Oiwa Tapped as Next Samurai Blue Head Coach

Tokyo, July 23 (Jiji Press)–The Japan Football Association said Thursday that Go Oiwa will serve as head coach of the Japanese men’s national soccer team, nicknamed Samurai Blue, from an international friendly next March, succeeding Hajime Moriyasu. Oiwa, 54, will concurrently serve as head coach of Japan’s under-21 national team, which aims to secure a spot at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games. His appointment was decided at the JFA’s board meeting in Tokyo on Thursday. Moriyasu, 57, who led Samurai Blue in this year’s FIFA World Cup, will stay on until the next Asian Cup, to be held in January-February 2027. Oiwa is expected to prepare for the 2030 World Cup by developing young players while maintaining the strategy adopted by Moriyasu. JFA President Tsuneyasu Miyamoto and Moriyasu are set to hold a press conference Friday. Oiwa became head coach of Japan’s youth national team in 2021 after leading the Kashima Antlers of the J1 top division of the J.League, Japan’s professional soccer league for men. He retained his position after Japan reached the quarterfinals at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Moriyasu became Samurai Blue head coach in summer 2018. He became the first skipper to lead the team at two World Cups, helping it advance to the knockout stage in both the 2022 competition in Qatar and this year’s tournament held jointly by Canada, Mexico and the United States. Japan lost to Brazil 2-1 in its first knockout-stage match in this year’s tournament. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]