Takefusa Kubo

Lore & Background

Kubo started playing football at age seven in his hometown, Kawasaki. At age eight, he won MVP at an FC Barcelona Soccer Camp. In April 2010, he was selected for the FC Barcelona School team and won MVP at the Sodexo European Rusas Cup. He later joined FC Barcelona's youth academy La Masia in August 2011. After FIFA violations, he returned to Japan in March 2015, signing with FC Tokyo's junior youth team. He made his professional debut at a J.League record age of 15 years, five months and one day. He signed with Real Madrid in June 2019, then had loan spells at Mallorca, Villarreal, and Getafe before permanently joining Real Sociedad in July 2022.

In Their Own Story

The floodlights at the Al Janoub Stadium hummed with a low, electric buzz. It was the 2022 World Cup, and Japan had just done the unthinkable—outrun, outplayed, and outscored a European giant in the group stage. In the tunnel, the noise was a physical thing, a wall of sound pressing against the eardrums. Kubo stood at the back of the line, hands on his hips, watching the teammates surge past him in a blur of red and white. His boots were caked in the green-brown dust of the pitch, his hair plastered to his forehead. He did not smile. He simply exhaled, long and slow, the way a diver surfaces after a deep breath. A teammate grabbed his shoulder, shouting something lost in the roar. Kubo nodded, once, and turned back toward the pitch. There was another match to play. There was always another match to play. And his left foot, that restless, restless foot, was already thinking three passes ahead.

Reader's Guide

Kubo plays as a right winger for Real Sociedad. He has represented Japan at senior level since 2019, including the 2019 Copa América, 2020 Summer Olympics, 2022 FIFA World Cup, and 2026 FIFA World Cup. He speaks Spanish fluently and some English.

Did You Know?

• Kubo was top goalscorer in his first full season at Barcelona's youth academy with 74 goals in 30 games.
• He became the youngest Japanese player in the Top 4 European leagues history at 18 years, 2 months, and 28 days.
• Kubo scored a stoppage-time winner against Atlético Madrid while on loan at Mallorca in December 2021.
• He won the Copa del Rey with Real Sociedad in 2025–26, coming off the bench in the final.