Japan's World Cup 2026 squad is shaped as much by who is missing as by who remains. Kaoru Mitoma and Takumi Minamino are both ruled out of the tournament through injury, but Japan still travel with enough experience to keep expectations alive. Yuto Nagatomo is also about to make history, and Hajime Moriyasu's group has been built around that kind of seniority.
How Moriyasu has leaned on the older heads
The clearest storyline is Nagatomo's inclusion. He is set to become the first Asian player to appear in five different World Cups, which gives this squad a rare historical angle before a ball is even kicked. Wataru Endo is part of the same veteran core. He made 8 Premier League appearances in 2025, a modest club total that still leaves him with the sort of top-level experience Japan need when the squad has been stripped of some attacking firepower.
That experience sits alongside some useful production elsewhere. Keito Nakamura has scored 10 goals in 24 caps since his 2023 debut, which matters for a side missing Mitoma and Minamino. Japan also carry the memory of beating both Spain and Germany in the 2022 group stage, even if that run ended with the penalty defeat to Croatia in the Round of 16.
Why the opening game matters for this group
The schedule is not especially forgiving. Japan are listed second in Group F for the 2026 World Cup, and they open their campaign away to the Netherlands on 14 June 2026. Zion Suzuki will be part of the squad travelling to that match with Parma in the background of his club profile, another sign that this group is being asked to carry both youth and familiarity at the same time.
Japan do not need the missing names to define them. They need the players still available to keep the level high, and the brief suggests Moriyasu has enough in the room to do that. The injuries to Mitoma and Minamino are a real blow, but the squad is not built on one attacking pair alone. If Japan start well against the Netherlands, the conversation around the tournament will move quickly from absences to whether this veteran-heavy group can finally go beyond the Round of 16.
Written by Daniel Hartley with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 1 outlet. How we work →
