is a Japanese professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who plays as a forward or

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for Major League Soccer club

FC Cincinnati Football Club Cincinnati, commonly known as FC Cincinnati, is an American professional soccer club based in Cincinnati. The club plays in the Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). The team succeeded the lower-division team of the ...

Club career

At the age of six, Yuya Kubo started playing football for FC Yamaguchi, a local club based in his home city Yamaguchi. From 2006 to 2008, he played at Konan Junior High School.

Kyoto Sanga

In 2009, at the age of fifteen, Kubo began to play in the

Kyoto Sanga FC is a Japanese professional football club based in Kyoto. "Sanga" comes from the Sanskrit word ''sangha'', a term meaning "group" or "club" and often used to denote the Buddhist priesthood, associating the club with Kyoto's many Buddhist templ ...

U-18 team while he was still a high school student. In August 2010, he was promoted to the first-team at the age of sixteen. In the 2011–12 season, he mainly played for the first-team scoring 13 goals in 33 matches. He was a key player in the Kyoto Sanga FC team which reached the

2011 Emperor's Cup The was a regular edition of an annual Japanese national cup tournament. It started on 3 September 2011 and ended on 1 January 2012 with the final at National Stadium in Tokyo, Japan, won by FC Tokyo 4–2 against Kyoto Sanga. The cup winner wer ...

final scoring in extra time of the semi-final against

Yokohama Marinos is a Japanese People, Japanese professional association football, football club based in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, part of the Greater Tokyo Area. The club competes in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in Japan, football in t ...

, breaking the 2–2 deadlock in a match which Sanga would go on to win 4–2. He also scored in the final against FC Tokyo, coming off the bench as he did in the semi-final. His goal was in vain this time however, as FC Tokyo won the match 2–4. In the 2012–13 season, Kyoto Sanga announced an update to Kubo's contract improving it to pay him as a first team member.

Europe

On 18 June 2013, Kyoto Sanga announced Kubo's transfer to Swiss club BSC Young Boys. He made his Swiss Super League debut on 13 July playing 19 minutes in a 2–0 win against FC Sion at the season opener. On 28 July 2013, he scored two goals and made one assist coming off the bench against FC Thun in a 3–2 win. It was his first goal in his third game in the Swiss Super League. On 25 January 2017, Kubo was acquired by Belgian club K.A.A. Gent for a transfer fee of €3.5 million. He started in all seven remaining games of the regular season, having an immediate impact by scoring five goals. In August 2018, Kubo joined

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

side 1. FC Nürnberg on loan for the 2018–19 season. While his Gent contract was also extended, Nürnberg secured an option to sign him permanently.

United States

On 9 January 2020, Kubo joined

MLS Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

side

as a

designated player The Designated Player Rule, nicknamed the Beckham Rule, allows Major League Soccer franchises to sign up to three players that would be considered outside their salary cap (either by offering the player higher wages or by paying a transfer fee ...

. On 1 March 2020, he made his FC Cincinnati debut against the

New York Red Bulls The New York Red Bulls are an American professional soccer club based in the New York metropolitan area. The Red Bulls compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The club was established in October 1994 and be ...

National team

Kubo has been involved in the Japan National Team from U-16 to U-23 level. He received his first call up to the senior team for the Kirin Challenge Cup, a friendly match against

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

in February 2012, however he did not feature during the 90 minutes. On 11 November 2016, he made his full international debut for Japan against

Oman Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of ...

in the Kirin Challenge Cup 2016. On 23 March 2017, he scored one goal and gave one assist in 0–2 win over

UAE The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

2018 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification process was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations to decide 31 of the 32 teams which would play in the 2018 FIFA World Cup, with Russia qualifying automatically as hosts. All 210 ...

. It was his first goal in his third game for Japan. On 28 March 2017, he scored one goal and added two assists in a 4–0 victory over

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

:''Scores and results list Japan's goal tally first.''

Honours

Kyoto Sanga FC * Emperor's Cup Runner-up : 2011 Japan U-23 * AFC U-23 Championship Champions:

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

FC Cincinnati * Supporters' Shield:

2023 Events Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 ** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1927 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law. ** Croatia will adopt the eu ...

References

External links

* * * * * at BSC Young Boys Official Website {{DEFAULTSORT:Kubo, Yuya 1993 births Living people Association football people from Yamaguchi Prefecture Men's association football forwards Japanese men's footballers Japan men's youth international footballers Japan men's international footballers J2 League players Swiss Super League players Belgian Pro League players Kyoto Sanga FC players BSC Young Boys players K.A.A. Gent players 1. FC Nürnberg players FC Cincinnati players Japanese expatriate men's footballers Japanese expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Japanese expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Japanese expatriate sportspeople in Germany Japanese expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate men's footballers in Switzerland Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Bundesliga players Designated Players (MLS) Major League Soccer players