Japan have appeared in the FIFA World Cup on seven occasions, the first being in 1998 where they lost all three group games and finished in 31st position. Masashi Nakayama scored Japan's first ever goal in a World Cup match against Jamaica on 26 June 1998 in a 2–1 defeat.^[1] Keisuke Honda became the first Japanese player to score in three world cups: 2010, 2014, 2018.^[2]

Japan made their seventh and most recent appearance at the finals at the 2022 tournament in Qatar. In 2018, Japan became the first ever Asian nation to beat a side from South America, after they won 2–1 against Colombia in the group stage. The team has progressed to the round of 16 on four occasions, 2002 (as join-hosts), 2010, 2018 and 2022.

FIFA World Cup record

FIFA World Cup finals record										Qualification record
Year	Result	Position	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA		Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1930	Did not enter									Did not enter
1934										Did not enter
1938	Withdrew									Withdrew
1950	Suspended from FIFA									Suspended from FIFA
1954	Did not qualify									2	0	1	1	3
1958	Did not enter									Did not enter
1962	Did not qualify									2	0	0	2	1	4
1966	Did not enter									Did not enter
1970	Did not qualify									4	0	2	2	4	8
1974										4	1	0	3	5	4
1978										4	0	1	3	0	5
1982										4	2	0	2	4	2
1986										8	5	1	2	15	5
1990										6	2	3	1	7	3
1994										13	9	3	1	35	6
1998	Group stage	31st	3	0	0	3	1	4		15	9	5	1	51	12
2002	Round of 16	9th	4	2	1	1	5	3		Qualified as co-hosts
2006	Group stage	28th	3	0	1	2	2	7		12	11	0	1	25	5
2010	Round of 16	9th	4	2	1	1	4	2		14	8	4	2	23	9
2014	Group stage	29th	3	0	1	2	2	6		14	8	3	3	30	8
2018	Round of 16	15th	4	1	1	2	6	7		18	13	3	2	44	7
2022	Round of 16	9th	4	2	1	1	5	4		18	15	1	2	58	6
2026	To be determined									To be determined
2030
2034
Total	Round of 16	7/25	25	7	6	12	25	33		138	83	27	28	305	91

By match

World Cup	Round	Opponent	Score	Result	Japan scorers
1998	Group stage	Argentina	0–1	L
		Croatia	0–1	L
		Jamaica	1–2	L	Nakayama
2002	Group stage	Belgium	2–2	D	Suzuki, Inamoto
		Russia	1–0	W	Inamoto
		Tunisia	2–0	W	Morishima, H. Nakata
	Round of 16	Turkey	0–1	L
2006	Group stage	Australia	1–3	L	Nakamura
		Croatia	0–0	D
		Brazil	1–4	L	Tamada
2010	Group stage	Cameroon	1–0	W	Honda
		Netherlands	0–1	L
		Denmark	3–1	W	Honda, Endō, Okazaki
	Round of 16	Paraguay	0–0 (a.e.t.) (3–5 p)	D
2014	Group stage	Ivory Coast	1–2	L	Honda
		Greece	0–0	D
		Colombia	1–4	L	Okazaki
2018	Group stage	Colombia	2–1	W	Kagawa, Osako
		Senegal	2–2	D	Inui, Honda
		Poland	0–1	L
	Round of 16	Belgium	2–3	L	Haraguchi, Inui
2022	Group stage	Germany	2–1	W	Dōan, Asano
		Costa Rica	0–1	L
		Spain	2–1	W	Dōan, Tanaka
	Round of 16	Croatia	1–1 (a.e.t.) (1–3 p)	D	Maeda

Record by opponent

FIFA World Cup matches (by team)
Opponent	Total	Wins	Draws	Losses	Goals scored	Goals conceded
Argentina	1	0	0	1	0	1
Australia	1	0	0	1	1	3
Belgium	2	0	1	1	4	5
Brazil	1	0	0	1	1	4
Cameroon	1	1	0	0	1	0
Colombia	2	1	0	1	3	5
Costa Rica	1	0	0	1	0	1
Croatia	3	0	2	1	1	2
Denmark	1	1	0	0	3	1
Germany	1	1	0	0	2	1
Greece	1	0	1	0	0	0
Ivory Coast	1	0	0	1	1	2
Jamaica	1	0	0	1	1	2
Netherlands	1	0	0	1	0	1
Paraguay	1	0	1	0	0	0
Poland	1	0	0	1	0	1
Russia	1	1	0	0	1	0
Senegal	1	0	1	0	2	2
Spain	1	1	0	0	2	1
Tunisia	1	1	0	0	2	0
Turkey	1	0	0	1	0	1

Record players

Top goalscorers