The number of Japanese players playing in the top five leagues in Europe has continued to grow dramatically, and selecting the ten best football players in Japan in 2026 has never been more competitive.
Gone are the days when you could count Japanese players in European football on one hand.
The times of Shinji Kagawa, Okazaki, and Keisuke Honda have passed, and a new generation of technically brilliant, tactically intelligent Japanese players has emerged to take their place across the Bundesliga, the Premier League, La Liga, and the Eredivisie.
Japan are one of the most exciting Asian sides in World Cup history and head into the 2026 tournament in North America having qualified top of their group in the Asian qualifying process.
Under Hajime Moriyasu, who has won 70 and lost just 17 of his 101 games in charge, Japan are disciplined, technically precise, and fearless against anyone.
They are drawn in Group F alongside the Netherlands, Sweden, and Tunisia, opening their campaign against Sweden.
One late disruption came when captain Wataru Endo withdrew injured on June 11 and was replaced by Shuto Machino of Borussia Mönchengladbach.
Kō Itakura of Ajax has assumed the captaincy.
Here are the 10 best soccer players in Japan at the 2026 World Cup.
1. Ayase Ueda — Forward
Age: 27 | Club: Feyenoord (Netherlands)
Japan’s most lethal striker and the most in-form Japanese footballer in the world heading into this tournament.
Ueda finished as the top scorer in the 2025/26 Eredivisie season with 25 goals from 31 starts, the best individual goalscoring campaign by a Japanese player in European club football in recent memory.
Across all competitions for Feyenoord in 2025/26, he scored 26 goals in 40 appearances under manager Robin van Persie.
At international level, he scored eight goals in nine Asian World Cup qualifying appearances, making him Japan’s most important goal threat by a significant margin.
He has 39 caps and 16 international goals and arrived at this tournament in the form of his life.
He joined Feyenoord from Cercle Brugge for €7.8 million in 2023 and has since established himself as one of the most productive forwards in Dutch football.
2. Takefusa Kubo — Midfielder
Age: 25 | Club: Real Sociedad (Spain)
Japan’s biggest creative talent and the player the whole country rallies behind going into every major tournament.
Kubo came through Barcelona’s La Masia academy as a child before joining Real Madrid, and is now one of the most consistently productive attacking midfielders in La Liga with Real Sociedad.
He has 49 caps and 7 international goals and is one of the top Asian football talents of his generation.
He is technically brilliant, capable of playing on the right, left, or through the middle, and brings a directness and creativity that gives Japan a completely different dimension when he is at his best.
He is one the famous soccer playuers who are currently single and who like anime.
At 25, this is Kubo’s first senior World Cup and the stage he has been building towards his entire career.
3. Ritsu Dōan — Midfielder
Age: 27 | Club: Eintracht Frankfurt (Germany)
One of the most important players in this Japan squad and a man who wrote himself into World Cup history at the 2022 tournament in Qatar.
Dōan scored the equaliser against Germany after coming off the bench — one of the most iconic moments of that tournament — and then repeated the feat against Spain, scoring again to help Japan to a famous group stage victory over the reigning European champions.
He has 65 caps and 11 international goals and is now one of the most experienced wide midfielders in this Japan squad.
He is technically gifted, clinical when it matters, and provides Junya Itō with a fearsome right-sided partner for this World Cup campaign.
4. Junya Itō — Midfielder
Age: 33 | Club: Genk (Belgium)
One of Japan’s most creative and prolific assist providers and a player who was absolutely outstanding in World Cup qualifying.
Itō provided 10 assists in just nine qualifying appearances, the second most of any player in the entire Asian qualifying process — making that record even more remarkable given that he only started two of those nine matches and played just 395 minutes total.
He has 69 caps and 15 international goals — the best record of any player in this Japan squad — and at 33 arrives at this tournament in exceptional form.
His ability to drive at defenders from the right flank and create danger has made him one of Japan’s most invaluable attacking resources under Moriyasu.
5. Daichi Kamada — Midfielder
Age: 29 | Club: Crystal Palace (England)
One of the most technically complete and experienced players in the Japan squad and a midfielder who has performed at the highest levels of European football for nearly a decade.
