Go Oiwa's team is aiming to become the first country to win the U23 Asian Championship for the 3rd time in history. He realized that a strong start has a big impact on the outcome of the entire tournament.
We have prepared very carefully for this tournament and will dedicate ourselves in the match against U23 Syria. This is a different squad with new players but our goal remains unchanged. We will do everything possible to protect our title," said coach Go Oiwa of U23 Japan.
In the qualifiers, U23 Japan defeated Kuwait, Myanmar and Afghanistan. According to coach Oiwa, he has some experience in facing Syrian youth teams, when the two teams met at the AFC U20 Asian Cup China 2025. “We have studied them carefully and are confident that we will come up with appropriate plans for the players,” he emphasized.
Oiwa will be strengthened by the attacking talents in the squad, with names like Rion Ichihara, who has played a lot at the FIFA U20 World Cup Chile 2025, being the spearhead in their campaign to conquer the World Cup.
We are ready to win, and the first match is very important to us. We will try our best to win against Syria.
Many of us have played together at the AFC U20 Championship Cup, so we have good understanding. If we do well what we have practiced, I am sure we can show a strong performance," Ichihara said.
U23 Syria is not an easy opponent to underestimate. They returned to the 2026 AFC U23 Championship finals after 2 previous absences. Head coach Jehad Al Hussein of U23 Syria aims to lead Syria through the quarter-finals for the first time.
He said: "We know Japan's strength at the international level and their weaknesses, and we want to show our best on the pitch.
We are aware that Japan has analyzed us and they have very talented players, but we completely believe in our squad.We will dedicate ourselves and take energy from the cheers of the fans.
Every team wants to win three points and our task is to perform our best. Syria is famous for its strong physique and we aim to respond to that intensity. We know we can improve our performance and we want to use this tournament to shape the future of national football”.
Ahmad Faqa, a player currently playing for Sweden's AIK BRATISLAVA club, believes that U23 Syria is capable of creating a surprise against U23 Japan.
He said: "U23 Japan is a very strong team and the defending champion, so we respect them very much, but we want to play well. This is a 90-minute match, and our goal is to win all three points. Although we will face a younger Japanese team, we know they are still a formidable threat.
The U23 Japan vs U23 Syria match will take place at 6:30 PM on January 7.
This will be the second time U23 Japan and Syria have met at the AFC U23 Championship Cup, in which Syria won with a score of 2-1 in their first meeting in 2020.
The first title in the two titles that U23 Japan won at the 2016 tournament, after defeating South Korea with a score of 3-2 in a dramatic match.
U23 Syria has lost both of their most recent matches in the finals of the AFC U23 Championship, without scoring a single goal. If they lose to U23 Japan, they will create a goalless streak in the team's history in this playground.
