Japan national under-23 football team

The Japan national under-23 football team (U-23サッカー日本代表) 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). Therefore, the name changes to Japan national under-22 football team the year before the Olympics and Japan national under-21 football team two years prior. The exception to this was the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which was postponed one year, so in 2021, the team was called the Japan national under-24 football team.

Nicknames
"サムライ・ブルー (Samurai Blue)" basically refers to the Japan national football team, but the under-23 football team are sometimes referred to as "Young" Samurai Blue. However, in reality, Samurai Blue is not often used.

South Korea
Japan maintains a strong football rivalry with South Korea, even in youth set-ups.

Results and fixtures

 * Legend

U-23

 * Fixtures & Results (2024)

U-22

 * Fixtures & Results (2023), JFA.jp

Head-to-head record
, after the match against .

The following table shows Japan under-23 team's all-time international record.

Coaching staff
The following staff managed the players selected for the 2024 AFC U-23 Asian Cup.

Current U-23 squad
The following players were called up for a friendly against France and for the Olympic Games, which is held from July to August 2024.

Recent U-23 call-ups
The following players were called up to the squad in the past 12 months.

INJ Withdrew due to injury PRE Preliminary squad / standby TRP Training partner WD Player withdrew from the squad due to non-injury issue.

(Players are listed within position group by order of latest call-up, seniority, caps, goals, and then alphabetically)

Current U-22 squad
The following players were called up for a match against, played on 18 November 2023. Caps and goals updated as of 18 November 2023, after the match against .

Recent U-22 call-ups
The following players were called up to the squad in the past 12 months.

INJ Withdrew due to injury PRE Preliminary squad / standby TRP Training partner WD Player withdrew from the squad due to non-injury issue.

(Players are listed within position group by order of latest call-up, seniority, caps, goals, and then alphabetically)

Previous squads

 * Bold indicates winning squads


 * Olympic Games
 * 1996 Summer Olympics Squad
 * 2000 Summer Olympics Squad
 * 2004 Summer Olympics Squad
 * 2008 Summer Olympics Squad
 * 2012 Summer Olympics Squad
 * 2016 Summer Olympics Squad
 * 2020 Summer Olympics Squad
 * 2024 Summer Olympics Squad
 * AFC U-23 Asian Cup
 * 2013 AFC U-22 Championship Squad
 * 2016 AFC U-23 Championship Squad
 * 2018 AFC U-23 Championship Squad
 * 2020 AFC U-23 Championship Squad
 * 2022 AFC U-23 Asian Cup Squad
 * 2024 AFC U-23 Asian Cup Squad
 * Asian Games
 * 2002 Asian Games Squad
 * 2006 Asian Games Squad
 * 2010 Asian Games Squad
 * 2014 Asian Games Squad
 * 2018 Asian Games Squad
 * 2022 Asian Games Squad

Records

 * Players in bold are still active, at least at club level.
 * Caps and goals are calculated taking into account all national team levels, including U21, U22, and U23.
 * Caps and goals are calculated taking into account all national team levels, including U21, U22, and U23.

Competitive record
Champions  Runners-up   Third place   Fourth place