Japan at the FIFA World Cup
International football delegation
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Japan have appeared in the FIFA World Cup on seven occasions, the first being in 1998 where they lost all three group games and finished in 31st position. Masashi Nakayama scored Japan's first ever goal in a World Cup match against Jamaica on 26 June 1998 in a 2–1 defeat.[1] Keisuke Honda became the first Japanese player to score in three World Cups: 2010, 2014, 2018.[2]
Japan made their seventh and most recent appearance at the finals at the 2022 tournament in Qatar. In 2018, Japan became the first ever Asian nation to beat a side from South America, after they won 2–1 against Colombia in the group stage. The team has progressed past the group stage on four occasions, 2002 (as joint-hosts), 2010, 2018 and 2022.
FIFA World Cup record
| FIFA World Cup record | Qualification record | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Result | Position | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | Squad | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | |
 1930 | Withdrew | Qualified as invitees | ||||||||||||||
 1934 |
Did not enter | Did not enter | ||||||||||||||
 1938 | Withdrew | Withdrew | ||||||||||||||
 1950 | Suspended from FIFA | Suspended from FIFA | ||||||||||||||
 1954 | Did not qualify | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 7 | |||||||||
 1958 | Did not enter | Did not enter | ||||||||||||||
 1962 | Did not qualify | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 | |||||||||
 1966 | Did not enter | Did not enter | ||||||||||||||
 1970 | Did not qualify | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 8 | |||||||||
 1974 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 4 | ||||||||||
 1978 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 5 | ||||||||||
 1982 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 2 | ||||||||||
| 1986 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 15 | 5 | ||||||||||
 1990 |
6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 3 | ||||||||||
 1994 |
13 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 35 | 6 | ||||||||||
 1998 | Group stage | 31st | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 4 | Squad | 15 | 9 | 5 | 1 | 51 | 12 | |
  2002 | Round of 16 | 9th | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 3 | Squad | Qualified as co-hosts | ||||||
| 2006 | Group stage | 28th | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 7 | Squad | 12 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 25 | 5 | |
 2010 | Round of 16 | 9th | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 2 | Squad | 14 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 23 | 9 | |
 2014 | Group stage | 29th | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 6 | Squad | 14 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 30 | 8 | |
 2018 | Round of 16 | 15th | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 7 | Squad | 18 | 13 | 3 | 2 | 44 | 7 | |
 2022 | 9th | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 4 | Squad | 18 | 15 | 1 | 2 | 58 | 6 | ||
 2026 | Group stage | TBD | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Squad | 14 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 48 | 2 | |
  2030 |
To be determined | To be determined | ||||||||||||||
 2034 | ||||||||||||||||
| Total:8/23 | Round of 16 | 9th | 25 | 7 | 6 | 12 | 25 | 33 | — | 152 | 95 | 29 | 28 | 353 | 93 | |
By match
| World Cup | Round | Opponent | Score | Result | Japan goalscorers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Group H | Argentina | 0–1 | L | |
 Croatia | 0–1 | L | |||
 Jamaica | 1–2 | L | Nakayama | ||
| 2002 | Group H |  Belgium | 2–2 | D | Suzuki, Inamoto |
| Russia | 1–0 | W | Inamoto | ||
 Tunisia | 2–0 | W | Morishima, H. Nakata | ||
| Round of 16 |  Turkey | 0–1 | L | ||
| 2006 | Group F |  Australia | 1–3 | L | Nakamura |
| Croatia | 0–0 | D | |||
| Brazil | 1–4 | L | Tamada | ||
| 2010 | Group E |  Cameroon | 1–0 | W | Honda |
 Netherlands | 0–1 | L | |||
 Denmark | 3–1 | W | Honda, Endō, Okazaki | ||
| Round of 16 |  Paraguay | 0–0 (a.e.t.) (3–5 p) | D | ||
| 2014 | Group C |  Ivory Coast | 1–2 | L | Honda |
 Greece | 0–0 | D | |||
 Colombia | 1–4 | L | Okazaki | ||
| 2018 | Group H | Colombia | 2–1 | W | Kagawa, Osako |
 Senegal | 2–2 | D | Inui, Honda | ||
 Poland | 0–1 | L | |||
| Round of 16 | Belgium | 2–3 | L | Haraguchi, Inui | |
| 2022 | Group E | Germany | 2–1 | W | Dōan, Asano |
 Costa Rica | 0–1 | L | |||
| Spain | 2–1 | W | Dōan, Tanaka | ||
| Round of 16 | Croatia | 1–1 (a.e.t.) (1–3 p) | D | Maeda | |
| 2026 | Group F | Netherlands | |||
| Tunisia | |||||
| Sweden |
Head-to-head record
| Opponent | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Argentina |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −1 | 0.00 |
| Australia |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | −2 | 0.00 |
| Belgium |
2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5 | −1 | 0.00 |
| Brazil |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | −3 | 0.00 |
| Cameroon |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | +1 | 100.00 |
| Colombia |
2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 5 | −2 | 50.00 |
| Costa Rica |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −1 | 0.00 |
| Croatia |
3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −1 | 0.00 |
| Denmark |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | +2 | 100.00 |
| Germany |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | +1 | 100.00 |
| Greece |
1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +0 | 0.00 |
| Ivory Coast |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −1 | 0.00 |
| Jamaica |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −1 | 0.00 |
| Netherlands |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −1 | 0.00 |
 Paraguay |
1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +0 | 0.00 |
| Poland |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −1 | 0.00 |
| Russia |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | +1 | 100.00 |
| Senegal |
1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | +0 | 0.00 |
| Spain |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | +1 | 100.00 |
| Tunisia |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | +2 | 100.00 |
| Turkey |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −1 | 0.00 |
| Total | 25 | 7 | 6 | 12 | 25 | 33 | −8 | 28.00 |
Record players
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| Rank | Player | Matches | World Cups |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yuto Nagatomo | 15 | 2010, 2014, 2018 and 2022 |
| 2 | Makoto Hasebe | 11 | 2010, 2014 and 2018 |
| Eiji Kawashima | 11 | 2010, 2014 and 2018 | |
| Maya Yoshida | 11 | 2014, 2018 and 2022 | |
| 5 | Hidetoshi Nakata | 10 | 1998, 2002 and 2006 |
| Shinji Okazaki | 10 | 2010, 2014 and 2018 | |
| Keisuke Honda | 10 | 2010, 2014 and 2018 | |
| 8 | Junichi Inamoto | 8 | 2002, 2006 and 2010 |
| 9 | Yuji Nakazawa | 7 | 2006 and 2010 |
| Yoshito Ōkubo | 7 | 2010 and 2014 |
Top goalscorers
| Rank | Player | Goals | World Cups |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Keisuke Honda | 4 | 2010 (2), 2014 (1), and 2018 (1) |
| 2 | Junichi Inamoto | 2 | 2002 |
| Shinji Okazaki | 2 | 2010 and 2014 | |
| Takashi Inui | 2 | 2018 | |
| Ritsu Doan | 2 | 2022 |