Japan Captain Wataru Endo Retires From International Football After Injury Ends World Cup Dream
Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo has announced his retirement from international football after a foot injury sustained in February ruled him out of the 2026 World Cup — leaving Japan without their captain and 73-cap leader three days before their Group F opener.
Japan captain Wataru Endo has announced his retirement from international football after confirming he will miss the 2026 World Cup through injury — one of the most significant pre-tournament absences of the entire competition, and a blow to a Japan side that had built its leadership structure around the Liverpool midfielder.
Endo suffered the setback — a foot injury that required surgery — while on club duty in late February. He never recovered fully enough to participate in the tournament, managing only a half in Japan's warm-up friendly against Iceland on May 31 before being withdrawn with discomfort, according to ESPN. With the 2026 World Cup already under way, Endo made his retirement from international duty official, stepping away with 73 caps and four goals across an 11-year career that began with his debut in 2015. He had captained the Samurai Blue since after the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
The football federation named Borussia Mönchengladbach forward Shuto Machino as Endo's replacement in the squad, while Chelsea centre-back Ko Itakura will take the armband in his stead. The news landed less than three days before Japan's Group F opener against the Netherlands — scheduled for Sunday, June 14, at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas — leaving coach Hajime Moriyasu to reshape his side's identity in the shortest possible window.
For Japan, the disruption goes beyond personnel. Endo's experience in English football — three seasons at Leicester City before joining Liverpool, where he became the first Japanese player ever to win a Premier League Player of the Month award — had made him the conduit between European demands and Japan's distinctive high-pressing style. Replacing that combination of physicality, reading of the game and technical composure in the middle of a World Cup is a considerable ask of Itakura and the players around him.
Endo's withdrawal sits alongside several other high-profile injury losses in this expanded field. The Netherlands, Japan's first opponents, were without Jurriën Timber, their own defensive leader, after he was ruled out with a groin problem. Japan, though robbed of their captain, remain a credible threat to emerge from a Group F that also contains Sweden and Tunisia — but they will have to prove it without the man who was supposed to stand at the centre of everything.
Sources: ESPN — Japan captain Wataru Endo out of World Cup with injury, announces international retirement · Al Jazeera — Japan's Wataru Endo retires after injury ends World Cup 2026 dream
