Preview

December 18, Tokyo, Japan National Stadium, 12:00
Live broadcast: Suspilne. Sport TV channel, FC Shakhtar YouTube channel

History and achievements

Avispa Fukuoka is a football club founded in 1982 in Fujieda in the central part of Japan, and in 1995 it moved to the large port city, Fukuoka, on the southern island of Kyushu, adopting its current name. Since 1996, the team have spent several seasons either in the First or Second Division of the Japanese League, but they have reached the top ten in the elite J1 League only twice. It is interesting that until this year, Avispa Fukuoka was the oldest football club in Japan that had never won trophies.

But everything changed in the 2023 season (in Japan the teams play in the spring-autumn format), which was the most successful in the history of the club. In the J1 League, Avispa Fukuoka took the highest 7th spot (34 matches, 15 wins, 6 draws, 13 losses; 51 points, goal difference: 37–43). However, the team achieved the biggest success in 2 cup tournaments. The Wasps reached the semi-finals in the Emperor’s Cup, and on November 4, 2023, they won their first trophy – the J.League Cup. Avispa Fukuoka beat Urawa Red Diamonds in the final at the Japan National Stadium (2-1).

Squad and leaders

The head coach of Avispa Fukuoka is 52-year-old Japanese specialist Shigetoshi Hasebe, who has been leading the team since February 2020 and who is associated with the club’s current success. Avispa captain is 30-year-old Tatsuki Nara. The most prolific player of the team in the 2023 season is forward Yuya Yamagishi, who had 15 goals and 8 assists in 47 matches. Three Brazilian internationals – forwards Wellington (8 goals) and Lukian (7 goals, 3 assists), defender Douglas Grolli – also play a significant role in the squad. According to the Тransfermarkt portal, the aforementioned goalscorer Yamagishi and midfielder Hiroyuki Mae are considered the team’s most valuable players – the value of each is estimated at EUR 1 million.

Stadium

The home arena of Avispa Fukuoka is Best Denki Stadium, which has a capacity of approximately 22 thousand spectators. However, the match against Shakhtar will be held in the country’s main arena, the Japan National Stadium in Tokyo, which holds 68,000 fans. After reconstruction, it served as the arena for the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, and it is also the main stadium of Japan national football team.