On Tuesday 1 November, Coach MORIYASU Hajime of the SAMURAI BLUE (Japan National Team) appeared in a press conference to announce the squad for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ and shared his aspiration to “bring out the best of our individual strengths as a group to turn the ‘Agony of Doha’ into Jubilation of Doha.”

Ahead of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™, which will kick-off on 20 November, Japan, who are aiming to reach the quarterfinals for the first time in their seventh appearance, announced a squad that includes 19 of the 26 players competing in their first FIFA World Cup™. Excluding the overage players, the team consisted of 10 players of the Tokyo Olympics team from the previous year, whom coach Moriyasu guided to the semi-finals. The squad, which combines both young and veteran players, is the culmination of four years of team building.

The list of players making their first appearance in the World Cup includes KAMADA Daichi (Eintracht Frankfurt) and MORITA Hidemasa (Sporting CP), who have made their presence felt at the UEFA Champions League, as well as ITO Junya (Stade de Reims) and MITOMA Kaoru (Brighton & Hove Albion FC), all of whom have been showing great form this season. .....

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