The Japan Football Association said Thursday that Go Oiwa will serve as head coach of the Japanese men’s national soccer team beginning with an international friendly next March, succeeding Hajime Moriyasu.

Oiwa, 54, will concurrently serve as head coach of Japan’s Under-21 national team, which aims to secure a spot at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. His appointment was decided at the JFA’s board meeting in Tokyo on Thursday.

Moriyasu, 57, who led the Samurai Blue in this year’s FIFA World Cup, will stay on until the next Asian Cup, to be held in January and February 2027.

Oiwa is expected to prepare for the 2030 World Cup by developing young players while maintaining the strategy adopted by Moriyasu.

JFA President Tsuneyasu Miyamoto and Moriyasu are set to hold a news conference Friday.

Oiwa became head coach of Japan’s youth national team in 2021 after leading Kashima Antlers in the top division of the J. League. He retained his position after Japan reached the quarterfinals at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Moriyasu became Japan’s head coach in the summer of 2018. He became the first coach to lead the team at two World Cups, helping it advance to the knockout stage in both the 2022 competition in Qatar and this year’s tournament held jointly by Canada, Mexico and the United States.

Japan lost to Brazil 2-1 in its first knockout-stage match in this year’s tournament.