Football: World Cup-bound Japan call up 7 new faces for last 2 games
CHIBA (Kyodo) -- With a place at next year's World Cup already secured, the Japan Football Association on Friday called up seven newcomers to the Samurai Blue squad for the two remaining Asian qualifying matches.
Brighton winger Kaoru Mitoma was among the mainstays left out of the 27-man squad to face Australia on June 5 in Perth and Indonesia five days later in Suita, Osaka Prefecture.
The seven new faces include 18-year-old Fagiano Okayama midfielder Ryunosuke Sato, Bristol City's Yu Hirakawa and Sparta Rotterdam's Shunsuke Mito.
"There are no dead rubbers for the national team," Japan head coach Hajime Moriyasu told a press conference in Chiba, near Tokyo. "There are no games we can afford to lose. I chose my players with the determination to win, no matter who plays."
The Samurai Blue qualified for their eighth consecutive World Cup with a 2-0 win at home to Bahrain on March 20.
The 48-team World Cup in 2026 will be cohosted by Canada, Mexico and the United States.
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Japan squad:
Goalkeepers: Keisuke Osako (Sanfrecce Hiroshima), Kosei Tani (Machida Zelvia), Zion Suzuki (Parma)
Defenders: Yuto Nagatomo (FC Tokyo), Tsuyoshi Watanabe (Gent), Koki Machida (Royale Union Saint-Gilloise), Ayumu Seko (Grasshopper), Hiroki Sekine (Reims), Junnosuke Suzuki (Shonan Bellmare), Kota Takai (Kawasaki Frontale)
Midfielders/Forwards: Wataru Endo (Liverpool), Yuki Ohashi (Blackburn), Daichi Kamada (Crystal Palace), Ryoya Morishita (Legia Warsaw), Shuto Machino (Holstein Kiel), Keito Nakamura (Reims), Kaishu Sano (Mainz), Yu Hirakawa (Bristol City), Koki Kumasaka, Mao Hosoya (Kashiwa Reysol), Takefusa Kubo (Real Sociedad), Yuito Suzuki (Brondby), Joel Chima Fujita (Sint-Truiden), Shunsuke Mito (Sparta), Kodai Sano (NEC Nijmegen), Kota Tawaratsumida (FC Tokyo), Ryunosuke Sato (Fagiano Okayama)
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