The Japan national under-20 football team (Japanese: U-20サッカー日本代表) is a national association football team of Japan and is controlled by the Japan Football Association. The year before the FIFA U-20 World Cup, the national team was renamed the Japan national under-19 football team, and the year before that, the national team was renamed the Japan national under-18 football team.
Results and fixtures
Legend
2026 U-19
Fixtures & Results (U-19 2026), JFA.jp
U-18
Fixtures & Results (U-18 2026), JFA.jp
2025 U-18
Fixtures & Results (U-18 2025), JFA.jp
Coaching staff Current staff As of 24 September 2026.
RoleNameHead coach Satoshi YamaguchiAssistant coaches Daisuke Sugawara Michifumi ShiraishiGoalkeeping coach Toshiyasu TakaharaFitness coach Keisuke OtsukaTechnical staff Tomoki Takeuchi
Players
Current U-19 squad - September and October The following players were called up on 24 September 2026 for a friendly tour in Azerbaijan, facing Moldova and Azerbaijan.
Current U-19 squad - August and September The following players were called up on 20 August 2026 for the 2027 AFC U-20 Asian Cup qualification. Haruto Nakano and Makoto Himeno were replaced by Takezo Fujikawa and Noriharu Kan, sidelined due to injury.
Current U-18 squad The following players were called up on 9 March 2026 for the J-Village Cup. Ryu Nakamura and Sunao Kidera were replaced by Minato Hara and Asuto Fujita due to fitness issues.
Previous squads FIFA U-20 World Cup 1979 FIFA World Youth Championship 1995 FIFA World Youth Championship 1997 FIFA World Youth Championship 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup
Records
Players in bold are still active, at least at club level. Caps and goals is calculated by all national team level include U18, U19, and U20.
Most capped player
# Name Caps Goals Pos Career 1Koki Ogawa 36 23 FW 2015–2017 2Yuta Nakayama 30 0 DF 2015–2017 3Takehiro Tomiyasu 28 1 DF 2016–2017 4Ryosuke Yamanaka 25 0 DF 2011–2012 5Ritsu Doan 24 8 MF 2016–2017 6Koji Miyoshi 23 5 MF 2013–2017 7Isa Sakamoto 21 12 FW 2021–2023 8Sota Kitano 19 6 FW 2022–2023 9Yuya Kubo 18 15 FW 2010–2012 10Naohiro Takahara 16 16 FW 1998–1999
Top goalscorers
# Name Goals Caps Ratio Career 1Koki Ogawa 23 36 2015–2017 2Naohiro Takahara 16 16 1998–1999 3Yuya Kubo 15 18 2010–2012 4Isa Sakamoto 12 21 2021–2023 5Kanta Chiba 11 4 2021–2022 6Kento Shiogai 9 9 2023–7Ritsu Doan 8 24 2016–2017Naoki Kumata 8 13 2022–20239Sota Kitano 6 19 2022–2023Hidetoshi Nakata 6 12 1994–1995Taisei Miyashiro 6 11 2018–2020Kensuke Nagai 6 11 2007–2011
Honours Intercontinental FIFA U-20 World Cup Runners-Up (1): 1999
Continental AFC U-19 Championship Winners (1): 2016 Runners-Up (6): 1973, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2006
Competitive record FIFA U-20 World Cup
YearResult 1977Did not qualify 1979Group stage302112 1981Did not qualify 1983 1985 1987 1989 1991 1993 1995Quarter-finals411266 19975212129 1999Runners-up7412119 2001Group stage310244 2003Quarter-finals5302610 2005Round of 16402235 2007422063 2009Did not qualify 2011 2013 2015 2017Round of 16411246 2019412142 2023Group stage310234 2025Round of 16430171 2027To be determinedTotal12/25501912196761 *Denotes draws which includes knockout matches decided on penalty shootouts.
FIFA U-20 World Cup matchesYearRoundResultOpponent1979Group stageL0-1D0-0D 1-11995Group stageD2-2L1-2W 2-0QuarterfinalsL1-21997Group stageL1-2L6-2L 3-3Round of 16W1-0QuarterfinalsL1-21999Group stageL1-2W3-1W 2-0Round of 16D1-1QuarterfinalsW2-0SemifinalsW2-1FinalsL0-42001Group stageL0-2L1-2W 3-02003Group stageW1-0L1-4W 1-0Round of 16W 2-1QuarterfinalsL1-52005Group stageL1-2D1-1D 1-1Round of 16L 0-12007Group stageW3-1W1-0D 0-0Round of 16D 2-22017Group stageW2-1L0-2D 2-2Round of 16L0-12019Group stageD1-1W3-0D 0-0Round of 16L0-12023Group stageW1-0L1-2L 1-22025Group stageW2-0W2-0W3-0Round of 16L0-1
AFC U-20 Asian Cup Year ResultPldWDLGFGA 1959Third place42021211 196042111011 1961Group stage401348 1962410349 19635113813 1964 301214 1965420284 19664004213 1967300326 1968301206 1969Quarterfinals 3102511 1970Fourth place6213513 1971Fourth place6411132 1972Quarterfinals5221125 1973Runners-up512256 1974Quarterfinals420294 1975Group stage4202105 1976Tie-breaker play-off412124 1977Fourth place512286 1978Group stage 412186 1980Final tournament420245 1982Didn't qualify 1985 1986 1988Group stage300337 1990311154 1992Third place530284 1994Runners-up640294 1996Fourth place 6312126 1998Runners-up63121810 20006312158 20026411114 2004Third place6330103 2006Runners-up6321126 2008Quarterfinals4211106 20104301114 2012411224 2014421175 2016Champions6420130 2018Semifinals5401155 20235410114 2025513176 2027 TBDTotal39/42178753667311242
Head-to-head record The following table shows Japan's head-to-head record in the FIFA U-20 World Cup and AFC U-20 Asian Cup. In FIFA U-20 World Cup OpponentWin %Total
In AFC U-20 Asian Cup OpponentWin %Total
See also
Japan Men's International footballers National football team (Results (2020–present)) National under-23 football team National under-20 football team National under-17 football team National futsal team National under-20 futsal team National beach soccer team Women's International footballers National football team (Results) National under-20 football team National under-17 football team National futsal team
References
External links Japan national under-20 football team – official website at JFA.jp Japan national team 2021 schedule at JFA.jp