Tsuyoshi Watanabe
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Tsuyoshi Watanabe | ||
| Date of birth | 5 February 1997 | ||
| Place of birth | Koshigaya, Saitama, Japan[1] | ||
| Height | 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) | ||
| Position | Centre-back | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Feyenoord | ||
| Number | 4 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| –2008 | Obukuro FC | ||
| 2009–2011 | FC Tokyo | ||
| 2012–2014 | Yamanashi Gakuin Univ. High School | ||
| College career | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2015–2018 | Chuo University | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2018–2019 | FC Tokyo U-23 | 6 | (0) |
| 2019–2021 | FC Tokyo | 75 | (5) |
| 2022–2023 | Kortrijk | 41 | (1) |
| 2023–2025 | Gent | 70 | (4) |
| 2025– | Feyenoord | 31 | (2) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2019–2021 | Japan U23 | 4 | (0) |
| 2019– | Japan | 13 | (0) |
|
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 16:23, 16 August 2026 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals as of 08:25, 26 June 2026 (UTC) | |||
Tsuyoshi Watanabe (渡辺 剛, Watanabe Tsuyoshi; born 5 February 1997) is a Japanese professional footballer who plays as a defender for Eredivisie club Feyenoord[2] and the Japan national team.
Club career
Watanabe joined J1 League club FC Tokyo in 2018. On 4 January 2021, he started for FC Tokyo in the final of the J.League Cup against Kashiwa Reysol. FC Tokyo won 2–1 to claim the third J.League Cup in club history.[3][4]
On 28 December 2021, Watanabe signed a three-and-a-half-year contract with KV Kortrijk in Belgium.[5] On 1 July 2023, Watanabe moved to fellow Pro League club KAA Gent on a permanent deal for a fee of €3,500,000.[6]
On 23 July 2025, Watanabe joined Dutch side Feyenoord on a four-year contract.[7] On 12 August, he scored his first two goals for the club in a 5–2 defeat to Turkish sideFenerbahçe in the third qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League.[8]
International career
On 1 January 2024, Watanabe was selected by manager Hajime Moriyasu as a member of the Japan squad at the 2023 AFC Asian Cup.[9]
On 15 May 2026, Watanabe was selected in the 26-man squad for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.[10]
Career statistics
Club
- As of match played 16 August 2026[11]
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | League cup[b] | Continental | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| FC Tokyo | 2019 | J1 League | 20 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 1 | — | 31 | 2 | |
| 2020 | J1 League | 28 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 7[c] | 0 | 38 | 2 | |
| 2021 | J1 League | 27 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 1 | — | 34 | 2 | ||
| Total | 75 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 19 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 103 | 7 | ||
| Kortrijk | 2021–22 | Belgian Pro League | 7 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 9 | 0 | ||
| 2022–23 | Belgian Pro League | 34 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 34 | 1 | |||
| Total | 41 | 1 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 43 | 1 | ||||
| Gent | 2023–24 | Belgian Pro League | 36 | 2 | 2 | 0 | — | 14[d] | 1 | 52 | 3 | |
| 2024–25 | Belgian Pro League | 34 | 2 | 1 | 0 | — | 13[d] | 1 | 48 | 3 | ||
| Total | 70 | 4 | 3 | 0 | — | 27 | 2 | 100 | 6 | |||
| Feyenoord | 2025–26 | Eredivisie | 30 | 2 | 1 | 0 | — | 8[e] | 3 | 39 | 5 | |
| 2026–27 | Eredivisie | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Total | 31 | 2 | 1 | 0 | — | 8 | 3 | 40 | 5 | |||
| Career total | 217 | 12 | 8 | 0 | 19 | 2 | 42 | 5 | 286 | 18 | ||
- ↑ Includes Emperor's Cup, Belgian Cup, KNVB Cup
- ↑ Includes J.League Cup
- ↑ Appearances in AFC Champions League
- 1 2 Appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League
- ↑ Two appearances and two goals in UEFA Champions League, six appearances and one goal in UEFA Europa League
International
- As of match played 25 June 2026[12]
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Japan | 2019 | 1 | 0 |
| 2023 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2024 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2025 | 5 | 0 | |
| 2026 | 5 | 0 | |
| Total | 13 | 0 | |
Honours
FC Tokyo
References
- ↑ "【越谷市出身】FIFAワールドカップ２０２６日本代表 渡辺 剛 選手を応援しよう！" [(Hailing from Koshigaya) Let's root for Tsuyoshi Watanabe, representing Japan in the 2026 FIFA World Cup!] (in Japanese). 11 June 2026. Retrieved 24 June 2026.
- ↑ Tsuyoshi Watanabe at J.League (archive) (in Japanese)
- ↑ "Japan – List of League Cup Winners". RSSSF. Retrieved 17 May 2022.
- ↑ "【公式】柏vsFC東京の試合結果・データ（ＪリーグYBCルヴァンカップ：2021年1月4日）：Ｊリーグ.jp". Ｊリーグ.jp（日本プロサッカーリーグ） (in Japanese). Retrieved 24 August 2022.
- ↑ "EERSTE JAPANNER BIJ KV KORTRIJK" (Press release) (in Dutch). Kortrijk. 28 December 2021. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
- ↑ "KAA Gent verwelkomt Tsuyoshi Watanabe | KAA Gent Website". KAA Gent.
- ↑ "Officieel: Feyenoord lost met Watanabe eerste defensieve probleem op" [Official: Feyenoord fixes first defensive issues with Watanabe] (in Dutch). 23 July 2025. Retrieved 23 July 2025.
- ↑ "Fenerbahçe SK 5-2 Feyenoord". UEFA. 12 August 2025. Retrieved 11 November 2025.
- ↑ "SAMURAI BLUE (Japan National Team) squad - AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023". Japan Football Association. 1 January 2024. Retrieved 1 January 2024.
- ↑ "Mitoma misses out as Japan squad named". 15 May 2026. Retrieved 14 June 2026.
- ↑ Tsuyoshi Watanabe at Soccerway
- ↑ Tsuyoshi Watanabe at National-Football-Teams.com
External links
- Tsuyoshi Watanabe at J.League (archive) (in Japanese)
Japan squads | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||
- 1997 births
- Football people from Saitama Prefecture
- People from Koshigaya
- Living people
- Japanese men's footballers
- Japan men's international footballers
- Men's association football defenders
- Chuo University alumni
- FC Tokyo players
- FC Tokyo U-23 players
- KV Kortrijk players
- KAA Gent players
- Feyenoord players
- J1 League players
- J3 League players
- Belgian Pro League players
- Eredivisie players
- 2023 AFC Asian Cup players
- 2026 FIFA World Cup players
- Japanese expatriate men's footballers
- Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium
- Japanese expatriate sportspeople in Belgium
- Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands
- Japanese expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands
- 21st-century Japanese sportsmen
- Japanese football defender, 1990s birth stubs