Qatar 2022: Why is Kyogo Furuhashi not playing for Japan in the FIFA World Cup?

Japan are one of the underdogs at Qatar, but they have a squad with European-experienced players and only seven of the 26 men on the roster play in the local leagues in Japan.

One of those players with experience playing in international teams is Kyogo Furuhashi who is playing for Celtic, so far with 33 appearances and 22 goals scored.

Furuhashi is a talented forward and winger who played for Japan’s national team and scored 3 goals in 16 caps. Before joining Celtic, Furuhashi played for FC Gifu and Vissel Kobe.

Why is Kyogo Furuhashi missing the Qatar 2022 World Cup?

Kyogo Furuhashi was not called up due to the decision of Japan’s national team manager, Hajime Moriyasu, but not only was Furuhashi left out of the 26-man list to play in Qatar, but another top Japanese forward such as Yuya Osako was also excluded from the list.

Hajime Moriyasu said that he wanted players willing to give everything for the team, and apparently Furuhashi was not one of those. “If I could, I would have included them, and would have wanted to fight in the World Cup with them,” (Moriyasu on Furuhashi and Osako’s exclusion).

“Selecting members with the experience was one option but ultimately we decided to bet on the players who didn’t have that but had the burning ambition to succeed at the World Cup.” Moriyasu added and he revealed Japan’s goal in the World Cup: “Our goal is to at least reach the quarter-finals. It won’t be easy.”

Japan will only have four forwards in Qatar, most attacking players are midfielders, with a total of 11 midfielders including Takefusa Kubo. Japan look like a solid underdogs, to check their winning probability is easy with the World Cup predictor.