Takehiro Tomiyasu has been named in Japan’s squad for the 2022 World Cup - the first of our players to be selected for the tournament.
The defender is part of his nation’s 26-man squad, marking the first time the 24-year-old has been selected for world football’s global showpiece having made his national team debut a couple of months after the 2018 edition in Russia.
Having picked up an injury in our Europa League game against FC Zurich last week, Takehiro is currently being assessed regarding his fitness for our remaining matches before the World Cup, but should be available to feature in the tournament.
Following a friendly against fellow qualifiers Canada in Dubai on Thursday, November 17, Japan kick off their campaign on Wednesday, November 23 against Germany, before facing Costa Rica four days later. They then round off their group-stage campaign against Spain on Thursday, December 1, hoping to make it to the round of 16 which is as far as they’ve ever gone during their six previous qualifications.
During his time in Qatar, Takehiro will be hoping to add to his 29 caps, and while he could taste World Cup action for the first time, he has previously been named in squads for the Asian Cup, Copa America and the 2020 Olympic Games.
He is joined in the squad by fellow Premier League player Kaoru Mitoma of Brighton & Hove Albion, while Maya Yoshida and Takumi Minamino will also be familiar to followers of the English top-flight, as well as former Gunner Takuma Asano.
Confirmed Japan squad:
Goalkeepers: Eiji Kawashima (Strasbourg), Daniel Schmidt (Sint Truiden), Shuichi Gonda (Shimizu S-Pulse)
Defenders: Hiroki Sakai (Urawa Red Diamonds), Miki Yamane (Kawasaki Frontale), Ko Itakura (Borussia Monchengladbach), Takehiro Tomiyasu (Arsenal), Maya Yoshida (Schalke 04), Shogo Taniguchi (Kawasaki Frontale), Hiroki Ito (VfB Stuttgart), Yuto Nagatomo (FC Tokyo), Yuta Nakayama (Huddersfield Town - since withdrawn through injury)
Midfielders: Junya Ito (Stade de Reims), Ritsu Doan (SC Freiburg), Wataru Endo (VfB Stuttgart), Hidemasa Morita (Sporting), Ao Tanaka (Fortuna Dusseldorf), Daichi Kamada (Eintracht Frankfurt), Takefusa Kubo (Real Sociedad), Takumi Minamino (AS Monaco), Kaoru Mitoma (Brighton & Hove Albion), Gaku Shibasaki (Leganes), Yuki Soma (Nagoya Grampus)
Forwards: Takuma Asano (Vfl Bochum), Daizen Maeda (Celtic), Ayase Ueda (Cercle Brugge)
Copyright 2024 The Arsenal Football Club Limited. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.arsenal.com as the source.
