Moriyasu Watch · Jul 23, 2026
It's official: Moriyasu stays through the Asian Cup, then hands over to Oiwa
Now it's real. At its board meeting in Tokyo today, the JFA confirmed the plan we'd only had in whispers: Hajime Moriyasu, 57, stays on as Samurai Blue boss through the AFC Asian Cup in Saudi Arabia this January and February, and then he's done. 💔 Go Oiwa, the 54-year-old who steered Japan's U-23s to the Paris quarterfinals, takes the senior job from the March international window on, no matter how the Asian Cup goes. Oiwa keeps his young-guns role too, doubling up with the U-21s toward LA 2028, and he's been handed the longer brief: build toward the 2030 World Cup while carrying forward the culture Moriyasu built, in his own way. Moriyasu could yet stay inside the JFA in another capacity under a separate reported one-year deal. But the headline is the one we've been bracing for: Riyadh is the last dance. Eight years, a World Cup knockout run, and one more tournament to send him off right. Let's make January loud. 🔵🌊🇯🇵⚽️