The 26-man roster for the Japan national team in the AFC Asian Cup

The Japan Football Association has officially released the 26-man roster for the Japan national team participating in the AFC Asian Cup. Headlining the squad are players such as Kaoru Mitoma and Takefusa Kubo, with Ken Yamane also making the cut, while Aoi Tanaka did not make the selection.



Japan's 26-man squad for the Asian Cup:
Goalkeepers: Daichi Hayashi (Vissel Kobe), Ayaka Suzuki (St Truiden), Taishi Nozawa (FC Tokyo)

Defenders: Shogo Taniguchi (Ryukyu), Hikaru Itakura (Borussia Monchengladbach), Tsuyoshi Watanabe (Gent), Yuta Nakayama (Huddersfield Town), Koki Machida (St Gilloise), Seiya Maekawa (Cerezo Osaka), Takehiro Tomiyasu (Arsenal), Yugo Ito (Stuttgart), Yosuke Kashiwagi (Alkmaar)

Midfielders/Forwards: Koki Endo (Liverpool), Junya Ito (Reims), Takuma Asano (Bochum), Takumi Minamino (Monaco), Hidetaka Morita (Sporting Portugal), Kaoru Mitoma (Brighton), Daichi Maida (Celtic), Leo Hatanaka (Celtic), Ritsu Doan (Freiburg), Kisei Ueda (Feyenoord), Keito Nakamura (Reims), Kaito Miyake (Kashima Antlers), Takefusa Kubo (Real Sociedad), Shoya Nakajima (Kawasaki Frontale)

In the Asian Cup group stage, Japan is grouped with Vietnam, Iraq, and Indonesia. The first group stage match will take place on January 14th at 19:30 (Beijing time).