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.
Japan national American football team
Japan won the inaugural 1999 IFAF World Championship and won again in 2003. In 2007 they advanced to the final, losing to the United States 23–20 in overtime. In 2010 Japan beat Germany 24–14 in the inaugural Germany-Japan Bowl. In February 2011, Japan bested South Korea (76–0) to qualify for the 2011 IFAF World Championship.