Japan National Under-21 Football Team

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 is the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which has been postponed for one year, so in 2021, the team will be 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.

Media coverage

Summer Olympics

AFC U-23 Asian Cup

Friendly and Qualifiers

; Dubai Cup U-23

Results and fixtures

;Legend

2022

U-23/University

Fixtures & Results (U-23)
JFA.jp

U-21

JFA.jp

Head-to-head record

, ''after the match against .''

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

Coaching staff

Current coaching staff

Players

On the following lists, each player's age and club on the squad lists refers to the release date of the call-ups of each under-23 section. However, the recent call-ups section does not utilize this method.

Current U-23 squad

The following players were called up for a friendly match against Cambodia on 23 September 2022.

Current U-22 squad

The following players were called up for the 2022 AFC U-23 Asian Cup qualification, where they played against Cambodia and Hong Kong, in October 2021.

Current U-21 squad

The following players were called up for friendly matches against Spain and Portugal on 18 and 22 November 2022, respectively.

Current University squad

The following players were called up for a "intern" friendly match against Japan U-21s on May 2022. The players' age display their ages at the time of the call-up.

Recent U-23, U-22, and U-21 call-ups

The following players have been called up to an under-23, under-22, or under-21 squad in the past 12 months. Each players' age and clubs are updated frequently.

^INJ Withdrew due to injury

^PRE Preliminary squad / standby

^RET Retired from the national team

^SUS Serving suspension

^WD Player withdrew from the squad due to non-injury issue.

^U23 Player selected for an U-23 squad

^U22 Player selected for an U-22 squad

^U21 Player selected for an U-21 squad

''(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

Overaged playes in the Olympic Games

Manager history

Records

:
:''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.''

Most capped players

Top goalscorers

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)
* (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

*
Japan national under-21 football team (2022)
– official website a
JFA.jp
*
Japan national under-24 football team (2021)
– official website a
JFA.jp
*
Japan national under-23 football team (2020)
– official website a
JFA.jp
*
Japan national team 2021 schedule
a
JFA.jp

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{{Japan men's football squad 1996 Summer Olympics
{{Japan men's football squad 2000 Summer Olympics
{{Japan men's football squad 2004 Summer Olympics
{{Japan men's football squad 2008 Summer Olympics
{{Japan men's football squad 2012 Summer Olympics
{{Japan men's football squad 2016 Summer Olympics

Youth football in Japan
Asian national under-23 association football teams
Football