28, 6 November 1960 vs. South Korea – 11 December 1966 vs. Iran
Most consecutive matches without conceding a goal
7, 19 November 2003 vs. Cameroon – 18 February 2004 vs. Oman
Competitive record
ChampionsRunners-up Third place Fourth place
*Denotes draws includes knockout matches decided via penalty shoot-out. Red border indicates that the tournament was hosted on home soil. Gold, silver, bronze backgrounds indicate 1st, 2nd and 3rd finishes respectively. Bold text indicates best finish in tournament.
Japan is the first team from outside the Americas to participate in the Copa América, having been invited to the 1999 Copa América. Japan was also invited to the 2011 tournament and initially accepted the invitation. However, following the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, the JFA later withdrew on 16 May 2011, citing the difficulty of releasing some Japanese players from European teams to play as replacements.[3] On the next day, CONMEBOL invited Costa Rica to replace Japan in the competition.
On 16 August 2013, CONMEBOL president Eugenio Figueredo announced that Japan was invited to the 2015 Copa América.[4] However, Japan later declined the invitation due to scheduling problems.[5]
On 14 May 2018, CONMEBOL announced that Japan, alongside Qatar, would be the two invited teams for the 2019 Copa América.[6]
Since 1992, the Olympic team has been drawn from a squad with a maximum of three players over 23 years age, and the achievements of this team are not generally regarded as part of the national team's records, nor are the statistics credited to the players' international records.
^"El Presidente Figueredo Aguerre anunció la presencia del Japón en la Copa América Chile 2015" [President Figueredo Aguerre announced the presence of Japan at the 2015 Copa América in Chile] (in Spanish). CONMEBOL. 16 August 2013. Retrieved 1 July 2018. I want to announce that the Japan national team will participate at the 2015 Copa América.
^Sánchez Sandoval, Édgar (2 June 2016). "Copa América: Japón, el invitado más extraño" [Copa América: Japan, the most strange invitee] (in Spanish). Publimetro Chile. Archived from the original on 1 July 2018. Retrieved 1 July 2018. Even in 2015, the japanese were asked to be part of the Copa América in Chile, but they withdrew again due to problems with their calendar and previously scheduled matches.
^González, Christian (4 May 2018). "Conmebol confirma a Japón y Qatar en la Copa América de 2019" (in Spanish). La Tercera. Retrieved 1 July 2018. CONMEBOL confirmed, via its website, what has been speculated several months ago: Japan and Qatar will be invited at the event that will be held in Brazil.
^ abcdef"World Football Elo Ratings: Japan". Elo Ratings. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
^"The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking". FIFA. 4 April 2024. Retrieved 4 April 2024.