FIFA World Cup 2022: Japan WC Squad, Fixtures & Schedule, Coach, Captain and Vice-Captain, Upcoming Matches, Playing XI

FIFA World Cup 2022: Japan WC Squad, Fixtures & Schedule, Coach, Captain and Vice-Captain, Upcoming Matches, Playing XI

Japan WC 2022 Squad: Japan return to the FIFA World Cup stage at a 7^th successive time of asking as they announced their 26-man squad.

Japan World Cup 2022 Squad

Also read: FIFA World Cup 2022: Costa Rica WC Squad, Fixtures & Schedule, Coach, Captain and Vice-Captain, Upcoming Matches, Playing XI

Maya Yoshida is given the responsibility of captaining the nation in his 3^rd consecutive FIFA World Cup and hopes to use his experience and quality once again.

The Samurai Blue’s 26-man squad as follows:

Goalkeepers: Eiji Kawashima, Shuichi Gonda and Daniel Schmidt

Defenders: Yuto Nagatomo, Maya Yoshida (C), Hiroki Sakai, Shogo Taniguchi, Mini Yamane, Kou Itakura, Yuta Nakayama, Takemiro Tomiyasu and Hiroki Ito

Midfielders: Gaku Shibasaki, Wataru Endo, Junya Ito, Takuma Asano, Takumi Minamino, Hidemasa Morita and Daichi Kamada

Forwards: Yuki Soma, Kaoru Mitoma, Daizen Maeda, Ritsu Doan, Ayase Ueda, Ao Tanaka and Takefusa Kubo

Tomiyasu has been called up for Japan’s squad for the World Cup. #afc pic.twitter.com/6hAR0mg9Dv

— DailyAFC (@DailyAFC) November 7, 2022

Fixtures

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Japan forms a part of Group E alongside Costa Rica, Germany and Spain with their group stage fixtures as follows:

23^rd November: Germany vs Japan (06:30 PM IST), Khalifa International Stadium

27^th November: Japan vs Costa Rica (03:30 PM IST), Ahmed bin Ali Stadium

2^nd December: Japan vs Spain (12:30 AM IST), Khalifa International Stadium

🇯🇵 JAPAN 🇯🇵 #WorldCupFantasy
✨ TOP PICK – TAKUMI MINAMINO (7.0M) ✨

Japan’s premium asset, but with good reason: nobody scored more goals (10) in qualifying where he tallied 12DGI in 15 games, Minamino is a leading candidate for pens. & will dominate the majority of set-pieces. pic.twitter.com/7t6Yn9JfuD

— Eytexi (@eytexi) November 13, 2022

Make no mistake, the Samurai Blue are not pushovers at the World Stage as we have seen during the last edition where they lost 3-2 to Belgium in a thriller.

Japan has consistently reached the Round of 16 but lacked the extra push to progress further.

They are up against it in group E with the remaining teams having a superior record. But Japan’s ability to feed off the critics is what makes them one of the underdogs of the tournament.