Aoba Fujino
Japanese association football player (born 2004)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Aoba Fujino (藤野 あおば, Fujino Aoba; IPA: [ɸɯʑino aꜜoba]; born 27 January 2004) is a Japanese professional footballer who plays as a forward for Women's Super League club Manchester City and the Japan national team.
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 27 January 2004 | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Machida, Tokyo, Japan | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.62 m (5 ft 4 in) | ||||||||||||||||
| Position | Forward | ||||||||||||||||
| Team information | |||||||||||||||||
Current team | Manchester City | ||||||||||||||||
| Number | 20 | ||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||
| Minamiosawa FC | |||||||||||||||||
| Tokyo Verdy Sereias | |||||||||||||||||
| 2019–2021 | Jumonji High School | ||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 2021–2024 | Tokyo Verdy Beleza | 51 | (24) | ||||||||||||||
| 2024– | Manchester City | 33 | (6) | ||||||||||||||
| International career‡ | |||||||||||||||||
| 2022 | Japan U-20 | 6 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 2022– | Japan | 45 | (12) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 14:15, 17 May 2026 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals as of 16:08, 6 June 2026 (UTC) | |||||||||||||||||
Club career
Fujino begun her youth career with Nippon TV Menina, the youth academy of Tokyo Verdy Beleza. Unable to progress through the youth rank, she left the team and instead went on to Jumonji High School. She rejoined Tokyo Verdy Beleza upon her graduation from high school.[1]
Fujino made her WE League debut on 16 October 2021.[2] On 2 August 2024, she signed a three-year deal with Women's Super League side Manchester City.[3] She scored her first goal for the club during a 3-2 UEFA Champions League win against St. Pölten on 16 October 2024.[4]
In the first home game of the 2025–26 season, Fujino assisted the winning goal to make it 2–1 against Brighton.[5]
International career
In July 2022, Fujino was selected for the Japan U-20 national team for the 2022 U-20 World Cup[6] where Japan were the runners-up.
On 13 June 2023, she was included in Japan's 23-player squad for the 2023 FIFA World Cup.[7] On July 26, 2023, she scored her first World Cup goal against Costa Rica in the 2nd round of the 2023 FIFA World Cup Group C, becoming the youngest Japanese goal scorer (19 years and 180 days) in the World Cup for both men and women.[8][9]
On 14 June 2024, Fujino was included in the Japan squad for the 2024 Summer Olympics.[10]
Fujino was part of the Japan squad that won the 2025 SheBelieves Cup.[11]
Career statistics
Club
- As of match played 31 May 2026[12]
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | League cup[b] | Continental[c] | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Tokyo Verdy Beleza | 2021–22 | WE League | 10 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 10 | 4 | |
| 2022–23 | WE League | 20 | 11 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | — | 28 | 17 | ||
| 2023–24 | WE League | 21 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 2 | — | 28 | 12 | ||
| Total | 51 | 24 | 6 | 4 | 9 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 66 | 33 | ||
| Manchester City | 2024–25 | Women's Super League | 17 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 8 | 2 | 29 | 4 |
| 2025–26 | Women's Super League | 16 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | — | 22 | 7 | ||
| Total | 33 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 8 | 2 | 51 | 11 | ||
| Career total | 84 | 30 | 11 | 6 | 14 | 6 | 8 | 2 | 117 | 44 | ||
- Includes Empress's Cup, Women's FA Cup
- Includes WE League Cup, FA Women's League Cup
- Includes UEFA Women's Champions League
International
- As of match played 6 June 2026[13]
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Japan | 2022 | 4 | 0 |
| 2023 | 14 | 3 | |
| 2024 | 9 | 5 | |
| 2025 | 9 | 1 | |
| 2026 | 9 | 3 | |
| Total | 45 | 12 | |
- Scores and results list Japan's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Fujino goal.
Honours
Tokyo Verdy Beleza
Manchester City
Japan U20
- FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup runner-up: 2022
Japan
Individual
- 2022 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup: Bronze Boot
- WE League Best XI: 2022–23
- WE League Valuable Player Award: 2021–22、2022–23