	1	0	0	1	0	+1
Czech Republic	1998	2011	3	1	2	0	1	0	+1
Denmark	1971	2010	2	1	0	1	5	4	+1
England	1995	2010	3	0	1	2	3	5	−2
Finland	2006	2009	2	2	0	0	7	1	+6
France	1994	2012	6	1	1	4	5	14	−9
Germany	2004	2023	4	2	1	1	8	7	+1
Greece	2005	2014	2	1	1	0	1	0	+1
Hungary	1993	2004	2	0	0	2	2	4	−2
Iceland	1971	2012	3	3	0	0	8	3	+5
Israel	1973	1977	7	0	0	7	2	17	−15
Italy	1936	2013	3	0	1	2	4	13	−9
Kazakhstan	1997	2005	3	2	1	0	10	2	+8
Latvia	2005	2013	2	1	1	0	5	2	+3
Malta	2006	2006	1	1	0	0	1	0	+1
Montenegro	2007	2007	1	1	0	0	2	0	+2
Netherlands	2009	2013	3	0	1	2	2	6	−4
Norway	2002	2002	1	0	0	1	0	3	−3
Poland	1981	2018	7	2	0	5	10	14	−4
Romania	1974	2003	4	0	1	3	3	12	−9
Russia	1978	2002	4	1	0	3	3	11	−8
Scotland	1995	2009	3	1	2	0	2	0	+2
Serbia	1961	2013	9	3	0	6	6	20	−14
Slovakia	2000	2004	3	2	1	0	5	2	+3
Spain	2001	2022	2	1	0	1	2	2	0
Sweden	1936	2002	6	1	3	2	8	12	−4
Switzerland	2007	2018	2	1	0	1	4	5	−1
Turkey	1997	2023	3	2	0	1	5	3	+2
Ukraine	2002	2018	3	1	0	2	2	3	−1
Wales	1992	1992	1	0	0	1	0	1	−1
Total	1936	2018	115	36	23	56	146	194	−48

FIFA World Ranking

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 1 (15 February 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

Japan

Men's

• International footballers
• National football team (Results (2020–present))
• National under-23 football team
• National under-20 football team
• National under-17 football team
• National futsal team
• National under-20 futsal team
• National beach soccer team

Women's

• International footballers
• National football team (Results)
• National under-20 football team
• National under-17 football team
• National futsal team

References

This page was last edited on 24 March 2024, at 13:45