Masashi Nakayama

Lore & Background

Born in Shizuoka, Nakayama attended Fujieda Higashi High School and University of Tsukuba before joining Yamaha Motors (later Júbilo Iwata). He made his J1 League debut on 11 March 1994. He holds a record for scoring four hat-tricks in four successive J1 League games in April 1998, recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records. He also holds the record for top scorer in a single season with 36 goals in 1998. At the 1998 FIFA World Cup, he scored Japan's first ever World Cup goal against Jamaica. He scored 21 goals in 53 appearances for the Japan national team. He holds the world record fastest hat-trick at international level, scoring three goals in three minutes and three seconds against Brunei on 16 February 2000.

Reader's Guide

Nakayama played as a forward for Júbilo Iwata from 1994 to 2009, then played three seasons for Consadole Sapporo before retiring as a player on 4 December 2012 at age 45. He later trained with and signed for Azul Claro Numazu, renewing his contract for 2017 without having made a debut. He became U-18 coach for Azul Claro, then assistant manager of Júbilo Iwata on 13 January 2020. On 13 November 2022, he was appointed manager of Azul Claro. He married actress Tomoko Ikuta in 1996; they have a daughter. He has appeared as himself in anime and on the cover of Winning Eleven video games.

Did You Know?

• He scored 16 goals in four consecutive J1 League games in April 1998, including four hat-tricks.
• His fastest international hat-trick (3 minutes 3 seconds) broke Willie Hall's 1938 record by 27 seconds.