Japan squad for March friendlies: Yoshida & Nagatomo dropped, Mitoma & Doan IN

Japan’s 2022 FIFA World Cup star performers Kaoru Mitoma and Ritsu Doan were named in Hajime Moriyasu’s 26-man squad on Wednesday for the team’s upcoming home friendlies against Uruguay and Colombia.

There were 10 changes from the manager’s squad from Qatar, with veteran defenders Maya Yoshida, Yuto Nagatomo and Hiroki Sakai as well as attacker Takumi Minamino being the notable absentees, while Celtic duo Kyogo Furuhashi and Reo Hatate remain overlooked.

Three young J. League-based defenders, Ryotaro Tsunoda, Kashif Bangnagande and Riku Handa, got their first call-ups alongside LASK attacker Keito Nakamura, who has been in superb scoring form in Austria.

"I want to have a bigger, deeper pool of players to enable us to make the strongest national team in the future," Moriyasu told a press conference. "I want the players who got their call-ups this time to make their presence felt."

Japan play their first game since the World Cup against Uruguay on March 24 at Tokyo's National Stadium before taking on fellow South Americans Colombia four days later at Yodoko Sakura Stadium in Osaka.

After voicing his hope that the quality of play is raised when in possession, on top of the clinical counterattacks they showed in their group-stage wins over Germany and Spain in Qatar, Moriyasu stressed he will call up Samurai Blue hopefuls whenever he deems is right over the course of the build-up to the 2026 World Cup.

"There are no definite criteria for everything in us deciding who to choose," said Moriyasu. "I want you to understand that the national team activity will not be just this time. We'll have the best activity each time to make the strongest team possible in 2026."

"I'm watching all Celtic games, I went to watch their Champions League game too... I believe they (Furuhashi and Hatate) would have offered their abilities for the team if they were picked, they aren't in as we wanted to try someone else (this time)."

Full squad

Goalkeepers: Daniel Schmidt (Sint-Truiden), Keisuke Osako (Sanfrecce Hiroshima), Kosei Tani (Gamba Osaka)

Defenders: Ko Itakura (Borussia Monchengladbach), Takehiro Tomiyasu (Arsenal), Hiroki Ito (Stuttgart), Daiki Hashioka (Sint-Truiden), Ryotaro Tsunoda (Yokohama F Marinos), Ayumu Seko (Grasshoppers), Yukinari Sugawara (AZ Alkmaar), Kashif Bangnagande (FC Tokyo), Riku Handa (Gamba Osaka)

Midfielders/Forwards: Wataru Endo (Stuttgart), Junya Ito (Reims), Takuma Asano (Bochum), Hidemasa Morita (Sporting), Daichi Kamada (Eintracht Frankfurt), Takuma Nishimura (Yokohama F Marinos), Kaoru Mitoma (Brighton), Daizen Maeda (Celtic), Ritsu Doan (Freiburg), Ayase Ueda (Cercle Brugge), Ao Tanaka (Dusseldorf), Shuto Machino (Shonan Bellmare), Keito Nakamura (LASK), Takefusa Kubo (Real Sociedad)