Japan at the FIFA World Cup
Japan have appeared in the FIFA World Cup on seven occasions, the first being in 1998 where they lost all three group games and finished in 31st position. Masashi Nakayama scored Japan's first ever goal in a World Cup match against Jamaica on 26 June 1998 in a 2–1 defeat.[1] Keisuke Honda became the first Japanese player to score in three world cups: 2010, 2014, 2018.[2]
Japan made their seventh and most recent appearance at the finals at the 2022 tournament in Qatar. In 2018, Japan became the first ever Asian nation to beat a side from South America, after they won 2–1 against Colombia in the group stage. The team has progressed to the round of 16 on four occasions, 2002 (as join-hosts), 2010, 2018 and 2022.
FIFA World Cup record
| FIFA World Cup finals record | Qualification record | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Result | Position | Pld | W | D* | L | GF | GA | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | |
 1930 | Did not enter | Did not enter | |||||||||||||
.svg.png.webp){kind=small} 1934 |
Did not enter | ||||||||||||||
.svg.png.webp){kind=small} 1938 | Withdrew | Withdrew | |||||||||||||
.svg.png.webp){kind=small} 1950 | Suspended from FIFA | Suspended from FIFA | |||||||||||||
.svg.png.webp){kind=small} 1954 | Did not qualify | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | |||||||||
 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 | |
.svg.png.webp){kind=small}  2002 | Round of 16 | 9th | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 3 | Qualified as co-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 | |
.svg.png.webp){kind=small} 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 | |
By match
| World Cup | Round | Opponent | Score | Result | Japan scorers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Group stage | Argentina | 0–1 | L | |
 Croatia | 0–1 | L | |||
 Jamaica | 1–2 | L | Nakayama | ||
| 2002 | Group stage | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Belgium | 2–2 | D | Suzuki, Inamoto |
| Russia | 1–0 | W | Inamoto | ||
 Tunisia | 2–0 | W | Morishima, H. Nakata | ||
| Round of 16 |  Turkey | 0–1 | L | ||
| 2006 | Group stage | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Australia | 1–3 | L | Nakamura |
| Croatia | 0–0 | D | |||
| Brazil | 1–4 | L | Tamada | ||
| 2010 | Group stage |  Cameroon | 1–0 | W | Honda |
 Netherlands | 0–1 | L | |||
 Denmark | 3–1 | W | Honda, Endō, Okazaki | ||
| Round of 16 | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Paraguay | 0–0 (a.e.t.) (3–5 p) | D | ||
| 2014 | Group stage |  Ivory Coast | 1–2 | L | Honda |
 Greece | 0–0 | D | |||
 Colombia | 1–4 | L | Okazaki | ||
| 2018 | Group stage | Colombia | 2–1 | W | Kagawa, Osako |
 Senegal | 2–2 | D | Inui, Honda | ||
 Poland | 0–1 | L | |||
| Round of 16 | Belgium | 2–3 | L | Haraguchi, Inui | |
| 2022 | Group stage | Germany | 2–1 | W | Dōan, Asano |
 Costa Rica | 0–1 | L | |||
| Spain | 2–1 | W | Dōan, Tanaka | ||
| Round of 16 | Croatia | 1–1 (a.e.t.) (1–3 p) | D | Maeda |
Record by opponent
| FIFA World Cup matches (by team) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opponent | Total | Wins | Draws | Losses | Goals scored | Goals conceded |
| Argentina | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Australia | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Belgium | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5 |
| Brazil | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| Cameroon | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Colombia | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 5 |
| Costa Rica | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Croatia | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Denmark | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| Germany | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| Greece | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ivory Coast | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Jamaica | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Netherlands | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
 Paraguay | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Poland | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Russia | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Senegal | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Spain | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| Tunisia | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Turkey | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Record players
Goalkeeper Eiji Kawashima played through Japan's eleven World Cup matches from 2010 to 2018.
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Keisuke Honda is Japan's top scorer in World Cup history with four goals in three tournaments.
| Rank | Player | Matches | World Cups |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yuto Nagatomo | 15 | 2010, 2014, 2018 and 2022 |
| 2 | Makoto Hasebe | 11 | 2010, 2014 and 2018 |
| Eiji Kawashima | 11 | 2010, 2014 and 2018 | |
| Maya Yoshida | 11 | 2014, 2018 and 2022 | |
| 5 | Hidetoshi Nakata | 10 | 1998, 2002 and 2006 |
| Shinji Okazaki | 10 | 2010, 2014 and 2018 | |
| Keisuke Honda | 10 | 2010, 2014 and 2018 | |
| 8 | Junichi Inamoto | 8 | 2002, 2006 and 2010 |
| 9 | Yuji Nakazawa | 7 | 2006 and 2010 |
| Yoshito Ōkubo | 7 | 2010 and 2014 |
Top goalscorers
| Rank | Player | Goals | World Cups |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Keisuke Honda | 4 | 2010 (2), 2014 (1), and 2018 (1) |
| 2 | Junichi Inamoto | 2 | 2002 |
| Shinji Okazaki | 2 | 2010 and 2014 | |
| Takashi Inui | 2 | 2018 | |
| Ritsu Doan | 2 | 2022 |
References
- "2-1 victory over Japan lifts the Reggae Boyz". Sports Illustrated. 19 September 1998. Retrieved 15 January 2014.
- "Super sub Honda makes history with goal against Senegal". Kyodo News. 9 June 2018. Retrieved 26 June 2018.
External links
Japan squads | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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