After losing a penalty shootout against the Croatia National Team in the round of 16, the SAMURAI BLUE (Japan National Team) were eliminated from the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ on Monday 5 December. In the match played at Al Janoub Stadium, MAEDA Daizen (Celtic FC) gave Japan the lead with a goal scored in the first half, but the finalist of the previous World Cup equalised in the second half. Japan lost the shootout 1-3 after a tense 1-1 draw in regulation time, missing out on advancing to their first-ever quarterfinals at the FIFA World Cup™.

In their seventh appearance at the world’s biggest stage, Japan advanced through the group stage for the second consecutive – and fourth overall – time. However, the team was once again denied by the “wall of the best 16.”

Japan entered their first match of the knockout stage with a three-back formation after pulling off stunning upsets by defeating Germany and Spain to take the top spot in Group E. The absence of ITAKURA Kou (Borussia MG), who received his second yellow card in the match against Spain, allowed TOMIYASU Takehiro (Arsenal) to make his first start of the tournament, while ENDO Wataru (VfB Stuttgart) and DOAN Ritsu (SC Freiburg) were reinstated to the starting line-up. .....

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