Kazuyoshi Miura

Template:Nihongo, nicknamed King Kazu,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> is a Japanese professional footballer who plays as a forward for Japan Football League club Atletico Suzuka, on loan from J1 League club Yokohama FC.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He is the world's third oldest active player to play and oldest to score in a professional match.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

He played for the Japan national team from 1990 to 2000, and was the first Japanese recipient of the IFFHS Asia's Footballer of the Year award.<ref name="ReferenceA">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="IFFHS">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> With 55 goals in 89 caps for the national team, Miura is second most prolific goalscorer in the national team's history, behind Kunishige Kamamoto.

Miura holds the records for being the oldest active goalscorer in the J-League,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> the footballer with the world's second longest professional career,<ref name=":0">Template:Cite news</ref> and, as of 2025, is the third oldest professional footballer in the world at 58.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He also holds the distinction of having played professional football in five separate decades (1980s–2020s).<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> His elder brother Yasutoshi is a former professional footballer.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Club career

Early career

In 1982, Miura left the Shizuoka Gakuen High School after less than a year, and travelled alone to Brazil at the age of fifteen to become a professional footballer there.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> He signed with the youth squad of São Paulo side Juventus, and in 1986, Miura signed his first professional contract with Santos. He played for several other Brazilian clubs, including Palmeiras and Coritiba, until his return to Japan in 1990.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

Verdy Kawasaki

His time in Brazil elevated him to star status and on his return to Japan, he joined the Japan Soccer League (JSL) side Yomiuri SC, which later spun off from its parent company Yomiuri Shimbun and became Verdy Kawasaki with the launch of the J1 League in 1993.<ref name="kazu-miura.com"/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> With Yomiuri/Kawasaki, Miura won four consecutive league titles playing alongside fellow Japanese national team regulars Ruy Ramos and Tsuyoshi Kitazawa. Yomiuri won the last two JSL titles in 1991 and 1992, and Verdy Kawasaki won the first two J1 League titles in 1993 and 1994. He was named the first J.League Most Valuable Player in 1993.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

Loan to Genoa

Miura became the first East Asian footballer to play in Serie A, joining the Italian club Genoa in the 1994–95 Serie A season.<ref name="ReferenceA" /> In his Italian stint, he made 21 appearances for the club and scored one goal, during the Genoa derby against Sampdoria.<ref>『Dear Kazu 僕を育てた55通の手紙』（2011年、文藝春秋）Template:ISBN P.60-62</ref> On 15 January 1995, Miura assisted Antonio Manicone's match-winning goal against Padova.<ref>週刊サッカーダイジェスト　1995．2.15　P.13</ref>

Return to Verdy Kawasaki

He returned to Verdy Kawasaki for the 1995 season and played with them until the end of the 1998 season.<ref name="ReferenceA" />

Dinamo Zagreb

Miura made another attempt at playing in Europe with Croatia Zagreb in 1999.Template:Citation needed

Return to Japan

He returned to Japan, however, following a brief trial with AFC Bournemouth, in the same year, and played with Kyoto Purple Sanga and Vissel Kobe.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Miura (left) with Roberto Baggio and Tsuyoshi Kitazawa in 2013

Yokohama FC

In 2005, Miura signed for Yokohama FC. They would be promoted to the J1 League two years later. In 2007, Miura was selected for the 2007 J.League All-Star Soccer for J-East and played exceptionally well.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In November 2015, Miura signed a new one-year contract with Yokohama FC at the age of 48.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In January 2017, Miura signed another new one-year contract with Yokohama, taking his professional career into his fifties.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> On 5 March 2017, Miura became the oldest ever player to feature in a professional match when he started in Yokohama's 1–1 draw against V-Varen Nagasaki. With 50 years and seven days, he surpassed the previous record held by Stanley Matthews from 1965 by two days.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Seven days later, he broke Matthews' record for oldest goalscorer in professional football when he struck the only goal of a 1–0 win over Thespakusatsu Gunma.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In January 2018, he signed a new contract,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and renewed it again in January 2019,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> January 2020,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and January 2021.<ref name=":0" /> On 5 August 2020, he started in a J.League Cup match against Sagan Tosu, becoming the oldest player to take to the pitch in Japan's league cup competition, at the age of 53 years, 5 months and 10 days. By doing so, he surpassed the previous record of 42 years, 10 months set in 2017 by Yukio Tsuchiya.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

