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Japan is in Group H alongside Colombia, Poland and Senegal.
Just hours ago, head coach Akira Nishino has released the official 23 man Japan squad which will travel to Russia for the 2018 World Cup.
| Player | Position | Age | Caps | Goals | Club |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eiji Kawashima | Keeper | 35 | 83 | 0 | Metz 🇫🇷 |
| Masaaki Higashiguchi | Keeper | 32 | 4 | 0 | Gamba Osaka 🇯🇵 |
| Kosuke Nakamura | Keeper | 23 | 3 | 0 | Kashiwa Reysol 🇯🇵 |
| Gotoku Sakai | Right back | 27 | 39 | 0 | Hamburg 🇩🇪 |
| Hiroki Sakai | Right back | 28 | 41 | 0 | Olympique Marseille 🇫🇷 |
| Wataru Endo | Centre back | 25 | 11 | 0 | Urawa Red Diamonds 🇯🇵 |
| Tomoaki Makino | Centre back | 31 | 31 | 4 | Urawa Red Diamonds 🇯🇵 |
| Maya Yoshida | Centre back | 29 | 81 | 10 | Southampton 🏴 |
| Gen Shoji | Centre back | 25 | 11 | 1 | Kashima Antlers 🇯🇵 |
| Naomichi Ueda | Centre back | 23 | 3 | 0 | Kashima Antlers 🇯🇵 |
| Yuto Nagatomo | Left back | 31 | 104 | 3 | Galatasaray 🇹🇷 |
| Hotaru Yamaguchi | Midfielder | 27 | 41 | 2 | Cerezo Osaka 🇯🇵 |
| Makoto Hasebe (c) | Midfielder | 34 | 109 | 2 | Eintracht Frankfurt 🇩🇪 |
| Ryota Oshima | Midfielder | 25 | 4 | 0 | Kawasaki Frontale 🇯🇵 |
| Gaku Shibasaki | Midfielder | 26 | 16 | 3 | Getafe 🇪🇦 |
| Keisuke Honda | Midfielder | 31 | 94 | 36 | Pachuca 🇲🇽 |
| Genki Haraguchi | Midfielder | 27 | 31 | 6 | Fortuna Dusseldorf 🇩🇪 |
| Takashi Usami | Midfielder | 26 | 22 | 3 | Fortuna Dusseldorf 🇩🇪 |
| Shinji Kagawa | Midfielder | 29 | 90 | 29 | Borussia Dortmund 🇩🇪 |
| Takashi Inui | Midfielder | 29 | 25 | 2 | Eibar 🇪🇦 |
| Yuya Osako | Forward | 28 | 27 | 7 | Werder Bremen 🇩🇪 |
| Shinji Okazaki | Forward | 32 | 112 | 50 | Leicester City 🏴 |
| Yoshinori Muto | Forward | 25 | 22 | 2 | Mainz 05 🇩🇪 |
Potential Japan starting XI (4-3-3):
Kawashima – H. Sakai, Makino, Yoshida, Nagatomo – Haraguchi, Hasebe, Yamaguchi – Kagawa, Osako, Okazaki
- For the latest squads and other World Cup news check out our World Cup blog.
