Japan national under-23 football team

Japan U23

Nickname(s)	サムライ・ブルー (Samurai Blue)
Association	Japan Football Association
Confederation	AFC (Asia)
Sub-confederation	EAFF (East Asia)
Head coach	Go Oiwa
Most caps	Kensuke Nagai Keigo Higashi (31 each)
Top scorer	Shoya Nakajima (19)
FIFA code	JPN
First colours Second colours
First international
Malaysia 1–1 Japan (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; December 1990)
Biggest win
Japan 13–0 Philippines (Hong Kong; 12 June 1999)
Biggest defeat
Denmark 6–1 Japan (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; 6 February 1994)
Summer Olympics
Appearances	7 (first in 1996)
Best result	Fourth place (2012)
AFC U-23 Championship
Appearances	4 (first in 2013)
Best result	Winner (2016)
Asian Games
Appearances	5 (first in 2002)
Best result	Gold Medal (2010)

The Japan national under-23 football team is a national association football youth team of Japan and is controlled by the Japan Football Association. The team won the gold medal at the 2010 Asian Games and were champions in the 2016 AFC U-23 Championship. Since 1992, it was decided that teams targeting athletes under the age of 23 will participate in the Olympics (additional provisions for overage limits have been added since 1996).

Competitive record

Olympic Games

Summer Olympics record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1908–1988	See Japan national team
1992	Did Not Qualify
1996	Group Stage	9th	3	2	0	1	4	4
2000	Quarter-finals	5th	4	2	1	1	6	5
2004	Group Stage	13th	3	1	0	2	6	7
2008	Group Stage	15th	3	0	0	3	1	4
2012	Fourth Place	4th	6	3	1	2	6	5
2016	Group Stage	10th	3	1	1	1	7	7
2020	Qualified as host
Total	Fourth Place	7/8	22	9	3	10	30	33

Summer Olympics history
Year	Round	Score	Result
1996	Round 1	Japan 1–0 Brazil	Win
	Round 1	Japan 0–2 Nigeria	Loss
	Round 1	Japan 3–2 Hungary	Win
2000	Round 1	Japan 2–1 South Africa	Win
	Round 1	Japan 2–1 Slovakia	Win
	Round 1	Japan 0–1 Brazil	Loss
	Quarter-finals	Japan 2–2 United States	Draw
2004	Round 1	Japan 3–4 Paraguay	Loss
	Round 1	Japan 2–3 Italy	Loss
	Round 1	Japan 1–0 Ghana	Win
2008	Round 1	Japan 0–1 United States	Loss
	Round 1	Japan 1–2 Nigeria	Loss
	Round 1	Japan 0–1 Netherlands	Loss
2012	Round 1	Japan 1–0 Spain	Win
	Round 1	Japan 1–0 Morocco	Win
	Round 1	Japan 0–0 Honduras	Draw
	Quarter-finals	Japan 3–0 Egypt	Win
	Semi-finals	Japan 1–3 Mexico	Loss
	Bronze Play-off	Japan 0–2 South Korea	Loss
2016	Round 1	Japan 4–5 Nigeria	Loss
	Round 1	Japan 2–2 Colombia	Draw
	Round 1	Japan 1–0 Sweden	Win
2020	Round 1	Japan v Group A2
	Round 1	Japan v Group A3
	Round 1	Japan v Group A4

AFC U-23 Asian Cup

AFC U-23 Championship record
Finals record
Hosts / Year	Result	Position	GP	W	D	L	GS	GA
2013	Quarter-finals	7	4	1	2	1	8	5
2016	Champions	1	6	6	0	0	15	4
2018	Quarter-finals	5	4	3	0	1	5	5
2020	Group Stage	15	3	0	1	2	3	5
Total	4/4	Champions	17	10	3	4	31	19

