Keito Nakamura

Keito Nakamura is a forward in Japan's final 26-man squad for the 2026 World Cup, named in Hajime Moriyasu's group. He is 25 at kick-off, a left-sided forward with 21 caps for Japan and nine international goals to his name. His club football is with Reims.

Japan are in Group F and open against the Netherlands at AT&T Stadium in Arlington on 14 June, having come through their AFC qualifying group as winners. Nakamura is one of Japan's forwards in the 26 Moriyasu took to the finals, and is not the captain, with Wataru Endo wearing the armband. He arrives at the tournament with a settled run of senior caps and goals behind him.

Nakamura is a left-sided forward, and the standout feature of his recent club football is his scoring — 14 league goals for Reims across the 2025-26 season. He plays off the left rather than as a central striker, getting into positions to finish from that side of the pitch.

It is a forward's game built around end product from wide-left areas, the goals he has been getting at club level. That left-sided attacking role is the one he carries into a Japan squad that named him among its forwards for 2026.

Nakamura's Goal Rush appeal for Japan is goal threat from the left — a forward whose game is about getting on the end of chances rather than sitting deep to support. Japan's card price of £17m sets a Tier 3 rating, a figure that falls within the game's £200m card budget, with Group F still in front of them.

That scoring edge from wide-left is what he brings to the pick, the end product he can add to Japan's attack.