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.

Takefusa Kubo

Kubo in 2019
Personal information
Full name	Takefusa Kubo
Date of birth	(2001-06-04) June 4, 2001 (age 24)
Place of birth	Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Japan
Height	1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Position(s)	Midfielder
Team 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)
International career‡
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)
Medal record Men's football Representing  Japan AFC U-19 Championship 2018 Indonesia
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 16:53, 21 October 2023 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 17 October 2023

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

As of match played 24 October 2023^[1][2][3]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National cup[a]		League cup[b]		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[c]	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[c]	0	44	9
	2023–24	La Liga	9	5	0	0	—		3[d]	0	12	5
	Total		42	14	2	0	—	10	0	56	14
Career total			193	28	8	1	11	2	15	1	230	34

1. Includes Emperor's Cup, Copa del Rey
2. Includes J.League Cup
3. Appearances in UEFA Europa League
4. Appearances in UEFA Champions League

International

As of match played 12 September 2023^[4]

Appearances and goals by national team and year

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.

List of international goals scored by Takefusa Kubo

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

• La Liga Player of the Month: September 2023^[5]
• UEFA La Liga Revelation Team of the Year: 2019–20^[6]
• Japan Pro-Footballers Association awards: Best XI (2022)^[7]
• Real Sociedad Player of the Season: 2022–23^[8]