On 23 September 2020, he started in the J1 League match against Kawasaki Frontale and in doing so became the oldest player to take to the pitch in a J1 League match and the oldest player ever in a football match in the highest national division worldwide. Miura played 57 minutes in this match.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In January 2021 he agreed to extend his contract at the age of 53 for his 36th season.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Loan to Suzuka Point Getters

On 30 December 2021, it was reported that Miura had reached an agreement to join the Suzuka Point Getters in the Japan Football League (JFL), the fourth tier of Japanese football.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> On 13 March 2022, Miura, at the age of 55, made his debut for the Point Getters in the first round of the Japan Football League with 4,620 spectators watching his debut, which is the highest attendance at a Suzuka home match, breaking their previous record of 1,308 spectators in 2019. His debut also meant that he broke the record of the oldest player to have ever featured in a JFL match at 55 years old, with a 12-year gap to the previous record holder.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> His presence at the club brought many curious spectators to see him in action, leading to the Point Getters having featured in nine of the ten matches with the highest attendance numbers throughout the 2022 season. This includes a 1–0 win against Criacao Shinjuku on 9 October 2022, which gathered a crowd of 16,218 spectators at the Japan National Stadium, becoming the highest-attended JFL match of all time.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> On 30 October 2022, Miura became the oldest player to score in the JFL, having converted from the penalty spot in the 85th minute of the match to seal Suzuka's 3–1 win against Tiamo Hirakata.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He scored again from open play on 12 November 2022 at 55 years and 259 days old, breaking two more records. In total, from 30 October to 12 November, he played three matches and scored two goals.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Loan to Oliveirense

On 26 January 2023, Portuguese club Oliveirense announced that Miura would be playing for the Liga Portugal 2 club on loan for the rest of the season.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Back in November 2022, the owner of Yokohama, Onodera Group, had become a majority shareholder (ownership of 52.5% of the stock) of U.D. Oliveirense.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Oliveirense announced that Miura passed the medical tests with flying colors,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and launched an official presentation video of him featuring typical Japanese manga aesthetics and style.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

At 55 years old, Miura became by a large margin the oldest professional player to ever sign a professional contract for any professional ball sports team in Portugal since volleyball player Miguel Maia renewed his contract with Sporting Clube de Portugal in 2018 at 47 years of age.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> On 25 March, Miura played his first match for Oliveirense in a friendly match against Liga 3 team Oliveira do Hospital. Two days later he visited the Embassy of Japan in Lisbon where he gifted a signed football shirt of his team to the embassy staff.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

On 22 April, Miura made his debut in a Liga Portugal 2 match at the age of 56, when he came on in the 90th minute of a 4–1 win at Academico de Viseu's home ground.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On 28 May, Miura was awarded the man of the match in the last league game of the season for his team, where Miura played the last 20 minutes of the match as a substitute and Oliveirense won 4–3 against Leixões.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Tonel, football commentator of Sport TV, chose Miura for the award as a symbolic homage to his long career, a decision which caused some controversy. Vítor Martins, Leixões' manager, found it strange and said: "In a game that had seven goals I do not understand how they give the Man of the Match award to Miura. I think it is offensive to give him the award, this is not the way, otherwise this is turned into a circus".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In July 2023, his loan with Oliveirense was extended for an indefinite period.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Loan to Atletico Suzuka

In June 2024, Miura returned on loan to Suzuka Point Getters, which had been rebranded to Atletico Suzuka.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

On 29 September 2024, Miura broke the record for the oldest player to appear in JFL, at 57 years and 216 days old.<ref name="Kazuyoshi Miura becomes the oldest player to appear in JFL – Atletico Suzuka Official Website – Yasuhito Endō">Template:Cite web</ref> He made his first start for the club, his tenth league appearance, in the 0–0 draw with Sony Sendai FC on 26 October, being substituted in the 55th minute.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

