Ayase Ueda broke through with Kashima Antlers at age 20 and moved to Europe in the summer of 2022 when he signed for Cercle Brugge. He adapted quickly in Belgium, scoring 22 goals to finish as the second-highest scorer in his first Pro League season, according to the report.
Dutch giants Feyenoord signed Ueda after his season in Belgium. He needed time to adjust in the more competitive Eredivisie, scoring 12 league goals across his first two campaigns at De Kuip before hitting form last season. With 25 goals he won the Eredivisie Golden Boot, becoming only the second Japanese player to lead scoring charts in a major European league after Kyōgo Furuhashi, the article notes.
Ueda has established himself as Japan’s primary striker. He finished as Japan’s top scorer in Asian qualifying with seven goals and has contributed beyond scoring as the team’s lone forward, leading the press and creating openings through his build-up play, according to the report.
Japan begins Group F on Sunday against the Netherlands, a match described as the Samurai Blue’s toughest test on paper. The Dutch side boasts significant defensive quality — Ueda is likely to face Virgil van Dijk — and the fixture arrives on the back of Japan’s strong showing at the last World Cup, when they defeated Germany and Spain to top their group before losing on penalties to Croatia in the round of 16.
The article places Ueda in the context of Japan’s attacking history, listing predecessors such as Hidetoshi Nakata, Shunsuke Nakamura, Keisuke Honda, Shinji Kagawa and more recent attackers Kaoru Mitoma and Takefusa Kubo. It notes that Japan has often lacked a traditional No. 9 on the biggest stages; Shinji Okazaki scored 50 goals in 119 appearances with only two across three World Cups from 2010–14, and Yuya Osako managed one World Cup goal among his 25 international strikes. Okazaki and Osako averaged 0.4 goals per game at international level, the same rate Ueda holds currently, and the article says Ueda, at 27, is approaching his peak.
