Japan Summons 27 Players to Face Indonesia, Majority Playing in Top European Leagues

Jakarta, Beritasatu.com – Japanese national team coach Hajime Moriyasu called up 27 players to play two away matches in the third round of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup in the Asian zone against Indonesia and China. The majority of players called up play in Europe’s top leagues.

Japan will start an away match against Indonesia at the Gelora Bung Karno Main Stadium, Jakarta, on Friday (15/11/2024) next week. About 4 days later, the Blue Samurai flew to China to play a match at The Xiamen Egret Stadium on Tuesday the following week.

According to the Japanese National Team’s social media account, it was reported Between, Of the 27 players called up by Moriyasu, 23 of them are players playing abroad, including six players playing in the Champions League this season.

The six players are Wataru Endo (Liverpool), Hidemasa Morita (Sporting Lisbon), Reo Hatate (Celtic), Kyogo Furuhashi (Celtic), Daizen Maeda (Celtic), and Takumi Minamino (AS Monaco).

Four other players play domestically, namely goalkeeper Keisuke Osako (Sanfrecce Hiroshima) and goalkeeper Kosei Tani (Machida Zelvia) as well as defenders Yuto Nagatomo (FC Tokyo) and Kota Takai (Kawasaki Front).

Moriyasu did not bring his mainstay striker, Ayase Ueda, due to injury. That way, the 56 year old coach will rely on NEC Nijmegen striker Koki Ogawa and Celtic striker Kyogo Furuhashi who have both scored six goals.

Japan tops Group C with 10 points, five points ahead of Australia, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain in second to fourth positions.

The following is a list of 27 Japanese national team players who were called up against Indonesia and China:

Goalkeeper
Keisuke Osako (Sanfrecce Hiroshima)
Kosei Tani (Machida Zelvia)
Sion Suzuki (Parma)

Defender
Yuto Nagatomo (FC Tokyo)
Shogo Taniguchi (Sint Truiden)
Ko Itakura (Borussia Monchengladbach)
Chef Machida (Union SG)
Daiki Hashioka (Luton Town)
Yukinari Sugawara (Southampton)
Ayumu Seko (Grasshoppers)
Takai City (Kawasaki Front)

Middle
Wataru Endo (Liverpool)
Hidemasa Morita (Sporting Lisbon)
Daichi Kamada (Crystal Palace)
Reo Hatate (Celtic)
Ao Tanaka (Leed United)
Joel Chima Fujita (Sint Truiden)

Front
Junya Ito (Stade Reims)
Keito Nakamura (Stade Reims)
Takumi Minamino (AS Monaco)
Yuki Ohashi (Blackburn Rovers)
Kyogo Furuhashi (Celtic)
Daizen Maeda (Celtic)
Kaoru Mitoma (Brighton & Hove Albion)
Chef Ogawa (NEC Nijmegen)
Ritsu Doan (SC Freiburg)
Takefusa Kubo (Real Sociedad).