Japan national under-20 football team

The Japan national under-20 football team is a national association football team of Japan and is controlled by the Japan Football Association.

Japan Under-20
Nickname(s)サムライ・ブルー
(Samurai Blue)
AssociationJapan Football Association
ConfederationAFC (Asia)
Sub-confederationEAFF (East Asia)
Head coachMasanaga Kageyama
FIFA codeJPN
First colours
Second colours
FIFA U-20 World Cup
Appearances10 (first in 1979)
Best resultRunners-up (1999)
AFC U-19 Championship
Appearances40 (first in 1959)
Best resultChampions (2016)

Honours

Intercontinental

Runners-Up (1): 1999

Continental

AFC U-19 Championship
Runners-Up (6): 1973, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2006

Competitive record

FIFA U-20 World Cup

Finals record
Hosts / Year Result GP W D* L GS GA
Tunisia 1977 Did not qualify
Japan 1979 Group stage 3 0 2 1 1 2
Australia 1981 Did not qualify
Mexico 1983
Soviet Union 1985
Chile 1987
Saudi Arabia 1989
Portugal 1991
Australia 1993
Qatar 1995 Quarterfinals 4 1 1 2 6 6
Malaysia 1997 Quarterfinals 5 2 1 2 12 9
Nigeria 1999 Runners-up 7 4 1 2 11 9
Argentina 2001 Group stage 3 1 0 2 4 4
United Arab Emirates 2003 Quarterfinals 5 3 0 2 6 10
Netherlands 2005 Round of 16 4 0 2 2 3 5
Canada 2007 Round of 16 4 2 2 0 6 3
Egypt 2009 Did not qualify
Colombia 2011
Turkey 2013
New Zealand 2015
South Korea 2017 Round of 16 4 1 1 2 4 6
Poland 2019 Round of 16 4 1 2 1 4 2
Indonesia 2021 To be determined
Total 10/22 43 15 12 16 57 56
*Denotes draws which includes knockout matches decided on penalty shootouts. Red border indicates that the tournament was hosted on home soil. Gold, silver, bronze backgrounds indicate 1st, 2nd and 3rd place finishes respectively. Bold text indicates best finish in tournament.

Finals history
Year Round Score Result
1979 Group stage [[File:{{{flag alias-1947}}}|22x20px|border |alt=|link=]] Japan 0–1  Spain Loss
Group stage [[File:{{{flag alias-1947}}}|22x20px|border |alt=|link=]] Japan 0–0  Algeria Draw
Group stage [[File:{{{flag alias-1947}}}|22x20px|border |alt=|link=]] Japan 1–1  Mexico Draw
1995 Group stage [[File:{{{flag alias-1947}}}|22x20px|border |alt=|link=]] Japan 2–2  Chile Draw
Group stage [[File:{{{flag alias-1947}}}|22x20px|border |alt=|link=]] Japan 1–2  Spain Loss
Group stage [[File:{{{flag alias-1947}}}|22x20px|border |alt=|link=]] Japan 2–0  Burundi Win
Quarterfinals [[File:{{{flag alias-1947}}}|22x20px|border |alt=|link=]] Japan 1–2  Brazil Loss
1997 Group stage [[File:{{{flag alias-1947}}}|22x20px|border |alt=|link=]] Japan 1–2  Spain Loss
Group stage [[File:{{{flag alias-1947}}}|22x20px|border |alt=|link=]] Japan 6–2  Costa Rica Win
Group stage [[File:{{{flag alias-1947}}}|22x20px|border |alt=|link=]] Japan 3–3  Paraguay Draw
Round of 16 [[File:{{{flag alias-1947}}}|22x20px|border |alt=|link=]] Japan 1–0  Australia Win
Quarterfinals [[File:{{{flag alias-1947}}}|22x20px|border |alt=|link=]] Japan 1–2  Ghana Loss
1999 Group stage [[File:{{{flag alias-1947}}}|22x20px|border |alt=|link=]] Japan 1–2  Cameroon Loss
Group stage [[File:{{{flag alias-1947}}}|22x20px|border |alt=|link=]] Japan 3–1  United States Win
Group stage [[File:{{{flag alias-1947}}}|22x20px|border |alt=|link=]] Japan 2–0  England Win
Round of 16 [[File:{{{flag alias-1947}}}|22x20px|border |alt=|link=]] Japan 1–1  Portugal Draw
Quarterfinals [[File:{{{flag alias-1947}}}|22x20px|border |alt=|link=]] Japan 2–0  Mexico Win
Semifinals [[File:{{{flag alias-1947}}}|22x20px|border |alt=|link=]] Japan 2–1  Uruguay Win
Final [[File:{{{flag alias-1947}}}|22x20px|border |alt=|link=]] Japan 0–4  Spain Loss
2001 Group stage  Japan 0–2  Australia Loss
Group stage  Japan 1–2  Angola Loss
Group stage  Japan 3–0  Czech Republic Win
2003 Group stage  Japan 1–0  England Win
Group stage  Japan 1–4  Colombia Loss
Group stage  Japan 1–0  Egypt Win
Round of 16  Japan 2–1  Korea Republic Win
Quarterfinals  Japan 1–5  Brazil Loss
2005 Group stage  Japan 1–2  Netherlands Loss
Group stage  Japan 1–1  Benin Draw
Group stage  Japan 1–1  Australia Draw
Round of 16  Japan 0–1  Morocco Loss
2007 Group stage  Japan 3–1  Scotland Win
Group stage  Japan 1–0  Costa Rica Win
Group stage  Japan 0–0  Nigeria Draw
Round of 16  Japan 2–2  Czech Republic Draw
2017 Group stage  Japan 2–1  South Africa Win
Group stage  Japan 0–2  Uruguay Loss
Group stage  Japan 2–2  Italy Draw
Round of 16  Japan 0–1  Venezuela Loss
2019 Group stage  Japan 1–1  Ecuador Draw
Group stage  Japan 3–0  Mexico Win
Group stage  Japan 0–0  Italy Draw
Round of 16  Japan 0–1  Korea Republic Loss

