The Nippon Daihyō Kirwan Challenge 2026 Squad against Scotland & England  March 2026 ←Last Japanese Squad that faced England (884)
Player	Birthdate	Age	Pos	Club	App	G
Ando, Tomoya	10 January 1999	27	RB	FC St. Pauli 1910, Belgium	3	0
	Ando withdrew from the squad on 24 March because of injury
Dōan, Ritsu	16 June 1998	27	RM	Eintracht Frankfurt, Germany	63	11
Fujita, Joel Chima	16 February 2002	24	DM	FC St. Pauli 1910, Belgium	8	0
Gotō, Keisuke	3 June 2005	20	F	Sint-Truidense VV, Belgium, on loan from RSC Anderecht, Belgium	3	0
Hashioka, Daiki	17 May 1999	26	RB	KAA Gent, Belgium, on loan from SK Svaia Praha, Slovakia	12	0
	Hashioka replaced Ando on 24 March
Hayakawa, Tomoki	3 March 1999	27	G	Kashima Antlers FC	3	tbcᵍᵃ
Itō, Hiroki	12 May 1999	26	C/LB	FC Bayern München, Germany	22	1
Itō, Junya	9 March 1993	33	M	KRC Genk, Belgium	67	15
Kamada, Daichi	5 August 1996	29	C/AM	Crystal Palace FC, England	48	12
Machino, Shūto	30 September 1999	26	F	Borussia VfL Mönchengladbach, Germany	13	5
Maeda, Daizen	20 October 1997	28	F	The Celtic FC, Scotland	27	4
Mitoma, Kaoru	20 May 1997	28	LM	Brighton & Hove Albion FC, England	30	8
Nakamura, Keito	28 July 2000	25	LM	Stade de Reims, France	36	1
Ogawa, Kōki	8 August 1997	28	F	Nijmegen Eendracht Combinatie, Netherlands	13	10
Ōsako, Keisuke	28 July 1999	26	G	Sanfrecce Hiroshima FC	11	tbcᵍᵃ
Sano, Kaishu	30 December 2000	25	DM	1.FSV Mainz 05, Germany	11	0
Sano, Kodai	25 September 2003	22	M	Nijmegen Eendracht Combinatie, Netherlands	2	0
Satō, Ryūnosuke	16 October 2006	19	AM	FC Tokyo	5	0
Seko, Ayumu	7 June 2000	25	CB	Le Havre AC, France	12	0
Shiogai, Kento	26 March 2005	20	F	VfL Wolfsburg, Germany	1	0
Sugawara, Yukinari	28 June 2000	25	RB	SV Werder Bremen 1899, Germany, on loan from Southampton FC, England	19	2
Suzuki, Junnosuke	12 July 2003	22	CB/DM	FC København, Denmark	5	0
Suzuki, Yuito	25 October 2001	24	AM	SC Freiburg, Germany	5	0
Suzuki, Zion	21 August 2002 in Newark, USA	23	G	Parma Calcio 1913, Italy	22	tbcᵍᵃ
Tanaka, Ao	10 September 1998	27	CM	Leeds United AFC, England	36	8
Taniguchi, Shōgo	15 July 1991	34	CB	Sint-Truidense VV, Belgium	36	1
Tomiyasu, Takehiro	5 November 1998	27	FB	Amsterdamsche FC Ajax, Netherlands	42	1
	Tomiyasu withdrew from the squad on 25 March because of injury
Ueda, Ayase	28 August 1998	27	F	Feyenoord Rotterdam, Netherlands	37	16
Watanbe, Tsuyoshi	5 February 1997	29	CB	Feyenoord Rotterdam, Netherlands	9	0

Squad details correct up to and including Japan's match against Scotland on 28 March 2026.
Tallies taken from SamuraiBlue

Diary

Thursday, 19 March 2026 - Japan will travel to Scotland and England next week, and will face the Scotland on Saturday, 28th and then England on Tuesday, 31st March. The Scotland and England expedition will be held as the Kirin World Challenge 2026 with special sponsorship from Kirin Holdings Co., Ltd., the official Japan partner. Coach Hajime Moriyasu has named a 28-man squad. Regular Captain, Liverpool's Wataru Eno and Sociedad's Takefusa Kubo, both miss out because of injury.

Tuesday, 24 March 2026 - Gent's Daiki Hashioka has replaced Tomoya Ando in the squad, because of injury.

Wednesday, 25 March 2026 - Ajax's Takehiro Tomiyasu is the latest player to drop out of the squad because of injury. He will not be replaced.

Saturday, 28 March 2026 - Scotland 0 Japan 1 - Scotland began their World Cup preparations with a narrow friendly defeat by Japan at Hampden as substitute Junya Ito conjured a late winner. Back in action for the first time since November's famous win over Denmark secured their World Cup return after a 28-year absence, Scotland were unable to reach those heady heights in the first of two March friendlies. Both teams hit the woodwork in the first half and had opportunities to open the scoring after the break, but it was Ito who fired home the decisive goal on 84 minutes. The Genk forward burst into the Scotland box after slick passing down the left flank opened Scotland up and his low shot settled in the bottom corner despite goalkeeper Angus Gunn's best efforts.

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