Takehiro Tomiyasu has been named in Japan’s squad for the 2022 World Cup – the first of our players to be selected for the tournament.
Takehiro Tomiyasu : World Cup squad | Injury Update
Tomiyasu is a Japanese professional footballer who plays as a centre-back or full-back for Premier League club Arsenal and the Japan national team.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Takehiro Tomiyasu | ||
| Date of birth | 5 November 1998 | ||
| Place of birth | Fukuoka, Japan | ||
| Height | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Centre-back, Full-back | ||
Beginning his career at Avispa Fukuoka, Tomiyasu had a spell with Belgian club Sint-Truiden and Italian club Bologna before joining Arsenal in 2021.
He was also called up for Japan’s senior team in 2018, having previously played for various youth levels.
Takehiro Tomiyasu world cup squad
Takehiro Tomiyasu has been named in Japan’s squad for the 2022 World Cup – the first of our players to be selected for the tournament.
But the defender is part of his nation’s 26-man squad, marking the first time the 24-year-old has been selected for world football’s global showpiece having made his national team debut a couple of months after the 2018 edition in Russia.
Having picked up an injury in our Europa League game against FC Zurich last week, Takehiro is currently being assessed regarding his fitness for our remaining matches before the World Cup, but should be available to feature in the tournament.
Following a friendly against fellow qualifiers Canada in Dubai on Thursday, November 17, Japan kick off their campaign on Wednesday, November 23 against Germany, before facing Costa Rica four days later.
They then round off their group-stage campaign against Spain on Thursday, December 1, hoping to make it to the round of 16 which is as far as they’ve ever gone during their six previous qualifications.
Injury Update
Arsenal have announced that Takehiro Tomiyasu should be fit for Japan’s World Cup campaign after sustaining a muscular injury in the Europa League against FC Zurich.
The 24-year-old has been plagued by numerous fitness woes during his brief time at the Emirates and has fallen behind Ben White in the pecking order.
Tomiyasu had started to earn regular Premier League starts at left-back in recent weeks, though, and he was brought off the bench for last week’s win over Zurich.
However, in the dying embers of the game, Tomiyasu was brought off with a muscular problem and subsequently missed Arsenal’s victory over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
Prior to coming off injured, the right-back had just been named in Japan’s squad for the 2022 World Cup, and fears were immediately raised over his availability for the tournament.
When asked about the severity of Tomiyasu’s injury in his post-game press conference last Thursday, Mikel Arteta said: “We don’t know. Obviously he felt something and we didn’t want to take any risks.
But “With the amount of games we are playing, it’s part of [it]. Also It can happen in training, it can happen in games and unfortunately it happened to Tomi today. The rest all have to be ready because we’re going to need everybody now.”