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The story
In the Kirin Cup 2026 final against New Zealand on the 5th, Japan switched formations from a 3-4-2-1 to a 4-2-3-1, fielding Ritsu Doan and Takefusa Kubo together. Since both are left-footed players who specialize in taking on defenders, a footballchannel article pointed out that their overlapping styles clog up the center, and the discussion spread on 5ch as well. In the thread, opinions ranged from formation arguments like “Junya Ito should be the focal point” and “Kubo suits the attacking midfield role, but Ayase Ueda already occupies it” to evaluations of the two players’ abilities themselves.
Japan’s national team took on New Zealand in the Kirin Cup Soccer 2026 final on the 5th using a 4-2-3-1 rather than their usual 3-4-2-1, and there were several points worth noting. One of them was the coexistence of Ritsu Doan and Takefusa Kubo. Both possess real skill, but when asked whether this will become a major weapon going forward, a question mark remains.
The Doan-Kubo combination is…
Doan and Kubo have long supported Moriyasu’s Japan side, showing combination play on the pitch many times.
Source: footballchannel.jp / Original article here
What people said
Kubo's shaky even as a sub right now.
Night and day difference in efficiency.
Don't let him drop deep — pin him out wide as a target for keeper Suzuki's long kicks and everything's solved.
He fumbles the trap on Ito's switch of play.
He can only handle short passes right to his feet.
He's not worth just parking up front.
Only about 5 players in the world are allowed to play that way.
Right now Kubo wouldn't crack the top 500, let alone the top 50…
Kubo is a disaster on the left.
Kubo's an attacking midfielder.
But that spot belongs to the immovable striker Ayase Ueda.
Moriyasu knows this too, which is why he's started experimenting with a four-back, two-striker setup.
so they're being forced in together.
I want them to build a squad with real depth.
Doan and Kubo are both 'fiddly dribbler' types — they look like a good fit at a glance, but most of the time they just dribble around each other in a tight space and nothing comes of it.
It doesn't suit the current squad's traits or Moriyasu's team.
That's a waste of time.
They just play way too close together.
In four years neither of them will be around.
This one's gonna get replayed forever.
It's the play that defines Kubo.
Junya Ito can carry the ball forward alone with ease, so the right side comes alive.
right-footed Daizen (Maeda) out on the left wing —
no wonder the middle's a complete traffic jam.
You don't need both of them then lol
Honestly, you don't need either one.
What's with this whole 'coexistence' thing?
If they overlap, why not just split them between first half and second half?
Teams have scouted Kubo and Doan —
they're being defended by cutting off the middle and just letting them cross with the right foot.
The buildup dying on the right is hilarious lol
Last time the left died too, with Maeda, lol
And Ueda, who those crosses go to, can win aerial duels even against tough foreign center-backs.
It's not that simple.
Huh? Do you know how many results he's delivered as a starter?
Why doesn't anyone — teammates or coaches, at Sociedad or the national team — point that out to him?
Still baffles me.
Kubo only has one move, relying purely on a burst of speed.
His bag of tricks hasn't grown at all as he's gotten older.
Background and Key Points of This Topic
The 4-2-3-1 Japan used in the Kirin Cup 2026 final against New Zealand has only one attacking-midfield slot, making how to fit in both Takefusa Kubo and Ritsu Doan a key point of attention. The two have played together for Moriyasu’s Japan since their Tokyo Olympics generation, but since both are left-footed players who specialize in cutting inside, the original article argued that placing them on the same side or in the same attacking-mid role tends to cancel out their strengths. The thread was split over the direction of the fix: whether to give up on the pairing altogether and build around Junya Ito, or whether adjusting positioning and sides could let both play together. It’s worth noting this is only a discussion about the formation for this one match, not a suggestion that the two will be dropped from the national team entirely — a point that’s easy to misread.
※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Geisoku+) thread “[Soccer] Is it difficult for Japan’s national team to have Takefusa Kubo and Ritsu Doan coexist? “Improvisation” alone can’t break defenses down — the limits of the left-footed duo“.
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