Japan national football team
Japan is the first team from outside the Americas to participate in the Copa América, having been invited in both 1999 and 2011. However, Japan declined their invitation on 16 May 2011, after events related to the difficulty of releasing some Japanese players from European teams to play as replacements. On 17 May 2011, CONMEBOL invited Costa Rica to replace Japan in the competition; the Costa Rican Football Federation accepted their invitation later that day.
2015 Japan national football team
The Japan national football team in 2015; managed by head coach Javier Aguirre compete in the 2015 AFC Asian Cup, and managed by head coach Vahid Halilhodžić compete in the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC) and 2015 EAFF East Asian Cup in amongst international friendly matches both at home and abroad.