Saki Kumagai

Saki Kumagai (熊谷 紗希, Kumagai Saki; Japanese: [kɯ̟ːmaɡai saki]; born 17 October 1990) is a Japanese footballer who plays as a midfielder or defender for Women's Super League club London City Lionesses and captains the Japan national team.^[1] A versatile defensive midfielder with keen sense of anticipation and exceptional tactical acumen,^[2] she is also able to be deployed as a central defender. She is regarded as one of the finest Asian female midfielders of all time.^[3] She is one of the most successful East Asian footballers, of any gender, at club and international level.^[4]

Saki Kumagai
熊谷 紗希

Kumagai with Lyon in 2019
Personal information
Date of birth	(1990-10-17) 17 October 1990 (age 34)
Place of birth	Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan
Height	1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Position(s)	Defender, Midfielder
Team information
Current team	London City Lionesses
Number	8
Youth career
2006–2008	Tokiwagi Gakuen High School
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2009–2011	Urawa Reds	44	(8)
2011–2013	Frankfurt	38	(2)
2013–2021	Lyon	152	(29)
2021–2023	Bayern Munich	39	(9)
2023–2025	AS Roma	37	(5)
2025–	London City Lionesses	8	(0)
International career‡
2009	Japan U-19	5	(1)
2008–2010	Japan U-20	7	(0)
2008–	Japan	161	(3)
Medal record Representing  Japan Olympic Games 2012 London Team FIFA Women's World Cup 2011 Germany 2015 Canada AFC Women's Asian Cup 2018 Jordan 2008 Vietnam 2010 China Asian Games 2010 Guangzhou Team AFC U-19 Women's Championship 2009 China 2007 China
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 6 May 2025 ‡ National team caps and goals as of 22 April 2025

Kumagai began her senior career in her native Japan with Urawa Reds in 2009. She would then move to Europe in 2011, joining Frauen-Bundesliga side FFC Frankfurt. She joined Olympique Lyonnais in the summer of 2013. Kumagai made over 240 appearances for the club, winning 19 titles trophies, including seven Division 1 Féminine titles, six Coupe de France titles, and five UEFA Women's Champions League titles. She was part of the squad that won 4 continental treble of Division 1 Féminine, Coupe de France, and UEFA Women's Champions League in 2015–16, 2016–17, 2018–19, and 2019–20. She left Lyon to join Bayern Munich in 2021. She won the league title with Bayern Munich in 2022–23 season before joining Serie A side AS Roma in the summer of 2023.

Kumagai has made over 100 caps for Japan women's national team and currently ranked as the 3rd most capped female player for the country. She made her senior international debut for Japan in 2008 at the age of 17. She had represented Japan in four World Cup tournaments, winning the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup where she scored the decisive penalty in the penalty shootout. She had further won an Asian Games gold medal and the AFC Women's Asian Cup in 2010 and 2018 respectively. She was named captain of the national team in January 2017.

Club career

Kumagai was born in Sapporo on 17 October 1990. After graduating from high school, she joined for Urawa Reds in 2009. The club won L.League championship in 2009 season. In July 2011, she moved to German Bundesliga club Frankfurt. After she played 2 seasons, she moved to French Division 1 Féminine club Lyon in June 2013. Kumagai scored the decisive penalty for Lyon in the 2016 UEFA Champions League Final, following a player-of-the-match performance.^[5]

In April 2021, Kumagai announced that she would be leaving Lyon after 8 seasons.^[6] The following month, on 12 May 2021, Kumagai would return to the Frauen Bundesliga when FC Bayern Munich announced her as their first signing of the season.^[7]

On 5 June 2023, it was announced that Kumagai had joined Serie A side AS Roma on a three-year deal.^[8]

On 23 January 2025, Kumagai was announced at London City Lionesses.^[9]

National team career

On 7 March 2008, when Kumagai was 17 years old, she debuted for the Japan national team against Canada.^[10] In August, Kumagai was selected for the Japan U-20 national team at the 2008 U-20 World Cup. In 2010, she played for the U-20 team as captain during the 2010 U-20 World Cup. In 2011, she was part of Japan's World Cup-winning team, scoring the winning penalty in the final against the United States.^[11] She was also in the squad at the 2012 Summer Olympics and the 2015 World Cup. Japan came second at both competitions. In January 2017, she was named Japan's captain by manager Asako Takakura. In 2018, Japan won the 2018 Asian Cup. She has played more than 100 games for Japan. On 10 November 2019, Kumagai scored her first ever goal in a friendly match for Japan in a 2–0 win against South Africa.^[12]

On 18 June 2021, she was included in the Japan squad for the 2020 Summer Olympics.^[13]

On 7 January 2022, Kumagai was called up to the 2022 AFC Women's Asian Cup squad.^[14]

