Despite fielding what was essentially their fourth-string squad and leaving their top stars at home, Japan still powered their way to the 2025 EAFF E-1 Football Championship title, edging South Korea 1–0 on July 15 at Yongin Mireu Stadium in Yongin, South Korea.
Much like Southeast Asia’s AFF Championship, the EAFF E-1 Championship serves as a regional tournament for East Asia. However, it remains a lower priority for the region’s footballing giants—Japan, South Korea, and China—who often opt to rest their key players and instead send reserve or domestic-based squads.
South Korea, for instance, were without their talisman Son Heung-min and relied heavily on players from the K League and J.League. China rested key forward Wu Lei but still featured recognizable names such as Wei Shihao, Serginho, and Zhang Yuning.
Japan, too, left their European-based stars—Wataru Endo, Kyogo Furuhashi, Daizen Maeda, Reo Hatate, and Kaoru Mitoma—out of the squad. Even so, head coach Hajime Moriyasu assembled a capable team drawn entirely from the J.League. Veterans like Yuto Nagatomo led a side that also featured Sho Inagaki, Hayao Kawabe, Taisei Miyashiro, Mao Hosoya, Taichi Hara, and Sanfrecce Hiroshima striker Ryo Germain—players who have shone domestically and flirted with national team duty.
Japan’s so-called “fourth team” quickly proved a class above the rest in the round-robin tournament, which featured four nations: Japan, South Korea, China, and qualifiers Hong Kong. Each team played three matches.
Japan opened their campaign in dominant fashion, routing Hong Kong 6–1 on July 8, with Germain bagging a stunning four-goal haul. They followed that with a composed 2–0 win over China on July 12, with goals from Mao Hosoya and Henry Heroki Mochizuki.
That set the stage for a winner-takes-all clash against fellow unbeaten side South Korea on July 15. In a tightly contested encounter, Germain once again rose to the occasion, netting the match’s only goal to seal a perfect tournament for the Samurai Blue.
With three wins from three and just one goal conceded, Japan claimed their second consecutive EAFF E-1 title and their third overall—proof that even without their biggest names, the Samurai Blue remain a dominant force in East Asian football.