The Japan national under-23 football team（Japanese: U-23サッカー日本代表）is a national association football youth team of Japan and is controlled by the Japan Football Association. The team won the gold medal at the 2010 Asian Games and were champions in the 2016 AFC U-23 Championship. Since 1992, it was decided that teams targeting athletes under the age of 23 will participate in the Olympics (additional provisions for overage limits have been added since 1996). Therefore, the name changes to Japan national under-22 football team the year before the Olympics and Japan national under-21 football team two years prior. The exception to this was the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which was postponed one year, so in 2021, the team was called the Japan national under-24 football team.

Team image

Nicknames

"サムライ・ブルー (Samurai Blue)" basically refers to the Japan national football team, but the under-23 football team are sometimes referred to as "Young" Samurai Blue. However, in reality, Samurai Blue is not often used.

Rivalries

South Korea

Japan maintains a strong football rivalry with South Korea, even in youth set-ups.

Results and fixtures

Legend

  Win   Draw   Lose   Fixture

2024

U-23

• Fixtures & Results (2024)

2023

U-22

• Fixtures & Results (2023), JFA.jp

Head-to-head record

As of 25 April 2024, after the match against  Qatar.

The following table shows Japan under-23 team's all-time international record.

Coaching staff

As of 4 April 2024.

The following staff managed the players selected for the 2024 AFC U-23 Asian Cup.

Players

Caps and goals are counted in this section separately, with players in each age group (U-23, U-22 and U-21) having a distinct amount of caps and goals.

Current U-23 squad

The following players were called up for the 2024 AFC U-23 Asian Cup, held in Qatar from April to May 2024.
Caps and goals updated as of 25 April 2024, after the match against  Qatar.

Recent U-23 call-ups

The following players were called up to the squad in the past 12 months.

(Players are listed within position group by order of latest call-up, seniority, caps, goals, and then alphabetically)

Current U-22 squad

The following players were called up for a match against  Argentina, played on 18 November 2023.
Caps and goals updated as of 18 November 2023, after the match against  Argentina.

Recent U-22 call-ups

The following players were called up to the squad in the past 12 months.

(Players are listed within position group by order of latest call-up, seniority, caps, goals, and then alphabetically)

Previous squads

Bold indicates winning squads

Olympic Games

• 1996 Summer Olympics Squad
• 2000 Summer Olympics Squad
• 2004 Summer Olympics Squad
• 2008 Summer Olympics Squad
• 2012 Summer Olympics Squad
• 2016 Summer Olympics Squad
• 2020 Summer Olympics Squad

AFC U-23 Asian Cup

• 2013 AFC U-22 Championship Squad
• 2016 AFC U-23 Championship Squad
• 2018 AFC U-23 Championship Squad
• 2020 AFC U-23 Championship Squad
• 2022 AFC U-23 Asian Cup Squad

Asian Games

• 2002 Asian Games Squad
• 2006 Asian Games Squad
• 2010 Asian Games Squad
• 2014 Asian Games Squad
• 2018 Asian Games Squad
• 2022 Asian Games Squad

Overaged players in the Olympic Games

Manager history

Records

As of 25 March 2024

Players in bold are still active, at least at club level.

Caps and goals is calculated by all national team level include U21, U22, and U23.

Competitive record

  Champions    Runners-up    Third place    Fourth place  

Olympic Games

Match history

AFC U-23 Asian Cup

Match history

Asian Games

Match history

See also

• Sport in Japan
  • Football in Japan
    • Women's football in Japan
• Japan Football Association (JFA)
• Kirin Cup (Invitational tournament)
• Kirin Challenge Cup (International friendly match)
• Kirin Company

National teams

Men's

• National football team
  • Results and fixtures
    • 2020–present
  • International footballers
• 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

• National football team
  • Results and fixtures
    • 2021
  • International footballers
• National under-20 football team
• National under-17 football team
• National futsal team

References

External links

• (in English) Japan national under-21 football team (2022) – official website at JFA.jp
• (in English) Japan national under-24 football team (2021) – official website at JFA.jp
• (in English) Japan national under-23 football team (2020) – official website at JFA.jp
• (in Japanese) Japan national team 2021 schedule at JFA.jp