Takefusa Kubo
Takefusa Kubo (久保 建英, Kubo Takefusa, born June 4, 2001) is a Japanese football player. He plays for the Japan national team.
 Kubo in 2019 | |||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Takefusa Kubo | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | June 4, 2001 | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Japan | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in) | ||||||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | ||||||||||||||||
| Club information | |||||||||||||||||
Current team | Real Sociedad | ||||||||||||||||
| Number | 14 | ||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||
| 2008–2009 | FC Persimmon | ||||||||||||||||
| 2008–2010 | Tokyo Verdy | ||||||||||||||||
| 2010–2011 | Kawasaki Frontale | ||||||||||||||||
| 2011–2015 | Barcelona | ||||||||||||||||
| 2015–2016 | FC Tokyo | ||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 2016–2018 | FC Tokyo U-23 | 34 | (5) | ||||||||||||||
| 2016–2019 | FC Tokyo | 19 | (4) | ||||||||||||||
| 2018 | → Yokohama F. Marinos (loan) | 5 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 2019–2022 | Real Madrid | 0 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2019–2020 | → Mallorca (loan) | 35 | (4) | ||||||||||||||
| 2020–2021 | → Villarreal (loan) | 13 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2021 | → Getafe (loan) | 18 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 2021–2022 | → Mallorca (loan) | 28 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 2022– | Real Sociedad | 42 | (14) | ||||||||||||||
| National team‡ | |||||||||||||||||
| 2015–2016 | Japan U16 | 17 | (11) | ||||||||||||||
| 2016–2017 | Japan U17 | 11 | (4) | ||||||||||||||
| 2016–2018 | Japan U20 | 15 | (3) | ||||||||||||||
| 2018 | Japan U21 | 2 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2019–2021 | Japan U23 | 16 | (7) | ||||||||||||||
| 2019– | Japan | 28 | (2) | ||||||||||||||
Honours
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* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 16:53, 21 October 2023 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 17 October 2023 | |||||||||||||||||
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Fame
He started with the training organization of the world famous football club FC Barcelona. At that time, he was called “Japanese Messi” and “Left handed Iniesta” because his play style is similar to Lionel Messi and Andrés Iniesta. His number one feature is ball control skill. Due to his great dribbling these nicknames are well-deserved.
Career before becoming a professional
He began to play soccer at 3 years old. In August 2009, he saw an advertisement saying that Barcelona Camp would be held in Japan and you could play against Barcelona if you could become an MVP there. In April 2010, he participated in a tournament held in Belgium as a Barcelona school selection and was selected as a tournament MVP. After that, he joined the Kawasaki Frontale. In August 2011, he passed the trial match of FC Barcelona’s subordinate organization Cantera and went to Spain. He played soccer in Spain until 2015, but an accident happened and he returned to Japan. And then he joined FC Tokyo’s subordinate organization. In May 2017, he made his debut at a top team. He became the first J-League player born in the 21th century.
Career after becoming a professional
In November 2017, it was announced that he had signed a professional contract with FC Tokyo. He made his first team debut in the match on November 26, and became the third youngest player in J.League history. He transferred to Yokohama F. Marinos for a limited time in order to improve the quality of his performance. He had played there for 5 months. He returned to FC Tokyo in 2019 and played for half a year. Then in June 2019 he moved to Real Madrid's B team. He was promoted to the top team. In the Spanish newspaper Maruka, he was in the first place in the ranking. In August 2019, he transferred to Mallorca for a limited time. In August 2020, it was announced that he transferred to Villarreal for a limited time. And recently it was announced that he would leave Villarreal.
National team
In May 2017, at the age of 15, Kubo was selected the Japan U-20 national team for 2017 U-20 World Cup. In October 2017, he also played for the Japan U-17 national team for 2017 U-17 World Cup. On June 9, 2019, he debuted for the Japan national team against El Salvador. He also participated 2019 Copa América.
