TheJapan national football team in 2012, managed by head coachAlberto Zaccheroni, competed againstinternational exhibition matches both at home and abroad. It later competed in thethird andfourth rounds of the2014 FIFA World Cup qualification.[1]
| Competition | GP | W | D | L | GF | GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| International Friendly | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 6 |
| 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 13 | 3 |
| Total | 12 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 21 | 9 |
          Japan 1st Kit |      Japan 2nd Kit
|
International Friendly (2012 Kirin Challenge Cup)
v
Iceland| 24 February | Japan | 3 – 1 | Iceland | Osaka,Japan |
| 19:20JST | Maeda 2'Fujimoto 53'Makino 79' | (JFA Report) | Smárason 90+3' (pen.) | Stadium:Nagai Stadium Attendance: 42,579 Referee:Chris Beath (Australia) |
2014 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC)Third Round
v
Uzbekistan| 29 February | Japan | 0 – 1 | Uzbekistan | Aichi,Japan |
| 19:30JST | (JFA Report) | Shadrin 54' | Stadium:Toyota Stadium Attendance: 42,720 Referee:Abdullah Balideh (Qatar) |
International Friendly (2012 Kirin Challenge Cup)
v
Azerbaijan| 23 May | Japan | 2 – 0 | Azerbaijan | Shizuoka,Japan |
| 19:15JST | Kagawa 43' Okazaki 58' | (JFA Report) | Stadium:Shizuoka Stadium Attendance: 30,276 Referee:Malik Abdul Bashir (Singapore) |
2014 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC)Fourth Round
v
Oman| 3 June | Japan | 3 – 0 | Oman | Saitama,Japan |
| 19:30JST | Honda 11' Maeda 51'Okazaki 54' | (JFA Report) | Stadium:Saitama Stadium 2002 Attendance: 63,551 Referee:Ravshan Irmatov (Uzbekistan) |
2014 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC)Fourth Round
v
Jordan| 8 June | Japan | 6 – 0 | Jordan | Saitama,Japan |
| 19:30JST | Maeda 18' Honda 22',31',53' (pen.)Kagawa 35'Kurihara 89' | (FIFA Report) (JFA Report) | Stadium:Saitama Stadium 2002 Attendance: 60,874 Referee:Kim Dong Jin (Korea Republic) |
2014 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC)Fourth Round
v Japan| 12 June | Australia | 1 - 1 | Japan | Brisbane,Australia |
| 20:00UTC+10 | Milligan 25'  55'Wilkshire 69 pen' | Report | Kurihara 64' Kurihara 23' 89' | Stadium:Lang Park Attendance: 40,189 Referee:Khalil Al Ghamdi (Saudi Arabia) |
International Friendly (2012 Kirin Challenge Cup)
v
Venezuela| 15 August | Japan | 1 - 1 | Venezuela | Hokkaidō,Japan |
| 19:30JST | Endō 15' | Summary | Miku 62' | Stadium:Sapporo Dome Attendance: 39,396 Referee: Min-Hu Lee (Korea Republic) |
International Friendly (2012 Kirin Challenge Cup)
v
United Arab Emirates| 6 September | Japan | 1 - 0 | United Arab Emirates | Niigata,Japan |
| 19:20JST | Havenaar 69' | Summary | Stadium:Tohoku Denryoku Big Swan Stadium Attendance: 42,020 Referee: Mingyu Ma (China PR) |
2014 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC)Fourth Round
v
Iraq| 11 September | Japan | 1 - 0 | Iraq | Saitama,Japan |
| 19:34JST | Maeda 25' | Report | Stadium:Saitama Stadium 2002 Attendance: 60,593 Referee:Malik Abdul Bashir (Singapore) |
v Japan| 12 October | France | 0 - 1 | Japan | Saint-Denis,France |
| 21:00UTC+2 | Report | Kagawa 88' | Stadium:Stade de France Referee:William Collum (Scotland) |
v
Brazil| 16 October | Japan | 0 - 4 | Brazil |  Wrocław,Poland |
| 14:10UTC+2 | Report | Paulinho 12' Neymar 25' (pen.),48'Kaká 76' | Stadium:Stadion Miejski Referee:Marcin Borski (Poland) |
2014 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC)Fourth Round
v Japan| 14 November | Oman | 1 – 2 | Japan | Muscat,Oman |
| 15:30UTC+4 | Al Mahaijri 77' | Kiyotake 20' Okazaki 89' | Stadium:Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex Referee:Abdullah Balideh (Qatar) |
