text: With a successful World Cup behind them and a run of 10 consecutive victories in all competitions since June 2023, Japan were considered the favourites for the 2023 Asian Cup in Qatar. Japan, however, were a disappointment; Hajime Moriyasu's men began the tournament with an unconvincing victory over a Vietnamese side deprived of a number of key players (4–2), before going on to play a nightmarish game against Iraq (1–2). This defeat, Japan's first in the group stage since their first appearance at the continental showpiece in 1988, condemned them to finish at best second in the group due to their unfavourable head-to-head record. The Japanese sealed three points by overcoming an Indonesian team (3–1) and then eliminated Bahrain by the same scoreline in the Round of 16. Japan met Iran in the quarter-finals for a rematch of the previous edition's semi-final, and got the game off to a perfect start with Hidemasa Morita's 28th-minute opener, before falling completely flat in the second half, succumbing to Iran's fiery attacks and lacking the ideas to trouble Team Melli on the counter-attack, who exacted revenge and turned the match on its head thanks to some blatant defensive errors by Kō Itakura (1–2). The country suffered two defeats at the Asian Cup for the first time since Japanese football turned professional in 1992. Japan conceded at least one goal in every match, many of them from avoidable errors by inexperienced goalkeeper Zion Suzuki or by their defensive hinge. The squad also had to contend with an extra controversy, with the sudden departure of Junya Itō shortly before the match against Iran, with the Stade de Reims player having been accused of sexual assault.
  Team image
  Nicknames
  Japan's national football team is nicknamed the  by the JFA. The team also is often known by the last name of the manager. For example, under Takeshi Okada, the team was known as , or during the 2022 World Cup, the team is referred by the current manager's (Hajime Moriyasu) name, as .