Takehiro Tomiyasu of Arsenal has a spot despite worries about his health in Japan's World Cup team, which has been announced.
The 24-year-old sustained an injury during his team's Europa League match against FC Zurich last week. He has made 17 appearances for the Gunners this season.
The defender "should be available" to play at the World Cup, according to a statement released by Arsenal on Monday, despite the fact that he might miss his club team's upcoming matches against Brighton & Hove Albion and Wolverhampton Wanderers in the EFL Cup and Premier League, respectively.
Japan's captain, Maya Yoshida, a former resident of Southampton, has also been included, which is not surprising.
There is also a spot for Brighton & Hove Albion’s Kaoru Mitoma, while Monaco’s Takumi Minamino and Real Madrid’s Takefusa Kubo are also in the squad.
Head coach Hajime Moriyasu has included just three strikers, with Takuma Asano boasting seven goals from his 36 appearances for the national side.
Meanwhile, Ayase Ueda and Daizen Maeda have also been named to the squad for the competition.
There is no space for Celtic’s Kyogo Furuhashi or Reo Hatate, while Huddersfield Town’s Yuta Nakayama has been forced to pull out of the squad due to an Achilles injury which will require surgery.
Japan will take on Canada in a friendly on November 17 before opening their World Cup against Germany on November 23.
Moriyasu’s side then will face Costa Rica and Spain, as they bid to qualify for the knockout round from Group E.
Japan has been present at each of the last six World Cup finals, reaching the round of 16 on three occasions, including back in 2018, when they were ultimately eliminated by Belgium courtesy of a 3-2 defeat.
Japan squad for World Cup:
Eiji Kawashima (Strasbourg), Daniel Schmidt (Sint Truiden), Shuichi Gonda (Shimizu S-Pulse); Hiroki Sakai (Urawa Red Diamonds), Miki Yamane (Kawasaki Frontale), Ko Itakura (Borussia Monchengladbach), Takehiro Tomiyasu (Arsenal), Maya Yoshida (Schalke 04), Shogo Taniguchi (Kawasaki Frontale), Hiroki Ito (VfB Stuttgart), Yuto Nagatomo (FC Tokyo); Junya Ito (Stade de Reims), Ritsu Doan (SC Freiburg), Wataru Endo (VfB Stuttgart), Hidemasa Morita (Sporting), Ao Tanaka (Fortuna Dusseldorf), Daichi Kamada (Eintracht Frankfurt), Takefusa Kubo (Real Sociedad), Takumi Minamino (AS Monaco), Kaoru Mitoma (Brighton & Hove Albion), Gaku Shibasaki (Leganes), Yuki Soma (Nagoya Grampus); Takuma Asano (Vfl Bochum), Daizen Maeda (Celtic), Ayase Ueda (Cercle Brugge)