On 13 June 2023, she was included in the 23-player squad for the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup.^[15]

On 14 June 2024, Kumagai was included in the Japan squad for the 2024 Summer Olympics.^[16]

Kumagai was part of the Japan squad that won the 2025 SheBelieves Cup.^[17]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 23 March 2025^[18]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National cup[a]		League cup[b]		Continental[c]		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Urawa Reds	2009	Nadeshiko League	21	2	4	1	0	0	—		—		25	3
	2010	Nadeshiko League	18	6	4	2	2	0	—		—		24	8
	2011	Nadeshiko League	5	0	0	0	0	0	—		—		5	0
	Total		44	8	8	3	2	0	—		—		54	11
FFC Frankfurt	2011–12	00Frauen-Bundesliga00	20	2	3	0	—		8	0	—		31	2
	2012–13	00Frauen-Bundesliga00	18	0	1	0	—		–		—		19	0
	Total		38	2	4	0	—		8	0	—		50	2
Lyon	2013–14	D1 Féminine	19	3	5	3	—		4	1	—		28	7
	2014–15	D1 Féminine	22	2	6	0	—		4	0	—		32	2
	2015–16	D1 Féminine	20	5	5	1	—		9	1	—		34	7
	2016–17	D1 Féminine	19	6	2	2	—		9	3	—		30	11
	2017–18	D1 Féminine	21	5	4	0	—		7	1	—		32	6
	2018–19	D1 Féminine	20	2	5	0	—		9	0	—		34	2
	2019–20	D1 Féminine	14	2	6	0	—		6	1	1[d]	0	27	3
	2020–21	D1 Féminine	17	4	1	0	—		6	1	—		24	5
	Total		152	29	34	6	—		54	8	1	0	241	43
FC Bayern Munich	2021–22	00Frauen-Bundesliga00	21	5	4	1	—		8	2	—		33	8
	2022–23	00Frauen-Bundesliga00	18	4	3	2	—		9	0	—		30	6
	Total		39	9	7	3	—		17	2	—		63	14
A.S. Roma	2023–24	Serie A	25	5	5	0	—		8	0	1	0	39	5
	2024–25	Serie A	12	0	1	1	—		8	1	1	0	22	2
	Total		37	5	7	3	—		17	2	—		61	7
London City Lionesses	2024–25	Women's Championship	4	0	1	0	—		—		—		5	0
Career total			314	53	60	13	2	0	87	11	3	0	474	77

1. includes Empress's Cup, Coupe de France, DFB Pokal
2. includes Nadeshiko League Cup
3. includes UEFA Women's Champions League
4. Trophée des Championnes

International

As of match played 28 July 2024^[19]

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National Team	Year	Apps	Goals
Japan	2008	2	0
	2009	0	0
	2010	15	0
	2011	16	0
	2012	16	0
	2013	9	0
	2014	5	0
	2015	11	0
	2016	7	0
	2017	9	0
	2018	10	0
	2019	10	1
	2020	2	0
	2021	8	0
	2022	11	1
	2023	16	0
	2024	7	1
Total		154	3

Scores and results list Japan's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Kumagai goal.

List of international goals scored by Saki Kumagai

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	10 November 2019	Kitakyushu Stadium, Kitakyushu, Japan	South Africa	1–0	2–0	Friendly
2	24 January 2022	Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex, Pune, India	Vietnam	2–0	3–0	2022 AFC Women's Asian Cup
3	29 July 2024	Parc des Princes, Paris, France	Brazil	1–1	2–1	2024 Summer Olympics

Honours

Saki Kumagai with Lyon in 2019.

Urawa Reds

• Nadeshiko League: 2009

Lyon

• Première Ligue: 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20
• Coupe de France: 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2018–19, 2019–20
• UEFA Women's Champions League: 2015–16,^[20] 2016–17,^[21] 2017–18,^[22] 2018–19,^[23] 2019–20^[24]
• Trophée des Championnes: 2019

Bayern Munich

• Frauen-Bundesliga: 2022–23

AS Roma

• Serie A Femminile: 2023–24
• Coppa Italia (women): 2023–24
• Supercoppa Italiana (women): 2024

Japan

• FIFA Women's World Cup - Winner: 2011, Runner-up: 2015
• Summer Olympics Silver Medal: 2012
• AFC Women's Asian Cup: 2018
• Asian Games: 2010
• East Asian Football Championship: 2010

Japan U20

• AFC U-19 Women's Championship: 2009

Individual

• Asian Women's Footballer of the Year: 2019^[25]
• IFFHS Women's World Team: 2018,^[26] 2020^[27]
• IFFHS World's Woman Team of the Decade 2011–2020^[28]
• IFFHS AFC Woman Team of the Decade 2011–2020^[29]
• Women's Golden Foot: 2024

See also

• List of women's footballers with 100 or more caps