🏏 Thu, 24 Sep 2026 19:05 JST
Japan
vs
ウルグアイ代表
3-4-2-1 vs 4-4-2
Substitutes
Substitutes
Match Preview
- Japan's 3-4-2-1 meets Uruguay's 4-4-2. Marcelo Bielsa, appointed in 2023 and still known as "El Loco" at 70 after spells with Leeds, Marseille, Athletic Bilbao and Chile, builds his sides around relentless pressing. How calmly Japan's back three of Ko Itakura, Hiroki Ito and Ayumu Seko can play through that first wave of pressure will shape the opening half-hour.
- The Sano brothers start together in central midfield: Kaishu, 25, as the holder and Kota, 22, as the more advanced of the pair. Kaishu has become a regular at Mainz with his enormous defensive range and ball-winning, and this site's match data shows six starts from 11 Japan squad call-ups since November 2023. Kota has sharpened his tight-space control and through-balls at NEC in the Eredivisie.
- Uruguay's central midfield pairing of Rodrigo Bentancur and Lucas Torreira gives Bielsa's side a very different profile. Bentancur, 29, went from Boca Juniors to Juventus, won multiple Serie A titles and is now a fixture at Tottenham, with 74 caps and three goals to his name. Whether the Sano brothers can disrupt his tempo-setting circulation decides who owns the middle of the pitch.
- Darwin Núñez, 27, leads the line alongside Federico Viñas, 28. Núñez won the Premier League and FA Cup at Liverpool before joining Al-Hilal in the summer of 2025, and his 187cm frame plus explosive running behind defences has brought 13 goals in 38 caps. Viñas, who scored 24 times for Club América, adds aerial threat and clever movement against Itakura and Seko.
- At the other end Japan must get past Ronald Araújo, the 191cm Barcelona centre-back who is 27 and unusually quick at defending the space in behind for his size, with Napoli left-back Mathías Olivera, 28 and a two-time Serie A winner, alongside him. Daizen Maeda's whole game is built on sprint power and front-foot pressing, so the race for the space behind that line is Japan's clearest route forward.
- Ritsu Doan, 28, and Yuito Suzuki, 24, operate as the two shadow strikers. Doan's left-footed cut-in shot remains his signature weapon and he scored in consecutive games against Germany and Spain at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Suzuki, who came through Shimizu S-Pulse before a spell at Brøndby, can play as a No.10 or a winger and offers dribbling and long-range shooting.
- Yuki Hayakawa, 27, keeps goal for Japan. The Kashima Antlers No.1 was named in the 2025 J.League Best XI and, per this site's match data, has been in 13 Japan squads since his first call-up in November 2025 while making two starts. Opposite him is Santiago Mele, 28, the tall Monterrey keeper who won a league title with Junior in Colombia before earning his first cap in 2023.
- Kuryu Matsuki, born in 2003 and now 23, takes the right-hand midfield slot. A left-footed attacking midfielder from Aomori Yamada High School and FC Tokyo, he registered six goals and five assists on loan at Göztepe, and combines duel-winning strength with a goal threat. With Venezuela to follow on 28 September, this is a valuable 90 minutes for anyone trying to climb the pecking order.
- Japan's bench reads like a first-choice attack: Takefusa Kubo, 25, a La Liga regular at Real Sociedad; Daichi Kamada, 30, the Europa League winner now at Crystal Palace; Ayase Ueda, 28, who broke the Eredivisie scoring record for a Japanese player at Feyenoord; and Junya Ito, 33, whose 12 substitute appearances outnumber his eight starts in this site's data.
- Uruguay's replacements carry serious weight too. Captain José María Giménez, 31, the Atlético Madrid centre-back, sits on 99 caps and eight goals with a century in sight, while Flamengo playmaker Giorgian de Arrascaeta, 32, brings 13 goals in 60 internationals plus dead-ball quality. Panathinaikos winger Facundo Pellistri, 24, and Real Betis's 189cm midfielder Facundo Bernal, 23, offer fresh legs.