International career

Football

In September 1990, Miura was named as part of the Japan squad for the 1990 Asian Games. At this competition, on 26 September, he debuted against Bangladesh. After his debut, he played as a forward until 1997. In 1992, he played at the 1992 Asian Cup, in which he scored the winner in a group stage 1-0 win against Iran. Japan went on to win the tournament, Miura being named the tournament's Most Valuable Player. In 1993, in the 1994 World Cup qualification, he played thirteen games and scored thirteen goals. However, Japan failed to qualify for the 1994 World Cup. He also played at the 1994 Asian Games, and the 1995 King Fahd Cup.Miura also played in the 1996 Asian Cup, and he scored one goal, the second goal in a group stage 4-0 win against Uzbekistan.

In 1997, Miura scored fourteen times for Japan during qualification for the 1998 World Cup, leading the Samurai Blue to their first ever World Cup appearance.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Despite this, Miura was controversially left out of the squad.

In February 2000, Miura played for Japan for the first time in two years. He played his last national team match later that year and finished with the second-most career goals in Japanese national team history with 55 goals in 89 matches.<ref name="JNFTD">Template:Cite web</ref>

He is one of only three men for Japan to score more than 50 goals for the teams, along with Kunishige Kamamoto and Shinji Okazaki.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Futsal

In 2012, and at the age of 45, Miura made his debut for the Japan futsal team in a 3–3 draw against Brazil. He came off the bench and was involved in the buildup for the second goal scored by Nobuya Osodo.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In his second appearance with the futsal team, he scored the third goal in a 3–1 win over Ukraine.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In the 2012 Futsal World Cup, Miura appeared in all four matches for Japan, but failed to score as the Japanese were knocked out by Ukraine in the round of 16.

Personal life

Since 1993, he has been married to former actress and model Risako Shitara.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> They have two children, Ryota Miura (born 1997) and Kota Miura.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Career statistics

Club

Template:Missing information Template:Updated<ref>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)" Template:Webarchive, 9 February 2019, Japan, Template:ISBN (p. 161 out of 289)</ref><ref>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 2018 (NSK MOOK)" Template:Webarchive, 7 February 2018, Japan, Template:ISBN (p. 191 out of 289)</ref><ref>Nippon Sports Kikaku Publishing inc./日本スポーツ企画出版社, "2016J1&J2&J3選手名鑑" Template:Webarchive, 10 February 2016, Japan, Template:ISBN. p. 215</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National cup		League cup		OtherTemplate:Efn		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Yomiuri	1990–91	Japan Soccer League	18	3			1	0	7	3	26	6
	1991–92	Japan Soccer League	21	6			5	2	4	1	30	9
	Total		39	9			6	2	11	4	56	15
Verdy Kawasaki	1992	J.League	—		2	1	10	10	2	1	14	12
	1993	J.League	36	20	3	3	1	0	2	2	42	25
	1994	J.League	22	16	0	0	0	0	2	0	24	16
	Total		58	36	5	4	11	10	6	3	80	53
Genoa	1994–95	Serie A	21	1	—		1	0	1	0	23	1
Verdy Kawasaki	1995	J.League	26	23	2	0	—		2	0	30	23
	1996	J.League	27	23	5	4	6	2	1	1	39	30
	1997	J.League	14	4	2	1	0	0	1	0	17	5
	1998	J.League	28	5	3	2	0	0	—		31	7
	Total		95	55	12	7	6	2	4	1	117	65
Dinamo Zagreb	1998–99	Prva HNL	12	0	—		—		—		12	0
Kyoto Purple Sanga	1999	J1 League	11	4	2	1	0	0	—		13	5
	2000	J1 League	30	17	1	0	7	2	—		38	19
	Total		41	21	3	1	7	2	0	0	51	24
Vissel Kobe	2001	J1 League	29	11	2	0	3	2	—		34	13
	2002	J1 League	17	3	0	0	1	0	—		18	3
	2003	J1 League	24	4	3	2	4	0	—		31	6
	2004	J1 League	21	4	0	0	5	0	—		26	4
	2005	J1 League	12	2	0	0	6	1	—		18	3
	Total		103	24	5	2	19	3	0	0	127	29
Yokohama FC	2005	J2 League	16	4	1	0	—		—		17	4
	2006	J2 League	39	6	0	0	—		—		39	6
	2007	J1 League	24	3	2	0	4	0	—		30	3
	2008	J2 League	30	1	2	0	—		—		32	1
	2009	J2 League	30	1	0	0	—		—		30	1
	2010	J2 League	10	3	0	0	—		—		10	3
	2011	J2 League	30	0	1	0	—		—		31	0
	2012	J2 League	14	1	0	0	—		—		14	1
	2013	J2 League	18	2	0	0	—		—		18	2
	2014	J2 League	2	0	0	0	—		—		2	0
	2015	J2 League	16	3	0	0	—		—		16	3
	2016	J2 League	20	2	0	0	—		—		20	2
	2017	J2 League	12	1	0	0	—		—		12	1
	2018	J2 League	9	0	0	0	—		—		9	0
	2019	J2 League	3	0	0	0	—		—		3	0
	2020	J1 League	4	0	0	0	2	0	—		6	0
	2021	J1 League	1	0	0	0	3	0	—		4	0
	Total		278	27	6	0	9	0	0	0	293	27
Sydney FC (loan)	2005–06	A-League	4	2	—		—		2	0	6	2
Suzuka Point Getters (loan)	2022	Japan Football League	18	2	0	0	—		—		18	2
Oliveirense (loan)	2022–23	Liga Portugal 2	4	0	—		—		—		4	0
	2023–24	Liga Portugal 2	4	0	0	0	1	0	—		5	0
	Total		8	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	9	0
Atletico Suzuka (loan)	2024	Japan Football League	12	0	0	0	—		—		12	0
	2025	Japan Football League	3	0	0	0	—		—		3	0
	Total		15	0	0	0	—		—		15	0
Career total			690	177	31	14	60	19	24	8	807	218

