Japan's 2026 World Cup squad is officially confirmed, named by head coach H. Moriyasu on May 15, 2026. The 26-player roster brings together three goalkeepers, eight defenders, six midfielders and nine forwards. Japan is drawn into Group F, where it faces Netherlands, Sweden and Tunisia. The most-played player in the last 12 months of national-team football is Zion Suzuki, with 892 minutes across 10 caps, the squad's most in-form option heading into the tournament. Close behind is Ritsu Dōan on 783 minutes, another of the side's most-used players over the same period. Over the past twelve months the team has posted 10 wins, 4 draws and 2 losses, scoring 30 goals and conceding 12. Our ranking orders the squad purely by national-team minutes, not club minutes, and every name links to a player profile with the full minutes and recent-form breakdown.
Matches & results
Group standings
Group F
| # | Team | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Netherlands |
3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 4 | +6 | 7 |
| 2 |  Japan |
3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 3 | +4 | 5 |
| 3 |  Sweden |
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 4 |
| 4 |  Tunisia |
3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 12 | -10 | 0 |
26-man squad
| # | Player | Position | Club | NT minutes (12mo) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zion Suzuki | Goalkeeper | Parma | 892 |
| 2 | Ritsu Dōan | Forward | Eintracht Frankfurt | 783 |
| 3 | Keito Nakamura | Midfielder | Reims | 735 |
| 4 | Ayase Ueda | Forward | Feyenoord | 732 |
| 5 | Kaishu Sano | Midfielder | FSV Mainz 05 | 687 |
| 6 | Daichi Kamada | Forward | Crystal Palace | 678 |
| 7 | Shogo Taniguchi | Defender | St. Truiden | 651 |
| 8 | Tsuyoshi Watanabe | Defender | Feyenoord | 602 |
| 9 | Hiroki Ito | Defender | Bayern München | 547 |
| 10 | Junya Ito | Forward | Genk | 536 |
| 11 | Ao Tanaka | Midfielder | Leeds | 524 |
| 12 | Ayumu Seko | Defender | Le Havre | 502 |
| 13 | Daizen Maeda | Forward | Celtic | 432 |
| 14 | Takefusa Kubo | Forward | Real Sociedad | 424 |
| 15 | Junnosuke Suzuki | Defender | FC Copenhagen | 375 |
| 16 | Ko Itakura | Defender | Ajax | 352 |
| 17 | Yukinari Sugawara | Midfielder | Werder Bremen | 329 |
| 18 | Koki Ogawa | Forward | NEC Nijmegen | 299 |
| 19 | Takehiro Tomiyasu | Defender | Ajax | 267 |
| 20 | Wataru Endo | Midfielder | Liverpool | 225 |
| 21 | Tomoki Hayakawa | Goalkeeper | Kashima | 188 |
| 22 | Yuito Suzuki | Midfielder | SC Freiburg | 115 |
| 23 | Keisuke Goto | Forward | St. Truiden | 115 |
| 24 | Yuto Nagatomo | Defender | FC Tokyo | 82 |
| 25 | Kento Shiogai | Forward | VfL Wolfsburg | 43 |
| 26 | Keisuke Osako | Goalkeeper | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 22 |
Methodology
Players are ranked by minutes played for the national team over the last 365 days. Ties are broken by appearances. The top 16 are labeled Locked, ranks 17–22 Likely, ranks 23–30 Bubble — a starting frame, not a verdict.
Articles
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