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 lea ...

who plays as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

and

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

for

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

club

Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), commonly known as Bayern Munich (), FC Bayern () or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. They are most known for their men's professional football team, ...

and the Japan national team.

Club career

Júbilo Iwata

After growing through

Júbilo Iwata is a Japanese professional association football, football team based in Iwata, Shizuoka, Iwata, located in Shizuoka Prefecture. The club competes in J2 League following relegation from J1 League in 2024 J1 League, 2024. Etymology The team's ...

youth ranks, Hiroki Ito was promoted to the first team in 2018. He debuted as a pro in March 2018 in J. League Cup, and would soon make his first appearance in

J1 League The , the J.League or the for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Japan and the highest level of the Japanese football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation ...

in August 2018. In 2019, he was loaned out to

Nagoya Grampus ; formerly known as is a Japanese association football club that plays in the J1 League, and have for all but one season since the inauguration of the league, following promotion from the J2 League in 2017. Based in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture an ...

, where he made nine appearances in all competitions.

VfB Stuttgart

In June 2021, Ito joined

club

VfB Stuttgart Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart 1893 e. V. (), commonly known as VfB Stuttgart (), is a German professional sports club based in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg. The club's Association football, football team is currently part of Germany's f ...

on loan, and was assigned to play for the second team in the

Regionalliga Südwest The Regionalliga Südwest ('Regional League Southwest') is the fourth tier of the German football league system in the states of Hesse, Baden-Württemberg, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland. It is one of five leagues at this level, together with t ...

. However, he was instantly promoted to the first team by coach

Pellegrino Matarazzo Pellegrino Matarazzo (born November 28, 1977) is an American professional soccer coach and retired player. He was previously a youth coach of 1. FC Nürnberg and 1899 Hoffenheim. In December 2019, Matarazzo was appointed head coach of VfB Stut ...

, and started his first match in a 6–0 away win against

BFC Dynamo Berliner Fussball Club Dynamo e. V., commonly abbreviated to BFC Dynamo () or BFC (), alternatively sometimes called Dynamo Berlin, is a German football club based in the locality of Alt-Hohenschönhausen of the borough of Lichtenberg of Ber ...

in the

DFB-Pokal The DFB-Pokal (), also known as the German Cup in English language, English, is a German knockout Association football, football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competiti ...

. Afterwards that year, on 26 November, he scored his first Bundesliga goal in a 2–1 win over

Mainz Mainz (; #Names and etymology, see below) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and with around 223,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 35th-largest city. It lies in ...

. On 20 May 2022, VfB Stuttgart exercised a purchase option which tied Ito to the club with a contract until June 2025. In August 2023, he extended his contract with Stuttgart until June 2027. In the 2023–24 season, he played a crucial role in his club's runner-up finish and qualification to the Champions League.

Bayern Munich

On 13 June 2024, Ito signed for fellow Bundesliga club

until 2028, after they had triggered his release clause of an estimated €30 million. However, he sustained a

metatarsal The metatarsal bones or metatarsus (: metatarsi) are a group of five long bones in the midfoot, located between the tarsal bones (which form the heel and the ankle) and the phalanges ( toes). Lacking individual names, the metatarsal bones are ...

fracture during the summer preseason which kept him sidelined for the first half of the 2024–25 season. He made his debut for the club on 12 February 2025, during a 2–1 away victory over

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

in the Champions League knockout phase play-offs. Later that month, on 23 February, he scored his first goal in a 4–0 victory over

Eintracht Frankfurt Eintracht Frankfurt e.V. () is a German professional sports club based in Frankfurt, Hesse. It is best known for its football club, which was founded on 8 March 1899. The club currently plays in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German footb ...

. A month later, on 29 March, he suffered another metatarsal fracture during a 3–2 victory over

St. Pauli St. Pauli (Sankt Pauli; ) is a quarter of the city of Hamburg belonging to the centrally located Hamburg-Mitte borough. Situated on the right bank of the Elbe river, the nearby Landungsbrücken is a northern part of the port of Hamburg. St. Pau ...

, ruling him out for the remainder of the 2024–25 season.

International career

Ito played for the youth teams of Japan, including the U23 team during the 2018 AFC Championship, the U19 team in the 2018 AFC Championship, and the U20 team in the 2019 FIFA World Cup. Ito made his debut for the senior Japan national team on 2 June 2022, during a 4–1 friendly win over

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

. Later that year, on 1 November, he was selected in 26-man squad for the

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup was the 22nd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

in Qatar. He scored his first goal for Japan against

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

on 20 June 2023 during the Kirin Challenge Cup. On 1 January 2024, he was called up for the

2023 AFC Asian Cup The 2023 AFC Asian Cup was the 18th edition of the AFC Asian Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It involved 24 national teams after its expansion in 20 ...

Career statistics

Club

International

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

Honours

Júbilo Iwata *

J2 League The or simply J2 is the second division of the and the second level of the Japanese association football league system. The top tier is represented by the J1 League. It (along with the rest of the J.League) is currently sponsored by Meiji Yasud ...

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

Bayern Munich *

: 2024–25 Japan U19 *

AFC U-19 Championship The AFC U-20 Asian Cup, formerly known as the AFC Youth Championship and AFC U-19 Championship, is a biennial international association football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for the men's under-20 national teams ...

third place:

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

Individual *

Rookie of the Month: November 2021

References

Hiroki Ito
at JFA * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ito, Hiroki 1999 births Living people Association football people from Hamamatsu Japanese men's footballers Men's association football central defenders Men's association football fullbacks Japan men's international footballers Japan men's under-20 international footballers Japan men's youth international footballers 21st-century Japanese sportsmen 2022 FIFA World Cup players 2023 AFC Asian Cup players J1 League players J2 League players Bundesliga players Júbilo Iwata players Nagoya Grampus players VfB Stuttgart players FC Bayern Munich footballers Japanese expatriate men's footballers Japanese expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Germany