Preview: Japan vs Venezuela - prediction, team news, lineups

The Japan national football team hosts the Venezuela national football team in a Kirin Challenge Cup 2026 friendly at Edion Peace Wing Hiroshima on Monday.

It is the fifth international meeting between the two nations and the first since Japan's round of 32 exit at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, with Hajime Moriyasu using the fixture to widen his pool of options before next January's AFC Asian Cup.

Match preview

Moriyasu's side arrive full of confidence after a 3-1 win over Uruguay at the Q&A Stadium in Miyagi on Thursday, a result that spoiled Diego Forlan's first match in charge of La Celeste.

Kuryu Matsuki broke the deadlock in the 11th minute with a low, left-footed finish set up by a cross-field pass from Keito Nakamura, before Maxi Araujo levelled for Uruguay in the 42nd minute.

Japan had to wait until second-half stoppage time for their winning moments, with Kento Shiogai converting a quick wall pass and Ayase Ueda following up soon after with a finish from more than 35 yards.

The win arrived less than three months after Japan's World Cup campaign ended in defeat to Brazil, and it gave Moriyasu a platform to build a new-look squad around senior figures such as Ritsu Doan and Daichi Kamada.

Ueda, now with LOSC Lille, has 19 goals in 44 appearances for the Samurai Blue, a return that keeps him first choice through the middle regardless of who else starts.

Off the pitch, this four-match international window doubles as an audition for the Asian Cup squad, with uncapped players including Kaina Tanimura, Shuto Nakano and Shunsuke Saito handed their first senior call-ups this month.

Oswaldo Vizcarrondo's side head to Hiroshima having not played since a 2-0 win away to Iraq on June 9, when Cristian Casseres and Jesus Ramirez scored either side of half time.

The three-month gap is by design rather than accident, with Vizcarrondo naming a 34-man squad for a wider Asian tour that continues against South Korea on October 2 and Jordan on October 6.

La Vinotinto have again omitted the experienced trio of Salomon Rondon, Yeferson Soteldo and Jefferson Savarino, continuing a selection policy Vizcarrondo has held since the FIFA Series matches against Iraq and Turkiye earlier this year.

Vizcarrondo, capped more than 80 times as a centre-back during his own playing career, was promoted from caretaker to permanent head coach in January and remains focused on squad development rather than results alone.

Venezuela have never reached a FIFA World Cup, and a friendly against a side that beat Uruguay four days earlier offers a genuine measuring stick for a squad still built around Real Sociedad midfielder Yangel Herrera and Inter Miami's Telasco Segovia.

Their most recent results before that trip to the United States were a 1-2 loss to Turkiye and a goalless draw with Uzbekistan settled on penalties, both at the end of March, so consistency remains a work in progress under Vizcarrondo.

Japan International Friendly form:

Japan form (all competitions):

Venezuela International Friendly form:

Venezuela form (all competitions):

Team News

Crystal Palace defender Takehiro Tomiyasu will miss the match after the Japan Football Association confirmed on Wednesday that a calf injury, picked up in Palace's goalless draw with Leeds United, would rule him out of both Kirin Challenge Cup fixtures as well as October's Kirin Cup matches.

Goalkeeper Zion Suzuki, who missed the Uruguay win entirely because of a rib injury carried into camp from Aston Villa, returned to full training with the group on Friday and is now expected to be restored in goal ahead of Tomoki Hayakawa, who deputised in Miyagi.

Beyond those two fitness notes, Moriyasu named a 31-man squad built around the twenty players who featured at the World Cup, so Takefusa Kubo, Ao Tanaka and Junya Ito are all available for selection.

For Venezuela, midfielder Daniel Pereira, who plays his club football for CF Montreal, is part of the 34-man squad, although he is a doubt to start because of a fitness concern.

Vizcarrondo has again left out Rondon, Soteldo and Savarino, meaning attacking responsibility falls on David Martinez, Jesus Ramirez and Kevin Kelsy, none of whom carry Rondon's record of 50 international goals.

West Ham United winger Keiber Lamadrid was left out of the squad entirely because of injury when Vizcarrondo made his announcement on September 15, leaving Nahuel Ferraresi and Teo Quintero as the senior options at the back.

Japan possible starting lineup:

Suzuki; Itakura, H. Ito, Seko; J. Ito, Tanaka, Kaishu Sano, Doan; Kamada, Kubo; Ueda

Venezuela possible starting lineup:

Varela; Ferraresi, Balbo, Quintero, Sanchez; Libra, Herrera; Mendoza, Segovia, Martinez; Ramirez

We say: Japan 2-0 Venezuela

Japan have lost only once in their past five matches, a round of 32 exit to Brazil, either side of which they beat Tunisia 4-0, drew with the Netherlands and Sweden, and returned to winning ways against Uruguay, a run that has brought 11 goals scored and six conceded.

History offers little in the way of a clear favourite, since five previous meetings have produced three draws, one Japan win awarded after Venezuela fielded a suspended player in 2014, and one 4-1 Venezuela victory at the 2019 Kirin Challenge Cup, so recent momentum rather than head-to-head record should decide this one in the hosts' favour.