Junya Ito was named in Japan’s squad on Thursday for the first time since being acquitted of allegations of non-consensual sexual conduct that led to his withdrawal from the Asian Cup in February.

Japanese coach Hajime Moriyasu has included the Reims winger in his 27-man squad for the Group C matches (home to China on September 5 and away to Bahrain five days later) as the final round of Asian qualifying for the 2026 World Cup begins.

On August 9, prosecutors decided not to press charges against Ito because there was no evidence related to a criminal complaint about an alleged incident involving two women.

Japan national football team coach Hajime Moriyasu speaks at a press conference in Chiba, near Tokyo, on Aug. 29, 2024. (Kyodo)

On August 1, Ito filed a complaint for alleged defamation against five people, including the women and an editor of the weekly newspaper Shukan Shincho.

Kawasaki Frontale defender Kota Takai, 19, was called up to the Samurai Blue senior team for the first time following solid performances at the Paris Olympics. Henry Heroki Mochizuki, a 22-year-old defender from surprise J-League leaders Machida Zelvia, also made his first appearance in the squad.

Former Japanese national team captain Makoto Hasebe, who ended his career at Eintracht Frankfurt at the end of last season, joins Moriyasu’s team as coach.

Goalkeeper Zion Suzuki, defender Yuta Nakayama, winger Kaoru Mitoma and strikers Takuma Asano and Mao Hosoya have returned to the team after long breaks.

Celtic striker Kyogo Furuhashi, who has been linked with a move to English Premier League champions Manchester City, has been overlooked again.

File photo taken in July 2024 shows Reims’ Junya Ito (left) battling for the ball against Machida Zelvia during an international friendly match at Machida Gion Stadium in Tokyo. (Kyodo)

“I think it will be an extremely tough challenge,” Moriyasu said of the final qualifying matches, in which the top two teams in the group, which also includes Saudi Arabia, Australia and Indonesia, automatically qualify for the finals.

Japan lost its first match in the final of the Asian qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup at home to Oman in September 2021.

“Last time we thought we were all prepared before the first game,” said Moriyasu. “We need to work more on the details.”

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Japanese squad:

Goalkeepers: Keisuke Osako (Sanfrecce Hiroshima), Kosei Tani (Machida Zelvia), Zion Suzuki (Parma)

Defenders: Yuto Nagatomo (FC Tokyo), Shogo Taniguchi (Sint-Truiden), Ko Itakura (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Yuta Nakayama, Henry Heroki Mochizuki (Machida Zelvia), Koki Machida (Royale Union Saint-Gilloise), Yukinari Sugawara (Southampton) , Kota Takai (Kawasaki Frontale)

Midfielder/Forward: Wataru Endo (Liverpool), Junya Ito, Keito Nakamura (Reims), Takuma Asano (Mallorca), Takumi Minamino (Monaco), Hidemasa Morita (Sporting Lisbon), Daichi Kamada (Crystal Palace), Kaoru Mitoma (Brighton) , Koki Ogawa (NEC Nijmegen), Daizen Maeda, Reo Hatate (Celtic), Ritsu Doan (Freiburg), Ayase Ueda (Feyenoord), Ao Tanaka (Düsseldorf), Takefusa Kubo (Real Sociedad), Mao Hosoya (Kashiwa Reysol)

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