The Japan national under-23 football team () is a national association football youth team of Japan and is controlled by the Japan Football Association. The team won a gold medal at the 2010 Asian Games, and the U-20 team, made up of university students and domestic league players, won the 2026 AFC U-23 Asian Cup for the second consecutive year. Since 1992, it was decided that teams targeting athletes under the age of 23 will participate in the Olympics (additional provisions for overage limits have been added since 1996). Therefore, the name changes to Japan national under-22 football team the year before the Olympics and Japan national under-21 football team two years prior. The exception to this was the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which was postponed one year, so in 2021, the team was called the Japan national under-24 football team. At the 2024 Olympics, they advanced to the Knockout stage without three overage players and several key players.
"ãµã ã©ã¤ãÂȋÂÂã«ã¼ (Samurai Blue)" basically refers to the Japan national football team, but the under-23 football team are sometimes referred to as "Young" Samurai Blue. However, in reality, Samurai Blue is not often used. In the Olympic Games, the name OlympÃÂc Japan "ãªãªã³ãÂÂãÂÂã¯ã¸ã£ãÂÂã³ (Orinpikku Japan)" is used to referred to U-23 national team.
Japan maintains a strong football rivalry with South Korea, even in youth set-ups.
, after the match against China.
The following table shows Japan under-23 team's all-time international record.
The following U-22 players were called up on 29 August 2025 for the 2026 AFC U-23 Asian Cup qualification matches, held on September.
The following players were called up to an U-23, U-22 or U-21 squad in the past 12 months.
<sup>INJ</sup> Withdrew due to injury<br> <sup>PRE</sup> Preliminary squad / standby<br> <sup>TRP</sup> Training partner<br> <sup>WD</sup> Player withdrew from the squad due to non-injury issue.<br>
<small>(Players are listed within position group by order of latest call-up, seniority, caps, goals, and then alphabetically)</small> -->
Champions Runners-up Third place Fourth place