News from June 3 to June 1 is less than two weeks away from the 2018 World Cup in Russia. The opener will also officially start at 23:00 on June 14th. Recently, the official website of the Japanese Football Association announced the final list of 23 people who participated in the World Cup in Russia. Nearly half of them participated in the 2014 World Cup. Veterans Honda Keisuke, Kagawa Shinji and Okazaki Shinji were selected. It is worth mentioning that there are a total of 16 overseas players from the European Union. The Japanese team will start this year's World Cup Tour against Colombia at 20:00 on June 19th, Beijing time.
Compared with the previous list of 27 players announced by the Japan Football Association, forwards Asano Asano and midfielder Aoyama Toshihiro (injury and illness), Sanken Kendo, and Ito Seiyo Yosuke were unfortunately defeated. The final 23-man Japan World Cup list is as follows:
Goalkeepers: Kawashima Nagase (Metz), East Exit Shunzhao (Gamba Osaka), Nakamura Yasuyuki (Kashiwa Apollo)
Defenders: Changyou Yuduo (Galatasaray), Shinano Chiharu (Puhe Red Diamond), Yoshida Machya (Southampton), Sakai Hiroshi (Marseille), Sakai Gaud (Hamburg), Chang Ziyuan (Kashima Antler), Endo Airlines (Puhe Red Diamond), Ueda Direct (Kashima Antlers)
Midfielder: Hasegawa Masaru (Frankfurt), Honda Keisuke (Pachuca), Kagan (Ewa), Kagawa Shinji (Dottori), Yamaguchi Fireworks (big cherry blossom), Haraguchi Genki (Düsseldorf) ), Usa Miki (Düsseldorf), Chaizazaki (Getafe), Oshima Ota (Kawasaki forward),
Forward: Shinji Okazaki (Leicester City), Grand Force Yong Ye (Bremen), Muto Fujiki (Mainz)
In this World Cup, Japan is divided into Group H. Their opponents in the same group are Poland, Senegal and Colombia. Their first match will be against Colombia at 20:00 on June 19th, Beijing time.
Since the Japanese team reached the World Cup finals in 1998 for the first time, they have not missed any of the World Cups. The best record is to reach the top 16 in the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup and the 2010 South Africa World Cup. The other three teams failed to qualify. Japanese team coach Nishino said that he hopes to qualify for the top 16 after the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.