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The story
The Kirin Cup 2026 Final between Japan and New Zealand, kicking off at 7:30 PM on October 5th, will be broadcast live nationwide on the TV Asahi network. Commentary will be provided by Antarou Matsuki, Atsuto Uchida, and Yoichiro Kakitani, with Yuuka Kageyama appearing as a guest. The third-place match that same day, Ecuador vs. Panama, will stream on TV Asahi Sports’ YouTube channel. On 5ch, opinions split over the oddness of a ‘guest’ slot on a national team broadcast, why Yoichiro Kakitani is so valued as a commentator, and whether this matchup can even be called a ‘final’ in the first place.
TV Asahi, which will broadcast the Kirin Cup Soccer 2026 Final between Japan and New Zealand, has announced the broadcast time and the commentary lineup.
The New Zealand match, kicking off at 7:30 PM on Monday, October 5th, will air live nationwide on the TV Asahi network. Coverage begins at 7:00 PM, 30 minutes before kickoff.
The third-place match between Ecuador and Panama, held the same day starting at 3:30 PM, will stream live on TV Asahi Sports’ YouTube channel.
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
Since when did the Japan national soccer team become entertainment?
Pro sports are entertainment, aren't they?
Well, there are sponsors involved, so…
They should've gotten Haruka Fukuhara as the guest lol
Calling Haruka Fukuhara a 'guest' is a stretch — if she's got no work that day she's probably just sitting in the VIP seats anyway
First Half of 2026
Announcing the Breakout TV Appearances Ranking!
🥇 Narumi Takahashi +107 appearances
🥈 Nana Takagi +92 appearances
🥉 Takuro +88 appearances
4th: Chou Tokkyu (Bullet Train) +75
5th: Yoichiro Kakitani +72 ←
6th: Aえ! group +59
7th: Don Dekoruté +58
8th: Rainbow +55
What's going on — does his talent agency have that much pull?
So baseball's losing out here too, huh
Yurioka Choutokkyu-Q (comedian) is killing it
Why Kakitani gets used so much
914 Anonymous [] 2026/10/02 (Fri) 16:22:45.43
Yesterday's two TBS soccer commentators 📺
Masahiro Fukuda: 'Unlike Tanimura, Ueda can really bring the ball under control, can't he~'
Yoichiro Kakitani: 'They're different types of players — Ueda's good at settling long balls, while Tanimura excels at through balls and crosses finished within two touches. It would've been nice if they'd created more of those chances in the first half.'
Wait, is he actually valued for his skill as a commentator? I heard Kakitani went to Otemon Gakuin Otemachi High School — is that supposed to be a good school?
A natural genius on the pitch, logical in the booth — how'd that combo happen lol
Was it because Kubo got poached (from the Abema broadcast lineup)?
Re: #45
Up until now it's mostly been the Kirin Challenge Cup —
one-off friendlies, match by match
Only occasionally do they run the Kirin Cup as an actual tournament
Yeah, I was like 'wait, this is the final?' too
Do you even understand what you just wrote?
They're doing it again next month too — prime-time broadcast on TV Asahi
They'd get a yellow card for provocation
Their roster's nothing but players from New Zealand, Australia, Scotland, and England's second division — Japan should steamroll this easily
They should be lining us up against stronger teams
Japan isn't the kind of team that blows out weak opponents
I think they'll get locked down defensively and it'll end up a close game
Japan just doesn't have many tactical options
Strong compared to who, exactly?
They shrank the Schau Essen sausages
://i.imgur.com/uzTtPrG.jpeg
I barely eat ham and sausage anymore
Does the Kirin Cup even have a final?
Here's the tournament bracket
https://www.jfa.jp/samuraiblue/kirincupsoccer_2026/img/img_tournament.jpg
that's probably the shot TV producers want most lol
Haruna and Haruka both predicted it together —
Japan wins 2-0
For me the only thing I remember is that ridiculous super-long-range shot against France at the U-17 World Cup lol
Genius!
Got a problem with that?
https://www.jfa.jp/samuraiblue/kirincupsoccer_2026/img/img_tournament.jpg
Background and Key Points of This Discussion
The Kirin Cup has traditionally been held mostly as a one-off friendly, so it’s unusual for this edition to feature a tournament bracket with an actual ‘final.’ This tournament also included matches against South American powerhouses, which is likely why the thread’s reaction of ‘wait, the final opponent is NZ?’ reflects confusion over how the bracket actually came together rather than any error. Commentator Yoichiro Kakitani is remembered for his trickster style of play during his career, but as the TBS commentary quoted in the thread shows, he’s praised for logical, articulate analysis — suggesting his broadcasting role rests on a different skill set than the flashiness of his playing days. It’s also worth noting, something the original article alone doesn’t convey, that inviting celebrity ‘guests’ onto terrestrial sports broadcasts has become a fairly standard practice in recent years, not something unique to this match. The fact that the third-place match is streaming YouTube-only appears to be a scheduling call made under limited terrestrial airtime.
※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Geisoku Sokuhou+) thread “[Soccer] Tonight: Kirin Cup Final ‘Japan vs NZ’ — TV Asahi airing live nationwide! Commentary by Antarou Matsuki, Atsuto Uchida & Yoichiro Kakitani, guest Yuuka Kageyama“.
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