Japan's national soccer team unveiled its 26-man squad for the upcoming World Cup on Tuesday (1), taking the lead among all participating teams in announcing their final lineup. Japan head coach Mori Bokichi's selection strategy has been widely discussed, especially the unexpected absence of renowned Zelodi striker Henwu Furuhashi, while Takuma Asano and Hwang Itakura have been selected despite being injured.
Henwu Furuhashi has had a great season in the Scottish Premier League this season, scoring 8 goals in 10 games to rank second in the top scorers' list, and his omission from the squad was certainly a shock. More surprisingly, fellow Zaradi striker Dairan Maeda was able to make it to the World Cup. Japan's overseas players, such as Kenyo Tomiyasu, Takumi Minamino and Kenyoung Kubo, managed to make the cut as expected.
Japan's 26-man World Cup roster is as follows:
Goalkeepers: Shinji Kawashima, Shuichi Gonda, Daniel Schmidt
Defenders: Yuto Nagatomo, Maya Yoshida, Hiroki Sakai, Akihiro Taniguchi, Sirai Yamane, Hwang Itakura, Yuta Nakayama, Yohki Ito, Kenyo Tomiyasu
Midfielders: Yue Shibasaki, Hiromasa Endo, Hidemasa Morita, Daichi Kamada, Bea Tanaka
Forward: Junya Ito, Takuma Asano, Takumi Minami, Yuki Soma, Kaoru Sanfonium, Daizo Maeda, Yasutoshi Doyasu, Kenyoung Kubo, Eisei Ueda
