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 21 defeat. Keisuke Honda became the first Japanese player to score in three World Cups: 2010, 2014, 2018.
In 2018, Japan became the first ever Asian nation to beat a side from South America, after they won 21 against Colombia in the group stage. Japan made their seventh appearance at the finals at the 2022 tournament in Qatar. The team has progressed past the group stage on five occasions, 2002 (as joint-hosts), 2010, 2018, 2022 and 2026.
FIFA World Cup record FIFA World Cup recordQualification recordYearResultPositionPldWDLGFGASquadPldWDLGFGA 1930 WithdrewQualified as invitees 1934Did not enterDid not enter 1938 WithdrewWithdrew 1950 Suspended from FIFASuspended from FIFA 1954 Did not qualify201137 1958 Did not enterDid not enter 1962 Did not qualify200214 1966 Did not enterDid not enter 1970 Did not qualify 402248 1974410354 1978401305 1982420242 19868512155 1990623173 199413931356 1998 Group stage31st300314Squad159515112 2002 Round of 169th421153SquadQualified as co-hosts 2006 Group stage28th301227Squad121101255 2010 Round of 169th421142Squad14842239 2014 Group stage29th301226Squad14833308 2018 Round of 1615th411267Squad181332447 2022 9th421154Squad181512586 2026 Round of 32 21st412185Squad141220482 2030To be determinedTo be determined 2034Total: Round of 169th2988133338—15295292835393
List of matches World CupRoundOpponentScoreResultJapan goalscorers1998Group H0–1L0–1L1–2LNakayama2002Group H2–2DSuzuki, Inamoto1–0WInamoto2–0WMorishima, NakataRound of 160–1L2006Group F1–3LS. Nakamura0–0D1–4LTamada2010Group E1–0WHonda0–1L3–1WHonda, Endō, OkazakiRound of 160–0D2014Group C1–2 LHonda0–0 D1–4 LOkazaki2018Group H2–1WKagawa, Osako2–2DInui, Honda0–1 LRound of 162–3L Haraguchi, Inui2022Group E2–1WDōan, Asano0–1L2–1WDōan, TanakaRound of 161–1DMaeda2026Group F2–2DK. Nakamura, Kamada4–0WKamada, Ueda (2), Itō1–1DMaedaRound of 321–2LSano
1998 FIFA World Cup
Group Stage
2002 FIFA World Cup
Group Stage
Knockout stage
Round of 16
2006 FIFA World Cup
Group Stage
2010 FIFA World Cup
Group Stage
Knockout stage
Round of 16
2014 FIFA World Cup
Group Stage
2018 FIFA World Cup
Group Stage
Knockout stage
Round of 16
2022 FIFA World Cup
Group Stage
Knockout stage
Round of 16
2026 FIFA World Cup
Group Stage
Knockout stage
Round of 32
Head-to-head record OpponentWin %Total
Player records Most appearances
RankPlayerMatchesWorld Cups1Yūto Nagatomo162010, 2014, 2018, 2022 and 20262Makoto Hasebe112010, 2014 and 2018Eiji Kawashima112010, 2014 and 2018Maya Yoshida112014, 2018 and 20225Hidetoshi Nakata101998, 2002 and 2006Shinji Okazaki102010, 2014 and 2018Keisuke Honda102010, 2014 and 20188Junichi Inamoto82002, 2006 and 2010Ritsu Dōan82022 and 2026Junya Itō82022 and 2026Daichi Kamada82022 and 2026
Goalscorers On 26 June 1998, Masashi Nakayama made history by scoring Japan's first-ever FIFA World Cup goal; doing so in their match against Jamaica in Lyon.
Player Goals 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022 2026 Keisuke Honda 4 211 Junichi Inamoto 2 2 Shinji Okazaki 2 11 Takashi Inui 2 2 Ritsu Dōan 2 2 Daichi Kamada 2 2 Ayase Ueda 2 2 Daizen Maeda 2 11 Masashi Nakayama 11 Takayuki Suzuki 1 1 Hiroaki Morishima 1 1 Hidetoshi Nakata 1 1 Shunsuke Nakamura 1 1 Keiji Tamada 1 1 Yasuhito Endō 1 1 Shinji Kagawa 1 1 Yuya Osako 1 1 Genki Haraguchi 1 1 Takuma Asano 1 1 Ao Tanaka 1 1 Keito Nakamura 1 1 Junya Itō 1 1 Kaishū Sano 1 1 Total 33 1 5 2 4 2 6 5 8
See also Asian nations at the FIFA World Cup Japan at the AFC Asian Cup Japan at the Copa América
References
Reports
External links Japan at FIFA