AFC U-23 Asian Cup history
Finals history
Year	Round	Score	Result
2013	Preliminary Stage	Japan 6–0 Macau	Win
	Preliminary Stage	Japan 3–1 Singapore	Win
	Preliminary Stage	Japan 1–0 Timor-Leste	Win
	Preliminary Stage	Japan 5–1 Indonesia	Win
	Preliminary Stage	Japan 5–0 Australia	Win
	Group Stage	Japan 3–3 Iran	Draw
	Group Stage	Japan 0–0 Kuwait	Draw
	Group Stage	Japan 4–0 Australia	Win
	Quarter-finals	Japan 0–1 Iraq	Loss
2016	Preliminary Stage	Japan 7–0 Macau	Win
	Preliminary Stage	Japan 2–0 Vietnam	Win
	Preliminary Stage	Japan 1–0 Malaysia	Win
	Group Stage	Japan 1–0 North Korea	Win
	Group Stage	Japan 4–0 Thailand	Win
	Group Stage	Japan 2–1 Saudi Arabia	Win
	Quarter-finals	Japan 3–0 Iran	Win
	Semi-finals	Japan 2–1 Iraq	Win
	Final	Japan 3–2 South Korea	Win
2018	Preliminary Stage	Japan 8–0 Philippines	Win
	Preliminary Stage	Japan 2–0 Cambodia	Win
	Preliminary Stage	Japan 1–2 China	Loss
	Group Stage	Japan 1–0 Palestine	Win
	Group Stage	Japan 1–0 Thailand	Win
	Group Stage	Japan 3–1 North Korea	Win
	Quarter-finals	Japan 0–4 Uzbekistan	Loss
2020	Preliminary Stage	Japan 8–0 Macau	Win
	Preliminary Stage	Japan 6–0 Timor-Leste	Win
	Preliminary Stage	Japan 7–0 Myanmar	Win
	Group Stage	Japan 1–2 Saudi Arabia	Loss
	Group Stage	Japan 1–2 Syria	Loss
	Group Stage	Japan 1–1 Qatar	Draw

Asian Games

Asian Games record
Finals record
Hosts / Year	Result	Position	GP	W	D	L	GS	GA
2002	2 Silver	2	6	5	0	1	13	4
2006	Round 1	11	3	2	0	1	5	4
2010	1 Gold	1	7	7	0	0	17	1
2014	Quarter-finals	6	5	3	0	2	10	5
2018	2 Silver	2	7	5	0	2	10	4
Total	5/5	1 Gold	28	22	0	6	55	18

Asian Games history
Finals history
Year	Round	Score	Result
2002	Round 1	Japan 2–0 Palestine	Win
	Round 1	Japan 5–2 Bahrain	Win
	Round 1	Japan 1–0 Uzbekistan	Win
	Quarter-finals	Japan 1–0 China	Win
	Semi-finals	Japan 3–0 Thailand	Win
	Final	Japan 1–2 Iran	Loss
2006	Round 1	Japan 3–2 Pakistan	Win
	Round 1	Japan 1–0 Syria	Win
	Round 1	Japan 1–2 North Korea	Loss
2010	Round 1	Japan 3–0 China	Win
	Round 1	Japan 2–0 Malaysia	Win
	Round 1	Japan 3–0 Kyrgyzstan	Win
	Round 2	Japan 5–0 India	Win
	Quarter-finals	Japan 1–0 Thailand	Win
	Semi-finals	Japan 2–1 Iran	Win
	Final	Japan 1–0 UAE	Win
2014	Round 1	Japan 4–1 Kuwait	Win
	Round 1	Japan 1–3 Iraq	Loss
	Round 1	Japan 4–0 Nepal	Win
	Round 2	Japan 4–0 Palestine	Win
	Quarter-finals	Japan 0–1 South Korea	Loss
2018	Round 1	Japan 1–0 Nepal	Win
	Round 1	Japan 4–0 Pakistan	Win
	Round 1	Japan 0–1 Vietnam	Loss
	Round 2	Japan 1–0 Malaysia	Win
	Quarter-finals	Japan 2–1 Saudi Arabia	Win
	Semi-finals	Japan 1–0 UAE	Win
	Final	Japan 1–2 South Korea	Loss

Other websites

• Japan Football Association website (in English); (in Japanese)