A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | CH | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
 | |||
| Association | Japan Football Association | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Confederation | AFC (Asia) | ||
| Sub-confederation | EAFF (East Asia) | ||
| Head coach | Go Oiwa | ||
| Most caps | Kensuke Nagai Keigo Higashi Reo Hatate (31 each) | ||
| Top scorer | Shoya Nakajima (19) | ||
| FIFA code | JPN | ||
| |||
| First international | |||
 Malaysia 1–1 Japan  (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; December 1990)[1] | |||
| Biggest win | |||
Japan 13–0 Philippines  (Hong Kong; 12 June 1999) | |||
| Biggest defeat | |||
 Denmark 6–1 Japan (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; 6 February 1994) | |||
| Olympic Games | |||
| Appearances | 8 (first in 1996) | ||
| Best result | Fourth place (2012, 2020) | ||
| Asian Games | |||
| Appearances | 6 (first in 2002) | ||
| Best result |  Gold medalists (2010) | ||
| AFC U-23 Asian Cup | |||
| Appearances | 6 (first in 2013) | ||
| Best result | Champions (2016, 2024) | ||
The Japan national under-23 football team (Japanese: U-23サッカー日本代表) is a national association football youth team of Japan and is controlled by the Japan Football Association. The team won the gold medal at the 2010 Asian Games and were champions in the 2016 AFC U-23 Championship. Since 1992, it was decided that teams targeting athletes under the age of 23 will participate in the Olympics (additional provisions for overage limits have been added since 1996). Therefore, the name changes to Japan national under-22 football team the year before the Olympics and Japan national under-21 football team two years prior. The exception to this was the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which was postponed one year, so in 2021, the team was called the Japan national under-24 football team.
Team image
Nicknames
"サムライ・ブルー (Samurai Blue)" basically refers to the Japan national football team, but the under-23 football team are sometimes referred to as "Young" Samurai Blue. However, in reality, Samurai Blue is not often used.
Rivalries
South Korea
Japan maintains a strong football rivalry with South Korea, even in youth set-ups.
Results and fixtures
- Legend
Win Draw Lose Fixture
2024
U-23
| 22 March Friendly | Japan  | 1–3 |  Mali | Kameoka, Japan |
| 19:20 UTC+9 |
|
Report | Stadium: Sanga Stadium by Kyocera Attendance: 11,515 Referee: William Finney (England) |
| 25 March Friendly | Japan | 2–0 |  Ukraine | Kitakyushu, Japan |
| 19:15 UTC+9 | Report | Stadium: Mikuni World Stadium Kitakyushu Attendance: 11,756 Referee: Lewis Smith (England) |
| 16 April AFC U-23 Asian Cup GS | Japan | 1–0 |  China | Al Rayyan, Qatar |
| 16:00 UTC+3 |
|
Report | Stadium: Jassim bin Hamad Stadium Attendance: 390 Referee: Casey Reibelt (Australia) |
| 19 April AFC U-23 Asian Cup GS | United Arab Emirates  | 0–2 | Japan | Al Rayyan, Qatar |
| 18:30 UTC+3 | Report | Stadium: Jassim bin Hamad Stadium Attendance: 2,097 Referee: Sadullo Gulmurodi (Tajikistan) |
| 22 April AFC U-23 Asian Cup GS | Japan | 0–1 |  South Korea | Al Rayyan, Qatar |
| 16:00 UTC+3 | Report |
|
Stadium: Jassim bin Hamad Stadium Attendance: 2,683 Referee: Majed Al-Shamrani (Saudi Arabia) |
| 25 April AFC U-23 Asian Cup QF | Qatar  | 2–4 (a.e.t.) | Japan | Al Rayyan, Qatar |