Total appearances including known games in Brazil: 1,046+ (as of 15 February 2024)

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Japan<ref name="JNFTD"/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	1990	3	0
	1991	2	0
	1992	11	2
	1993	16	16
	1994	8	5
	1995	12	6
	1996	12	6
	1997	19	18
	1998	1	0
	1999	0	0
	2000	5	2
Total		89	55
Japan (futsal)	2012	6	1
Total		6	1

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

List of international goals scored by Kazuyoshi Miura<ref name="JNFTD"/>

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	26 August 1992	Beijing, China	Template:Fb	4–1	4–1	1992 Dynasty Cup
2	3 November 1992	Hiroshima, Japan	Template:Fb	1–0	1–0	1992 AFC Asian Cup
3	14 March 1993	Tokyo, Japan	Template:Fb	1–1	3–1	Friendly
4				3–1
5	8 April 1993	Kobe, Japan	Template:Fb	1–0	1–0	1994 FIFA World Cup qualification
6	11 April 1993	Tokyo, Japan	Template:Fb	1–0	8–0
7				3–0
8				4–0
9				5–0
10	15 April 1993	Tokyo, Japan	Template:Fb	3–0	5–0
11				5–0
12	30 April 1993	Dubai, UAE	Template:Fb	2–1	4–1
13	5 May 1993	Dubai, UAE	Template:Fb	5–0	6–0
14	4 October 1993	Tokyo, Japan	Template:Fb	1–0	1–0	Afro-Asian Cup of Nations
15	21 October 1993	Doha, Qatar	Template:Fb	1–0	3–0	1994 FIFA World Cup qualification
16				3–0
17	25 October 1993	Doha, Qatar	Template:Fb	1–0	1–0
18	28 October 1993	Doha, Qatar	Template:Fb	1–0	2–2
19	8 July 1994	Nagoya, Japan	Template:Fb	1–1	3–2	Friendly
20				2–1
21	14 July 1994	Kobe, Japan	Template:Fb	2–0	2–1
22	3 October 1994	Hiroshima, Japan	Template:Fb	1–1	1–1	1994 Asian Games
23	11 October 1994	Hiroshima, Japan	Template:Fb	1–0	2–3
24	8 January 1995	Riyadh, Saudi Arabia	Template:Fb	1–4	1–5	1995 King Fahd Cup
25	28 May 1995	Tokyo, Japan	Template:Fb	2–0	3–0	Friendly
26				3–0
27	20 September 1995	Tokyo, Japan	Template:Fb	1–0	1–2
28	24 October 1995	Tokyo, Japan	Template:Fb	2–0	2–1
29	28 October 1995	Matsuyama, Japan	Template:Fb	1–1	2–1
30	19 February 1996	Hong Kong, China	Template:Fb	4–0	5–0	1996 Lunar New Year Cup
31	26 May 1996	Tokyo, Japan	Template:Fb	1–0	1–0	1996 Kirin Cup
32	29 May 1996	Fukuoka, Japan	Template:Fb	2–2	3–2
33	25 August 1996	Osaka, Japan	Template:Fb	2–1	5–3	Friendly
34				4–1
35	9 December 1996	Al Ain, UAE	Template:Fb	2–0	4–0	1996 AFC Asian Cup
36	15 March 1997	Bangkok, Thailand	Template:Fb	1–1	1–3	Friendly
