Football - Team Japan

Nickname
Samurai Blue

General
Japan qualified for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo as hosts. Japan's participation at Tokyo 2020 is their seventh consecutive appearance at the Olympic Games, and their 11th in total. They made their debut at the 1936 Games in Berlin.

The team's best performance came at the 1968 Games in Mexico City, where they defeated hosts Mexico 2-0 in the bronze medal match. The result also made them the first team from Asia to have won a medal in football at the Olympic Games. Japan have not reached the podium since, although they came close at London 2012. They remained undefeated in the group stage and then beat Egypt 3-0 to advance to the semifinals, where they lost 3-1 to Mexico. They were then beaten 2-0 in the bronze medal match by continental rivals the Republic of Korea.

At the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, the Japanese team were drawn in a group with Nigeria, Colombia, and Sweden. Despite picking up four points, they finished third in the group and did not progress to the quarterfinals.