| 17:00 UTC+3 | Report | Stadium: Jassim bin Hamad Stadium Attendance: 9.573 Referee: Hanna Hattab (Syria) |
| 29 April AFC U-23 Asian Cup SF | Japan | 2–0 |  Iraq | Al Rayyan, Qatar |
| 20:30 UTC+3 | Report | Stadium: Jassim bin Hamad Stadium Attendance: 6,405 Referee: Shaun Evans (Australia) |
| 3 May AFC U-23 Asian Cup Final | Japan | 1–0 |  Uzbekistan | Al Rayyan, Qatar |
| 18:30 UTC+3 |
|
Report | Stadium: Jassim bin Hamad Stadium Attendance: 12,276 Referee: Mooud Bonyadifard (Iran) |
| 11 June Friendly | United States  | 0–2 | Japan | Kansas City, United States |
| 19:00 UTC−5 | Report | Stadium: Children's Mercy Park Referee: Jon Freemon (USA) |
| 24 July 2024 Summer Olympic GS | Japan | v |  Paraguay | Bordeaux, France |
| 19:00 UTC+2 | Report | Stadium: Stade de Bordeaux |
| 27 July 2024 Summer Olympic GS | Japan | v | Mali | Bordeaux, France |
| 21:00 UTC+2 | Report | Stadium: Stade de Bordeaux |
| 30 July 2024 Summer Olympic GS | Israel  | v | Japan | Nantes, France |
| 21:00 UTC+2 | Report | Stadium: Stade de la Beaujoire |
2023
U-22
| 6 September AFC U-23 Asian Cup qualification | Japan | 6–0 |  Pakistan | Arad, Bahrain |
| 21:30 UTC+3 | Report | Stadium: Al Muharraq Stadium |
| 9 September AFC U-23 Asian Cup qualification | Palestine  | 0–1 | Japan | Arad, Bahrain |
| 21:30 UTC+3 | Report |
|
Stadium: Al Muharraq Stadium |
| 12 September AFC U-23 Asian Cup qualification | Japan | 0–0 |  Bahrain | Arad, Bahrain |
| 18:30 UTC+3 | Stadium: Al Muharraq Stadium |
| 20 September Asian Games GS | Japan | 3–1 | Qatar | Hangzhou, China |
| 19:30 UTC+8 | Report |
|
Stadium: Xiaoshan Sports Centre Stadium Attendance: 5,904 Referee: Kim Hee-gon (South Korea) |
| 25 September Asian Games GS | Palestine | 0–1 | Japan | Hangzhou, China |
| 19:30 UTC+8 | Report |
|
Stadium: Xiaoshan Sports Centre Stadium Attendance: 6,417 Referee: Nazmi Nasaruddin (Malaysia) |
| 28 September Asian Games R16 | Japan | 7–0 |  Myanmar | Hangzhou, China |
| 19:30 UTC+8 | Report | Stadium: Xiaoshan Sports Centre Stadium Attendance: 7,217 Referee: Clifford Daypuyat (Philippines) |
| 1 October Asian Games QF | Japan | 2–1 |  North Korea | Hangzhou, China |
| 19:30 UTC+8 | Report |
|
Stadium: Xiaoshan Sports Centre Stadium Attendance: 0 Referee: Rustam Lutfullin (Uzbekistan) |
| 4 October Asian Games SF | Hong Kong  | 0–4 | Japan | Hangzhou, China |
| 18:00 UTC+8 | Report | Stadium: Xiaoshan Sports Centre Stadium Attendance: 7,456 Referee: Qasim Al-Hatmi (Oman) |
| 7 October Asian Games Final | South Korea | 2–1 | Japan | Hangzhou, China |
| 20:00 UTC+8 |
|
Report |
|
Stadium: Hangzhou Sports Park Stadium Attendance: 68,018 Referee: Ammar Mahfoodh (Bahrain) |
| 14 October Friendly[2] | Mexico  | 1–4 | Japan | Arizona, United States |
| 15:00 UTC−7 |
|
Report | Stadium: Phoenix Rising Soccer Stadium |
| 17 October Friendly[2] | United States | 4–1 | Japan | Arizona, United States |
| 19:30 UTC−7 | Report |
|
Stadium: Phoenix Rising Soccer Stadium |
| 18 November Friendly[2] | Japan | 5–2 |  Argentina | Shizuoka, Japan |
| 14:00 UTC+9 | Report | Stadium: IAI Stadium Nihondaira Attendance: 11,225 Referee: Chae Sang-hyeop (South Korea) |
- Fixtures & Results (2023), JFA.jp
Head-to-head record
- As of 11 June 2024, after the match against
United States.
The following table shows Japan under-23 team's all-time international record.