37	25 March 1997	Muscat, Oman	Template:Fb	4–0	10–0	1998 FIFA World Cup qualification
38				9–0
39	21 May 1997	Tokyo, Japan	Template:Fb	1–1	1–1	Friendly
40	8 June 1997	Tokyo, Japan	Template:Fb	2–0	4–3	1997 Kirin Cup
41				3–0
42	22 June 1997	Tokyo, Japan	Template:Fb	3–0	10–0	1998 FIFA World Cup qualification
43				4–0
44				6–0
45				7–0
46				9–0
47				10–0
48	25 June 1997	Tokyo, Japan	Template:Fb	2–0	3–0
49				3–0
50	7 September 1997	Tokyo, Japan	Template:Fb	1–0	6–3
51				2–0
52				5–1
53				6–3
54	16 February 2000	Macau, China	Template:Fb	4–0	9–0	2000 AFC Asian Cup qualification
55	6 June 2000	Casablanca, Morocco	Template:Fb	4–0	4–0	2000 King Hassan II International Cup Tournament

Honours

Matsubara<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

• Torneio Brasil Sul: 1986 Template:In lang

CRBTemplate:Citation needed

• Campeonato Alagoano: 1987 (in Portuguese)

CoritibaTemplate:Citation needed

• Campeonato Paranaense: 1989 (in Portuguese)

Tokyo VerdyTemplate:Citation needed

• Japan Soccer League: 1990–91, 1991–92,
• J1 League: 1993, 1994
• Emperor's Cup: 1996
• J.League Cup: 1992, 1993, 1994
• Japan Soccer League Cup: 1991
• Xerox Super Cup: 1994, 1995

Dinamo ZagrebTemplate:Citation needed

• Prva HNL: 1998–99

YokohamaTemplate:Citation needed

• J2 League: 2006

JapanTemplate:Citation needed

• AFC Asian Cup: 1992
• Afro-Asian Cup of Nations: 1993
• Kirin Cup: 1991, 1995, 1996, 1997

Individual

• Asian Footballer of the Year: 1992<ref name="IFFHS"/>
• J.League MVP Award: 1993
• J.League Best XI: 1993, 1995, 1996
• J.League 20th Anniversary Team: 2013
• J.League 30th Anniversary Team: 2023<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• J.League Top Scorer: 1996
• AFC Asian Cup Most Valuable Player: 1992
• 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification Top scorer
• Kirin Cup top scorer: 1991, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1997 (joint)

See also

• List of men's footballers with 50 or more international goals
• List of men's footballers with the most official appearances
• Robert Carmona

External links

• Template:FIFA player
• Template:Webarchive
• Template:NFT player
• Template:J.League player
• Profile at Yokohama FC Template:In lang

• Template:Official website
• Template:Soccerway