Kamada spent several successful seasons at Eintracht Frankfurt in the Bundesliga, where he won the Europa League in 2022 — one of the great European nights of that decade.
He now plays his club football at Crystal Palace in the Premier League and has 49 caps and 12 international goals, making him one of the most productive midfielders Japan have had in a generation.
He is intelligent, technically excellent, and arrives in attacking areas at just the right time with a real threat of scoring.
6. Takehiro Tomiyasu — Defender
Age: 27 | Club: Ajax (Netherlands)
One of Japan’s most versatile and reliable defenders and a player who has established himself across the top levels of European football over the past several years.
Tomiyasu rose through Europe via Sint-Truiden in Belgium to Bologna in Serie A before a high-profile move to Arsenal, where he won the Premier League title in 2024.
He has since moved to Ajax, where he continues to perform at a consistently high level.
He has 43 caps and can play at right-back, left-back, or centre-back, giving Moriyasu enormous flexibility in how he sets up defensively.
His composure in possession and his defensive intelligence make him Japan’s most complete defender at this tournament.
7. Kō Itakura — Defender (Captain)
Age: 29 | Club: Ajax (Netherlands)
The new captain of Japan following Wataru Endo’s injury withdrawal and one of the most dependable centre-backs in the squad.
Itakura plays his club football at Ajax alongside Tomiyasu and brings physical strength, aerial dominance, and calm leadership to Japan’s backline.
He has 40 caps and 2 international goals and has been a consistent and reliable performer for the national team throughout the qualifying campaign.
Assuming the captaincy in the final days before the tournament is a significant responsibility, but Itakura has the temperament and experience to carry it comfortably.
8. Yūto Nagatomo — Defender
Age: 39 | Club: FC Tokyo (Japan)
A genuine legend of Japanese football and one of the most capped players in the squad with 145 international appearances.
Nagatomo has played in Europe for Inter Milan, Galatasaray, and Marseille, among others, and is now back in Japan with FC Tokyo as his career winds down.
At 39, this will almost certainly be his final World Cup and his farewell from international football.
Yūto Nagatomo is also one of the oldest soccer players at the 2026 World Cup.
His presence as the most experienced player in the squad provides Moriyasu with a voice that younger players look up to and respect.
His service to Japanese football over 15 years of international duty is one of the great stories of Asian football.
9. Ao Tanaka — Midfielder
Age: 27 | Club: Leeds United (England)
One of the most technically complete central midfielders in Japanese football and a player who has developed significantly in the Championship with Leeds United.
Tanaka has 38 caps and 8 international goals — an impressive return for a central midfielder — and was a key figure in Japan’s World Cup qualifying campaign.
He has featured regularly for Leeds in the Championship and brings an intelligent, box-to-box style of play that gives Moriyasu a reliable option in the middle of the park.
At 27 and heading to his first World Cup, Tanaka is one of the most important midfielders Japan have.
10. Keito Nakamura — Midfielder
Age: 25 | Club: Reims (France)
One of the most prolific midfielders in this Japan squad and a player whose goal return is simply extraordinary for someone operating in central areas.
Nakamura has 10 international goals from just 25 caps — a rate that exceeds almost every other midfielder in the squad and marks him out as a genuine danger from deep positions.
He plays his club football at Reims in Ligue 1 and has been developing steadily at the top level of French football, bringing a technical quality and goal-scoring instinct that gives Moriyasu a real weapon in central midfield.
At 25 and heading to his first World Cup, this is his opportunity to show the world exactly what he is capable of.
Conclusion
Japan head to the 2026 World Cup as one of Asia’s most respected football nations and one of the dark horses that nobody in Group F will want to face.
With Ueda firing on all cylinders after 25 Eredivisie goals, Kubo and Dōan creating from wide, and a defence built on experience and European pedigree, Moriyasu has assembled one of the most complete Japan squads ever.
Check out more on the greatest Asian players in World Cup history, the top young Asian football talents, and every country that has won the World Cup.
Who do you think will be Japan’s best player at the 2026 World Cup? Let us know in the comments!
