 Suzuki withJapan in 2024 | |||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (2002-08-21)21 August 2002 (age 23) | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Little Rock, AR, United States | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Position | Goalkeeper | ||||||||||||||||
| Team information | |||||||||||||||||
Current team | Parma | ||||||||||||||||
| Number | 31 | ||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||
| 2009–2020 | Urawa Red Diamonds | ||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 2021–2024 | Urawa Red Diamonds | 8 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2023–2024 | →Sint-Truiden (loan) | 32 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2024– | Parma | 47 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| International career‡ | |||||||||||||||||
| 2016–2017 | Japan U15 | 7 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2017 | Japan U16 | 2 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2017–2019 | Japan U17 | 9 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2018 | Japan U18 | 1 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2021– | Japan U23 | 1 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2022– | Japan | 21 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 19:03, 2 November 2025 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals as of 14 October 2025 (UTC) | |||||||||||||||||
Zion Suzuki[2] (鈴木 彩艶,Suzuki Zaion; born 21 August 2002) is a professionalfootballer who plays as agoalkeeper forSerie A clubParma. Born in the United States, he represents theJapan national team.
Suzuki was born inLittle Rock, Arkansas, United States, to aGhanaian father and aJapanese mother.[3][4] He was named after thebiblical location ofMount Zion nearJerusalem.[5] Suzuki's family later moved to Japan, settling inUrawa, Saitama, where he was raised.[6]
Suzuki's professional career began with Japanese clubUrawa Red Diamonds when he was 16-years and five months old, making him the youngest player in the history of the club to sign a professional contract. Suzuki made his debut for the club on 2 March 2021 in theJ.League Cup match againstShonan Bellmare where he kept aclean sheet. His first appearance in theJ1 League came on 9 May 2021 in a match againstVegalta Sendai where he kept a clean sheet in a 2–0 win.[4] He would then go on to play in the next five consecutive league matches with main choice goalkeeperShusaku Nishikawa dropped due to poor performances. He recorded four clean sheets in six matches for Urawa Reds. Suzuki won theNew Hero Award of the2021 J.League Cup in his first season at the club.
Suzuki made his2022 AFC Champions League debut againstSingaporean clubLion City Sailors on 15 April 2022, however, he made a costly error after receiving a back pass fromDavid Moberg Karlsson which resulted in an own goal. In the next match againstChinese sideShandong Taishan, he kept a clean sheet in a 5–0 win. Suzuki played in the club four group stage fixtures before being dropped in favour of first choice goalkeeper,Shunsuke Nishikawa in the run all the way to the2022 AFC Champions League final. Suzuki helped the club to win the2022 AFC Champions League trophy and the2022 Japanese Super Cup.
In August 2023, Suzuki was sent on loan from the Urawa Red Diamonds toSint-Truiden, a team in theBelgian Pro League. He served as the understudy for fellow Japanese goalkeeperDaniel Schmidt before he was named the starter.
On 1 February 2024, it was announced that Suzuki's loan with Sint-Truiden will be converted into a permanent transfer for next season on 1 July 2024.[7]
On 15 July 2024,Serie A clubParma announced the signing of Suzuki on a five-year contract. He became the second Japanese player to represent the club afterHidetoshi Nakata, who joined the club in the mid-2001.[8][9]
On 17 August 2024, he made his league debut againstFiorentina, which ended in a 1–1 draw.[10]
Suzuki has represented Japan at multiple levels in youth football. On 19 July 2022, he earned his first cap with theJapan's national team, playing the full match againstHong Kong in the2022 EAFF E-1 Football Championship, which his side won 6–0.[11]
He played in Japan's opening match of the2023 AFC Asian Cup, a 4–2 win againstVietnam. He also played in their following 1–2 defeat toIraq, logging one save.
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | League cup[b] | Continental | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Urawa Red Diamonds | 2021 | J1 League | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 0 |
| 2022 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4[c] | 0 | 8 | 0 | ||
| 2023 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | ||
| Total | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 29 | 0 | ||
| Sint-Truiden (loan) | 2023–24 | Belgian Pro League | 32 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 32 | 0 | ||
| Parma | 2024–25 | Serie A | 37 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 37 | 0 | ||
| 2025–26 | 10 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 12 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 47 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 49 | 0 | ||||
| Career total | 87 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 110 | 0 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Japan | 2022 | 1 | 0 |
| 2023 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2024 | 13 | 0 | |
| 2025 | 5 | 0 | |
| Total | 21 | 0 | |
Urawa Red Diamonds
Japan
Individual
Japan squads | |||||||
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