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Japan at the FIFA World Cup

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See also: Japan at the FIFA Women's World Cup

Japan have appeared in the FIFA World Cup on seven occasions, the first being in 1998 where they lost all three group games and finished in 31st position. Masashi Nakayama scored Japan's first ever goal in a World Cup match against Jamaica on 26 June 1998 in a 2–1 defeat.[1] Keisuke Honda became the first Japanese player to score in three World Cups: 2010, 2014, 2018.[2]

Japan made their seventh and most recent appearance at the finals at the 2022 tournament in Qatar. In 2018, Japan became the first ever Asian nation to beat a side from South America, after they won 2–1 against Colombia in the group stage. The team has progressed to the round of 16 on four occasions, 2002 (as join-hosts), 2010, 2018 and 2022.

FIFA World Cup record

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FIFA World Cup finals record Qualification record
Year Result Position Pld W D* L GF GA Pld W D L GF GA
Uruguay 1930 Did not enter Did not enter
Italy 1934 Did not enter
France 1938 Withdrew Withdrew
Brazil 1950 Suspended from FIFA Suspended from FIFA
Switzerland 1954 Did not qualify 2 0 1 1 3
Sweden 1958 Did not enter Did not enter
Chile 1962 Did not qualify 2 0 0 2 1 4
England 1966 Did not enter Did not enter
Mexico 1970 Did not qualify 4 0 2 2 4 8
West Germany 1974 4 1 0 3 5 4
Argentina 1978 4 0 1 3 0 5
Spain 1982 4 2 0 2 4 2
Mexico 1986 8 5 1 2 15 5
Italy 1990 6 2 3 1 7 3
United States 1994 13 9 3 1 35 6
France 1998 Group stage 31st 3 0 0 3 1 4 15 9 5 1 51 12
South KoreaJapan 2002 Round of 16 9th 4 2 1 1 5 3 Qualified as co-hosts
Germany 2006 Group stage 28th 3 0 1 2 2 7 12 11 0 1 25 5
South Africa 2010 Round of 16 9th 4 2 1 1 4 2 14 8 4 2 23 9
Brazil 2014 Group stage 29th 3 0 1 2 2 6 14 8 3 3 30 8
Russia 2018 Round of 16 15th 4 1 1 2 6 7 18 13 3 2 44 7
Qatar 2022 Round of 16 9th 4 2 1 1 5 4 18 15 1 2 58 6
CanadaUnited StatesMexico 2026 To be determined To be determined
Morocco Portugal Spain 2030
Saudi Arabia 2034
Total Round of 16 7/25 25 7 6 12 25 33 138 83 27 28 305 91

By match

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World Cup Round Opponent Score Result Japan scorers
1998 Group H  Argentina 0–1 L
 Croatia 0–1 L
 Jamaica 1–2 L Nakayama
2002 Group H  Belgium 2–2 D Suzuki, Inamoto
 Russia 1–0 W Inamoto
 Tunisia 2–0 W Morishima, H. Nakata
Round of 16  Turkey 0–1 L
2006 Group F  Australia 1–3 L Nakamura
 Croatia 0–0 D
 Brazil 1–4 L Tamada
2010 Group E  Cameroon 1–0 W Honda
 Netherlands 0–1 L
 Denmark 3–1 W Honda, Endō, Okazaki
Round of 16  Paraguay 0–0 (a.e.t.)
(3–5 p)		 D
2014 Group C  Ivory Coast 1–2 L Honda
 Greece 0–0 D
 Colombia 1–4 L Okazaki
2018 Group H  Colombia 2–1 W Kagawa, Osako
 Senegal 2–2 D Inui, Honda
 Poland 0–1 L
Round of 16  Belgium 2–3 L Haraguchi, Inui
2022 Group E  Germany 2–1 W Dōan, Asano
 Costa Rica 0–1 L
 Spain 2–1 W Dōan, Tanaka
Round of 16  Croatia 1–1 (a.e.t.)
(1–3 p)		 D Maeda

Record by opponent

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FIFA World Cup matches (by team)
Opponent Total Wins Draws Losses Goals scored Goals conceded
 Argentina 1 0 0 1 0 1
 Australia 1 0 0 1 1 3
 Belgium 2 0 1 1 4 5
 Brazil 1 0 0 1 1 4
 Cameroon 1 1 0 0 1 0
 Colombia 2 1 0 1 3 5
 Costa Rica 1 0 0 1 0 1
 Croatia 3 0 2 1 1 2
 Denmark 1 1 0 0 3 1
 Germany 1 1 0 0 2 1
 Greece 1 0 1 0 0 0
 Ivory Coast 1 0 0 1 1 2
 Jamaica 1 0 0 1 1 2
 Netherlands 1 0 0 1 0 1
 Paraguay 1 0 1 0 0 0
 Poland 1 0 0 1 0 1
 Russia 1 1 0 0 1 0
 Senegal 1 0 1 0 2 2
 Spain 1 1 0 0 2 1
 Tunisia 1 1 0 0 2 0
 Turkey 1 0 0 1 0 1

Record players

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Goalkeeper Eiji Kawashima played through Japan's eleven World Cup matches from 2010 to 2018.
Keisuke Honda is Japan's top scorer in World Cup history with four goals in three tournaments.
Rank Player Matches World Cups
1 Yuto Nagatomo 15 2010, 2014, 2018 and 2022
2 Makoto Hasebe 11 2010, 2014 and 2018
Eiji Kawashima 11 2010, 2014 and 2018
Maya Yoshida 11 2014, 2018 and 2022
5 Hidetoshi Nakata 10 1998, 2002 and 2006
Shinji Okazaki 10 2010, 2014 and 2018
Keisuke Honda 10 2010, 2014 and 2018
8 Junichi Inamoto 8 2002, 2006 and 2010
9 Yuji Nakazawa 7 2006 and 2010
Yoshito Ōkubo 7 2010 and 2014

Top goalscorers

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Rank Player Goals World Cups
1 Keisuke Honda 4 2010 (2), 2014 (1), and 2018 (1)
2 Junichi Inamoto 2 2002
Shinji Okazaki 2 2010 and 2014
Takashi Inui 2 2018
Ritsu Doan 2 2022

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "2-1 victory over Japan lifts the Reggae Boyz". Sports Illustrated. 19 September 1998. Archived from the original on September 15, 2000. Retrieved 15 January 2014.
  2. ^ "Super sub Honda makes history with goal against Senegal". Kyodo News. 9 June 2018. Retrieved 26 June 2018.
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