The FIFA World Cup 2018 is scheduled to be held in Russia from June 14 to July 15, 2018. A total of 64 matches will be played in 12 venues located in 11 cities.
The final will be held at Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow.
Current World Cup squad (Provisional)
Goalkeepers: Eiji Kawashima (Metz/France), Masaaki Higashiguchi (Gamba Osaka), Kosuke Nakamura (Kashiwa Reysol);
Defenders: Yuto Nagatomo (Galatasaray/Turkey), Tomoaki Makino (Urawa Red Diamonds), Wataru Endo (Urawa Red Diamonds), Maya Yoshida (Southampton/England), Hiroki Sakai (Marseille/France), Gotoku Sakai (Hamburg/Germany), Gen Shoji (Kashima Antlers), Naomichi Ueda (Kashima Antlers);
Midfielders: Makoto Hasebe (Eintracht Frankfurt/Germany), Keisuke Honda (Pachuca/Mexico), Takashi Inui (Eibar/Spain), Shinji Kagawa (Borussia Dortmund/Germany), Hotaru Yamaguchi (Cerezo Osaka/Japan), Genki Haraguchi (Fortuna Dusseldorf/Germany), Takashi Usami (Fortuna Dusseldorf), Gaku Shibasaki (Getafe/Spain), Ryota Oshima (Kawasaki Frontale);
Forwards: Shinji Okazaki (Leicester City/England), Yuya Osako (Werder Bremen/Germany), Yoshinori Muto (Mainz/Germany).
Coach for 2018
Japan coach Akira Nishino
| Photo Credit:
Reuters
Akira Nishino
Fixtures
June 19: vs Colombia
June 24: vs Senegal
June 28: vs Poland
Past records
No. of times team has played in WC (number): 5
No. of matches played (number): 17
No. of matches won: 4
No. of matches lost: 9
No. of times lost in finals (Number): 0
No. of times world cup won (number): 0
No. of goals scored in WC: 14
Top 3 players to watch: Maya Yoshida, Shinji Okazaki, Shinji Kagawa
Road to WC: Japan is eyeing to up their current best to enter the knockout stage in their sixth consequtive World Cup Group stage
Player who has played most world cups (appearances): Hidetoshi Nakata (10)
Player who has scored most no. of goals (Player:No. of goals): Keisuke Honda (3)