Brighton & Hove Albion winger Kaoru Mitoma is out of Japan’s World Cup squad after sustaining a hamstring injury against Wolverhampton Wanderers earlier this month.The 28-year-old has been limited to just 27 appearances across all competitions for the south-coast club this season due to injuries, and he will now miss the summer tournament.Japan head coach Hajime Moriyasu has, however, called up former Arsenal full-back Takehiro Tomiyasu, currently at Ajax, who has not represented Japan for almost two years after a successive series of injuries.Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo is also included despite making just eight Premier League appearances this season due to an ankle issue while veteran defender Yuto Nagatomo, 39, was named in a World Cup squad for the fifth time.Brighton head coach Fabian Hurzeler had said that Mitoma was a doubt for the World Cup after the 28-year-old sustained the injury last weekend, stating that: “We really have to be patient with this injury, we cannot give a clear schedule.”Japan’s Moriyasu said during a press-conference to announce his squad: “The medical team assessed that it would be difficult for him to get back to fitness during the tournament.”This is Moriyasu’s second World Cup as head coach, having also worked as an assistant to former Japan manager Akira Nishino in 2018.Japan have made the knockout stages of the past two World Cups, losing in the Round of 16 to eventual semi-finalists both times. Last time, in Qatar, they advanced to the knockout stages having defeated both Germany and Spain in the group stage.They are in Group F alongside the Netherlands, Tunisia, and Sweden.Are there any surprises?There has been surprise in Japan that Moriyasu opted against taking Sporting CP defensive midfielder Hidemasa Morita, a 40-cap veteran of the national team. Morita was in the squad for nine of Japan’s World Cup qualifiers, playing in seven of them, and captaining the team against Australia.Instead, Japan’s defensive midfield options will be Endo, who has struggled with an ankle ligament injury at Liverpool this season, and 25-year-old Mainz midfielder Kaishu Sano.Endo has not played for Liverpool since February 11 due to a foot injury (Alex Livesey/Getty Images)Are there any notable injury absentees?Mitoma is the most high-profile absence — he is arguably Japan’s game-changer, capable of turning a game with a single moment of skill. However, the only solace is that the wing is Japan’s greatest position of strength, with the likes of Ritsu Doan, Takefusa Kubo, Keito Nakamura, and Junya Ito all well-capable of starting.Another player missing with injury is former Liverpool attacking midfielder Takumi Minamino, a former talisman for the national team, though his influence has waned in recent years. The 31-year-old Monaco player suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in January, which he has not recovered from in time for the tournament.What is the one problem the manager needs to solve?It is not a problem, per se, but it is very interesting that Moriyasu has chosen to bring four strikers — Koki Ogawa, Ayase Ueda, Kento Shiogai, and Keisuke Goto.Ueda has had an excellent season for Feyenoord, where he is the Eredivisie’s top scorer on 25 goals, and is the expected starter. Behind him, each of the other options appears to bring something quite different.Goto, 20, is a target man, while 21-year-old Shiogai works extremely hard out of possession, and is more of a poacher. Ogawa is probably the best option for linking play, and was Moriyasu’s preferred option for much of qualifying.Japan World Cup 2026 squad in fullGoalkeepers: Zion Suzuki (Parma), Keisuke Osako (Sanfrecce Hiroshima), Tomoki Hayakawa (Kashima Antlers)Defenders: Yuta Nagatomo (FC Tokyo), Shogo Taniguchi (Sint-Truiden), Ko Itakura (Ajax), Tsuyoshi Watanabe (Feyenoord), Takehiro Tomiyasu (Ajax), Hiroki Ito (Bayern Munich), Ayumu Seko (Le Havre), Yukinari Sugawara (Werder Bremen)Midfielders: Junnosuke Suzuki (Copenhagen), Wataru Endo (Liverpool), Junya Ito (Genk), Daichi Kamada (Crystal Palace), Ritsu Doan (Eintracht Frankfurt), Ao Tanaka (Leeds United), Keito Nakamura (Reims), Kaishu Sano (Mainz), Takefusa Kubo (Real Sociedad), Yuito Suzuki (Freiburg)Forwards: Koki Ogawa (NEC Nijmegen), Daizen Maeda (Celtic), Ayase Ueda (Feyenoord), Kento Shiogai (VfL Wolfsburg), Keisuke Goto (Sint-Truiden)