At 39 years old, most professional footballers are deep into retirement, maybe running a podcast or launching a wine brand. Yuto Nagatomo chose a different path. He chose to keep showing up.
The Japanese defender has been named to Japan’s squad for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North America, making him the first player from Japan, and indeed the first from all of Asia, to participate in five editions of the tournament. That is not a typo. Five World Cups.
A career measured in decades
Nagatomo’s World Cup journey began in 2010 in South Africa. Since then, he has been a fixture for the Samurai Blue through the 2014 tournament in Brazil, the 2018 edition in Russia, the 2022 tournament in Qatar, and now the 2026 competition.
Born in 1986, Nagatomo has accumulated 145 international caps for Japan. That figure places him second in the country’s all-time rankings. He also holds the record for the most World Cup matches played by any Japanese player, with 15 appearances across his five tournaments.