Win Draw Loss
| Player | -2011 | 02.24 | 02.29 | 05.23 | 06.03 | 06.08 | 06.12 | 08.15 | 09.06 | 09.11 | 10.12 | 10.16 | 11.14 | 2012 | Total |
| Yasuhito Endo | 113(9) | O | O | - | O | O | O | O(1) | O | O | O | O | O | 11(1) | 124(10) |
| Yuichi Komano | 67(1) | O | O | - | - | - | - | O | O | O | - | - | - | 5(0) | 72(1) |
| Kengo Nakamura | 56(6) | O | - | O | - | O | - | O | O | - | O | O | - | 7(0) | 63(6) |
| Yasuyuki Konno | 55(1) | O | O | - | O | O | O | - | - | - | O | O | O | 8(0) | 63(1) |
| Yoshito Okubo | 53(5) | O | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1(0) | 54(5) |
| Makoto Hasebe | 52(2) | - | O | O | O | O | O | O | O | O | O | O | O | 11(0) | 63(2) |
| Shinji Okazaki | 49(26) | - | O | O(1) | O(1) | O | O | O | O | O | - | - | O(1) | 9(3) | 58(29) |
| Atsuto Uchida | 45(1) | - | O | O | O | O | O | - | - | - | O | O | - | 7(0) | 52(1) |
| Yuto Nagatomo | 44(3) | - | O | O | O | O | O | O | - | O | O | O | O | 10(0) | 54(3) |
| Keisuke Honda | 31(8) | - | - | O | O(1) | O(3) | O | O | O | O | - | O | O | 9(4) | 40(12) |
| Shinji Kagawa | 28(9) | - | O | O(1) | O | O(1) | O | O | O | - | O(1) | O | - | 9(3) | 37(12) |
| Eiji Kawashima | 28(0) | - | O | O | O | O | O | O | O | O | O | O | O | 11(0) | 39(0) |
| Ryoichi Maeda | 16(6) | O(1) | - | O | O(1) | O(1) | O | O | - | O(1) | - | - | O | 8(4) | 24(10) |
| Maya Yoshida | 13(2) | - | O | - | O | O | - | O | O | O | O | O | O | 9(0) | 22(2) |
| Tadanari Lee | 10(2) | - | O | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1(0) | 11(2) |
| Hajime Hosogai | 10(1) | - | - | O | O | - | - | O | O | O | O | O | O | 8(0) | 18(1) |
| Jungo Fujimoto | 10(0) | O(1) | O | - | - | - | - | O | - | - | - | - | - | 3(1) | 13(1) |
| Takayuki Morimoto | 9(3) | - | - | O | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1(0) | 10(3) |
| Masahiko Inoha | 9(1) | O | - | O | - | O | O | O | O | O | - | - | - | 7(0) | 16(1) |
| Yuzo Kurihara | 8(0) | O | - | O | - | O(1) | O(1) | - | - | - | - | O | - | 5(2) | 13(2) |
| Tomoaki Makino | 8(0) | O(1) | - | O | - | - | - | O | - | - | - | - | - | 3(1) | 11(1) |
| Shusaku Nishikawa | 7(0) | O | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1(0) | 8(0) |
| Mike Havenaar | 5(2) | - | O | - | - | - | - | - | O(1) | O | O | - | - | 4(1) | 9(3) |
| Hiroshi Kiyotake | 5(0) | - | - | - | O | - | O | - | O | O | O | O | O(1) | 7(1) | 12(1) |
| Naohiro Ishikawa | 5(0) | O | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1(0) | 6(0) |
| Takashi Inui | 3(0) | - | O | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | O | O | - | 3(0) | 6(0) |
| Hiroki Mizumoto | 3(0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | O | O | - | - | - | - | 2(0) | 5(0) |
| Yosuke Kashiwagi | 3(0) | O | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1(0) | 4(0) |
| Ryota Moriwaki | 1(0) | O | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1(0) | 2(0) |
| Hiroki Sakai | 0(0) | - | - | O | O | - | O | - | O | - | O | O | O | 7(0) | 7(0) |
| Hideto Takahashi | 0(0) | - | - | O | - | - | - | - | O | - | O | - | O | 4(0) | 4(0) |
| Ryo Miyaichi | 0(0) | - | - | O | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | O | - | 2(0) | 2(0) |
| Gotoku Sakai | 0(0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | O | - | - | - | O | 2(0) | 2(0) |
| Chikashi Masuda | 0(0) | O | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1(0) | 1(0) |
| Junya Tanaka | 0(0) | O | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1(0) | 1(0) |
| Naoya Kondo | 0(0) | O | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1(0) | 1(0) |