AFC U-20 Asian Cup

Finals record
Year Result Pld W D L GF GA
Malaysia 1959 Third place 4 2 0 2 12 11
Malaysia 1960 Third place 4 2 1 1 10 11
Thailand 1961 Group stage 4 0 1 3 4 8
Thailand 1962 Group stage 4 1 0 3 4 9
Malaysia 1963 Group stage 5 1 1 3 8 13
South Vietnam 1964 Group stage 3 0 1 2 1 4
Japan 1965 Group stage 4 2 0 2 8 4
Philippines 1966 Group stage 4 0 0 4 2 13
Thailand 1967 Group stage 3 0 0 3 2 6
South Korea 1968 First round 3 0 1 2 0 6
Thailand 1969 Quarterfinals 3 1 0 2 5 11
Philippines 1970 Fourth place 6 2 1 3 5 13
Japan 1971 Fourth place 6 4 1 1 13 2
Thailand 1972 Quarterfinals 5 2 2 1 12 5
Iran 1973 Runners-up 5 1 2 2 5 6
Thailand 1974 Quarterfinals 4 2 0 2 9 4
Kuwait 1975 Group stage 4 2 0 2 10 5
Thailand 1976 Tie-breaker play-off 4 1 2 1 2 4
Iran 1977 Fourth place 5 1 2 2 8 6
Bangladesh 1978 Group stage 4 1 2 1 8 6
Thailand 1980 Final tournament 4 2 0 2 4 5
Thailand 1982
United Arab Emirates 1985
Saudi Arabia 1986
Qatar 1988 Group stage 3 0 0 3 3 7
Indonesia 1990 Group stage 3 1 1 1 5 4
United Arab Emirates 1992 Third place 5 3 0 2 8 4
Indonesia 1994 Runners-up 6 4 0 2 9 4
South Korea 1996 Fourth place 6 3 1 2 12 6
Thailand 1998 Runners-up 6 3 1 2 18 10
Iran 2000 Runners-up 6 3 1 2 15 8
Qatar 2002 Runners-up 6 4 1 1 11 4
Malaysia 2004 Third place 6 3 0 3 10 3
India 2006 Runners-up 6 3 2 1 12 6
Saudi Arabia 2008 Quarterfinals 4 2 1 1 10 6
People's Republic of China 2010 Quarterfinals 4 3 0 1 11 4
United Arab Emirates 2012 Quarterfinals 4 1 1 2 2 4
Myanmar 2014 Quarterfinals 4 2 1 1 7 5
Bahrain 2016 Champions 6 4 2 0 13 0
Indonesia 2018 Semifinals 5 4 0 1 15 5
Total /40 163 66 29 68 278 227

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