TOKYO – Monaco attacker Takumi Minamino is in line to accompany the Japan squad during the World Cup starting next month, a source close to the matter said Friday, while Hidemasa Morita has announced his departure from Sporting CP.
Minamino was not named in Hajime Moriyasu’s 26-man list for the World Cup after rupturing his left knee anterior cruciate ligament in December and failing to recover in time.
The former Liverpool man wore the No. 10 shirt at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and remained a key figure for the Samurai Blue until the injury.
File photo shows Japan’s Takumi Minamino (R) and Wataru Endo (C) speaking to a teammate after beating England in a friendly at Wembley Stadium in London on March 31, 2026. (Kyodo)
Fellow 31-year-old Morita, meanwhile, is ending his association with Sporting after joining the Portuguese giants in 2022 from Santa Clara and winning back-to-back league titles through last season.
Morita was also left out of the Japan squad for the upcoming tournament in Canada, Mexico and the United States, despite his strong performances in the Champions League against this season’s finalists, Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal, as Sporting reached the last eight.
File photo shows Hidemasa Morita playing for Japan in a World Cup qualifier against Bahrain at Saitama Stadium in Saitama on March 20, 2025. (Kyodo)
“Sporting gave me a dream stage when I was still nobody, and I am immensely proud to be able to say I was part of the history and legacy of this club,” Morita wrote in Portuguese on Instagram.
“Green and white blood will flow forever in my body, and I will never wear the shirt of another club in Portugal.”
Morita was a regular starter for Moriyasu and played at the 2022 World Cup, but he has not been called up since March last year.