Japan national under-20 football team

Japan Under-20

Nickname(s)	サムライ・ブルー (Samurai Blue)
Association	Japan Football Association
Confederation	AFC (Asia)
Sub-confederation	EAFF (East Asia)
Head coach	Masanaga Kageyama
FIFA code	JPN
First colours Second colours
FIFA U-20 World Cup
Appearances	10 (first in 1979)
Best result	Runners-up (1999)
AFC U-19 Championship
Appearances	40 (first in 1959)
Best result	Champions (2016)

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

Honours

Intercontinental

• FIFA U-20 World Cup

Runners-Up (1): 1999

Continental

AFC U-19 Championship

• Winners (1): 2016

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
1977	Did not qualify
1979	Group stage	3	0	2	1	1	2
1981	Did not qualify
1983
1985
1987
1989
1991
1993
1995	Quarterfinals	4	1	1	2	6	6
1997	Quarterfinals	5	2	1	2	12	9
1999	Runners-up	7	4	1	2	11	9
2001	Group stage	3	1	0	2	4	4
2003	Quarterfinals	5	3	0	2	6	10
2005	Round of 16	4	0	2	2	3	5
2007	Round of 16	4	2	2	0	6	3
2009	Did not qualify
2011
2013
2015
2017	Round of 16	4	1	1	2	4	6
2019	Round of 16	4	1	2	1	4	2
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	Japan 0–1 Spain	Loss
	Group stage	Japan 0–0 Algeria	Draw
	Group stage	Japan 1–1 Mexico	Draw
1995	Group stage	Japan 2–2 Chile	Draw
	Group stage	Japan 1–2 Spain	Loss
	Group stage	Japan 2–0 Burundi	Win
	Quarterfinals	Japan 1–2 Brazil	Loss
1997	Group stage	Japan 1–2 Spain	Loss
	Group stage	Japan 6–2 Costa Rica	Win
	Group stage	Japan 3–3 Paraguay	Draw
	Round of 16	Japan 1–0 Australia	Win
	Quarterfinals	Japan 1–2 Ghana	Loss
1999	Group stage	Japan 1–2 Cameroon	Loss
	Group stage	Japan 3–1 United States	Win
	Group stage	Japan 2–0 England	Win
	Round of 16	Japan 1–1 Portugal	Draw
	Quarterfinals	Japan 2–0 Mexico	Win
	Semifinals	Japan 2–1 Uruguay	Win
	Final	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 South Korea	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 South Korea	Loss

AFC U-20 Asian Cup

Finals record
Year	Result	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1959	Third place	4	2	0	2	12	11
1960	Third place	4	2	1	1	10	11
1961	Group stage	4	0	1	3	4	8
1962	Group stage	4	1	0	3	4	9
1963	Group stage	5	1	1	3	8	13
1964	Group stage	3	0	1	2	1	4
1965	Group stage	4	2	0	2	8	4
1966	Group stage	4	0	0	4	2	13
1967	Group stage	3	0	0	3	2	6
1968	First round	3	0	1	2	0	6
1969	Quarterfinals	3	1	0	2	5	11
1970	Fourth place	6	2	1	3	5	13
1971	Fourth place	6	4	1	1	13	2
1972	Quarterfinals	5	2	2	1	12	5
1973	Runners-up	5	1	2	2	5	6
1974	Quarterfinals	4	2	0	2	9	4
1975	Group stage	4	2	0	2	10	5
1976	Tie-breaker play-off	4	1	2	1	2	4
1977	Fourth place	5	1	2	2	8	6
1978	Group stage	4	1	2	1	8	6
1980	Final tournament	4	2	0	2	4	5
1982		–	–	–	–	–	–
1985		–	–	–	–	–	–
1986		–	–	–	–	–	–
1988	Group stage	3	0	0	3	3	7
1990	Group stage	3	1	1	1	5	4
1992	Third place	5	3	0	2	8	4
1994	Runners-up	6	4	0	2	9	4
1996	Fourth place	6	3	1	2	12	6
1998	Runners-up	6	3	1	2	18	10
2000	Runners-up	6	3	1	2	15	8
2002	Runners-up	6	4	1	1	11	4
2004	Third place	6	3	0	3	10	3
2006	Runners-up	6	3	2	1	12	6
2008	Quarterfinals	4	2	1	1	10	6
2010	Quarterfinals	4	3	0	1	11	4
2012	Quarterfinals	4	1	1	2	2	4
2014	Quarterfinals	4	2	1	1	7	5
2016	Champions	6	4	2	0	13	0
2018	Semifinals	5	4	0	1	15	5
Total	/40	163	66	29	68	278	227

Other websites

• Japan Football Association website (in English); (in Japanese)