Japan 2026 Away Shirt

JAPAN - AWAY SHIRT 2026

Japan's national team are Asian football's standard-bearers, representing a nation whose transformation from amateur outsider to continental superpower has been one of football's great modern stories. Affectionately known as Samurai Blue, the Japanese are four-time AFC Asian Cup champions (1992, 2000, 2004 and 2011), 2002 FIFA World Cup co-hosts, and a side that has qualified for every World Cup since their tournament debut in 1998.

This legacy has been shaped by legendary figures such as Hidetoshi Nakata, Shunsuke Nakamura, Yasuhito Endo, Keisuke Honda, and Shinji Kagawa, whose brilliance has defined Japanese football across generations.

Japan are wearing this striking away shirt at the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico - their eighth consecutive World Cup appearance, an unbroken run that few outside Europe and South America can match. Drawn into Group F alongside the Netherlands, Tunisia and Sweden, Samurai Blue open their campaign against the Dutch in Dallas on 14 June under manager Hajime Moriyasu, the man who guided them to that famous round-of-16 run at Qatar 2022 after beating Germany and Spain in the group stage.

The squad is built around Real Sociedad winger Takefusa Kubo, playmaker Daichi Kamada, and defenders Ko Itakura and Hiroki Ito - though star wingers Kaoru Mitoma and Takumi Minamino have been ruled out through injury as well as Liverpool's Endo. Considered one of the genuine dark horses of the tournament, Japan travel to North America aiming for something no Japanese side has ever achieved: a place in the World Cup quarter-finals.

Follow Samurai Blue on X: @jfa_samuraiblue