Career statistics
Club
| Club | Season | League | National cup[lower-alpha 1] | League cup[lower-alpha 2] | Continental | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| FC Tokyo U-23 | 2016 | J3 League | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | 3 | 0 | |||
| 2017 | J3 League | 21 | 2 | — | — | — | 21 | 2 | ||||
| 2018 | J3 League | 10 | 3 | — | — | — | 10 | 3 | ||||
| Total | 34 | 5 | — | — | — | 34 | 5 | |||||
| FC Tokyo | 2017 | J1 League | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 4 | 0 | |
| 2018 | J1 League | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 | — | 10 | 1 | ||
| 2019 | J1 League | 13 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | — | 16 | 5 | ||
| Total | 19 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 2 | — | 30 | 6 | |||
| Yokohama F. Marinos (loan) | 2018 | J1 League | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 6 | 1 | |
| Real Madrid | 2019–20 | La Liga | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | ||
| Mallorca (loan) | 2019–20 | La Liga | 35 | 4 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 36 | 4 | ||
| Villarreal (loan) | 2020–21 | La Liga | 13 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 5[lower-alpha 3] | 1 | 19 | 1 | |
| Getafe (loan) | 2020–21 | La Liga | 18 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 18 | 1 | |
| Mallorca (loan) | 2021–22 | La Liga | 28 | 1 | 3 | 1 | — | — | 31 | 2 | ||
| Real Sociedad | 2022–23 | La Liga | 35 | 9 | 2 | 0 | — | 7[lower-alpha 3] | 0 | 44 | 9 | |
| 2023–24 | La Liga | 9 | 5 | 0 | 0 | — | 3[lower-alpha 4] | 0 | 12 | 5 | ||
| Total | 42 | 14 | 2 | 0 | — | 10 | 0 | 56 | 14 | |||
| Career total | 193 | 28 | 8 | 1 | 11 | 2 | 15 | 1 | 230 | 34 | ||
- Includes Emperor's Cup, Copa del Rey
- Includes J.League Cup
- Appearances in UEFA Europa League
- Appearances in UEFA Champions League
International
- As of match played 12 September 2023[4]
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Japan | 2019 | 7 | 0 |
| 2020 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2021 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2022 | 9 | 1 | |
| 2023 | 5 | 1 | |
| Total | 27 | 2 | |
- Scores and results list Japan's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Kubo goal.
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10 June 2022 | Noevir Stadium Kobe, Kobe, Japan |  Ghana | 3–1 | 4–1 | 2022 Kirin Cup |
| 2 | 15 June 2023 | Toyota Stadium, Toyota, Japan |  El Salvador | 3–0 | 6–0 | 2023 Kirin Challenge Cup |
Honours
Individual
References
- "T. Kubo". Soccerway. Retrieved 5 December 2021.
- Nippon Sports Kikaku Publishing inc./日本スポーツ企画出版社, "J1&J2&J3選手名鑑ハンディ版 2019 (NSK MOOK)", 9 February 2019, Japan, ISBN 978-4905411628 (p. 50 out of 289)
- Nippon Sports Kikaku Publishing inc./日本スポーツ企画出版社, "2017 J1&J2&J3選手名鑑 (NSK MOOK)", 8 February 2017, Japan, ISBN 978-4905411420 (p. 82 out of 289)
- Takefusa Kubo at National-Football-Teams.com
- "Takefusa Kubo named LALIGA EA SPORTS Player of the Month for September". La Liga. 6 October 2023. Retrieved 6 October 2023.
- "Equipo Revelación de La Liga 2019/20" (in Spanish). UEFA. 21 July 2020.
- Japan Pro-Footballers Association awards
- ""We've enjoyed a lot"". Real Sociedad. 12 June 2023. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
Other websites
- Takefusa Kubo at Olympedia
- Takefusa Kubo at FIFA
- Takefusa Kubo at UEFA
- Takefusa Kubo at J.League (player) (in Japanese)
- Takefusa Kubo at National Football Teams.com
- Takefusa Kubo at Soccerway.com
- Takefusa Kubo at Soccerbase.com (player)
- Takefusa Kubo at FootballDatabase.eu
- Takefusa Kubo at WorldFootball.net
- Takefusa Kubo at Transfermarkt (player)
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