Saki Kumagai

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Saki Kumagai
熊谷 紗希
2019-05-17 Fussball, Frauen, UEFA Women's Champions League, Olympique Lyonnais - FC Barcelona StP 0622 LR10 by Stepro (cropped) (cropped).jpg
Kumagai with Lyon in 2019
Personal information
Date of birth (1990-10-17) 17 October 1990 (age 35)
Place of birth Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan
Height 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Position(s)
Team information
Current team
 London City Lionesses
Number 8
Youth career
2006–2008 Tokiwagi Gakuen High School
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
2009–2011 Urawa Reds 44 (8)
2011–2013 Frankfurt 38 (2)
2013–2021 Lyon 152 (29)
2021–2023 Bayern Munich 39 (9)
2023–2025 AS Roma 37 (5)
2025– London City Lionesses 14 (0)
International career‡
2009 Japan U-19 5 (1)
2008–2010 Japan U-20 7 (0)
2008– Japan 161 (3)
Medal record
Representing Flag of Japan.svg  Japan
Olympic Games
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2012 London Team
FIFA Women's World Cup
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2011 Germany
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2015 Canada
AFC Women's Asian Cup
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2018 Jordan
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2008 Vietnam
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2010 China
Asian Games
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2010 Guangzhou Team
AFC U-19 Women's Championship
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2009 China
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2007 China
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 12 October 2025
‡ National team caps and goals as of 22 April 2025

Saki Kumagai (熊谷 紗希, Kumagai Saki; Japanese: [kɯ̟ːmaɡaisaki] ; born 17 October 1990) is a Japanese footballer who plays as a midfielder or defender for Women's Super League club London City Lionesses and captains the Japan national team. [1] A versatile defensive midfielder with keen sense of anticipation and exceptional tactical acumen, [2] she is also able to be deployed as a central defender. She is regarded as one of the finest Asian female midfielders of all time. [3] She is one of the most successful East Asian footballers, of any gender, at club and international level. [4]

Contents

Kumagai began her senior career in her native Japan with Urawa Reds in 2009. She would then move to Europe in 2011, joining Frauen-Bundesliga side FFC Frankfurt. She joined Olympique Lyonnais in the summer of 2013. Kumagai made over 240 appearances for the club, winning 19 titles trophies, including seven Division 1 Féminine titles, six Coupe de France titles, and five UEFA Women's Champions League titles. She was part of the squad that won 4 continental treble of Division 1 Féminine, Coupe de France, and UEFA Women's Champions League in 2015–16, 2016–17, 2018–19, and 2019–20. She left Lyon to join Bayern Munich in 2021. She won the league title with Bayern Munich in 2022–23 season before joining Serie A side AS Roma in the summer of 2023.

Kumagai has made over 100 caps for Japan women's national team and currently ranked as the 3rd most capped female player for the country. She made her senior international debut for Japan in 2008 at the age of 17. She had represented Japan in four World Cup tournaments, winning the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup where she scored the decisive penalty in the penalty shootout. She had further won an Asian Games gold medal and the AFC Women's Asian Cup in 2010 and 2018 respectively. She was named captain of the national team in January 2017.

Club career

Kumagai was born in Sapporo on 17 October 1990. After graduating from high school, she joined for Urawa Reds in 2009. The club won L.League championship in 2009 season. In July 2011, she moved to German Bundesliga club Frankfurt. After she played 2 seasons, she moved to French Division 1 Féminine club Lyon in June 2013. Kumagai scored the decisive penalty for Lyon in the 2016 UEFA Champions League Final, following a player-of-the-match performance. [5]

In April 2021, Kumagai announced that she would be leaving Lyon after 8 seasons. [6] The following month, on 12 May 2021, Kumagai would return to the Frauen Bundesliga when FC Bayern Munich announced her as their first signing of the season. [7]

On 5 June 2023, it was announced that Kumagai had joined Serie A side AS Roma on a three-year deal. [8]

London City Lionesses

On 23 January 2025, it was announced that Kumagai had signed for London City Lionesses. [9]

National team career

On 7 March 2008, when Kumagai was 17 years old, she debuted for the Japan national team against Canada. [10] In August, Kumagai was selected for the Japan U-20 national team at the 2008 U-20 World Cup. In 2010, she played for the U-20 team as captain during the 2010 U-20 World Cup. In 2011, she was part of Japan's World Cup-winning team, scoring the winning penalty in the final against the United States. [11] She was also in the squad at the 2012 Summer Olympics and the 2015 World Cup. Japan came second at both competitions. In January 2017, she was named Japan's captain by manager Asako Takakura. In 2018, Japan won the 2018 Asian Cup. She has played more than 100 games for Japan. On 10 November 2019, Kumagai scored her first ever goal in a friendly match for Japan in a 2–0 win against South Africa. [12]

On 18 June 2021, she was included in the Japan squad for the 2020 Summer Olympics. [13]

On 7 January 2022, Kumagai was called up to the 2022 AFC Women's Asian Cup squad. [14]

On 13 June 2023, she was included in the 23-player squad for the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup. [15]

On 14 June 2024, Kumagai was included in the Japan squad for the 2024 Summer Olympics. [16]

Kumagai was part of the Japan squad that won the 2025 SheBelieves Cup. [17]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 23 March 2025 [18]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
ClubSeasonLeagueNational cup [a] League cup [b] Continental [c] OtherTotal
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Urawa Reds 2009 Nadeshiko League 2124100——253
2010 Nadeshiko League1864220——248
2011 Nadeshiko League500000——50
Total4488320——5411
FFC Frankfurt 2011–12 Frauen-Bundesliga 20230—80—312
2012–13 Frauen-Bundesliga18010—–—190
Total38240—80—502
Lyon 2013–14 D1 Féminine 19353—41—287
2014–15 D1 Féminine22260—40—322
2015–16 D1 Féminine20551—91—347
2016–17 D1 Féminine19622—93—3011
2017–18 D1 Féminine21540—71—326
2018–19 D1 Féminine20250—90—342
2019–20 D1 Féminine14260—611 [d] 0273
2020–21 D1 Féminine17410—61—245
Total15229346—5481024143
FC Bayern Munich 2021–22 Frauen-Bundesliga21541—82—338
2022–23 Frauen-Bundesliga18432—90—306
Total39973—172—6314
A.S. Roma 2023–24 Serie A 25550—8010395
2024–25 Serie A 12011—8110222
Total37573—172—617
London City Lionesses 2024–25 Women's Championship 4010———50
Career total3145360132087113047477

International

As of match played 28 July 2024 [19]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National TeamYearAppsGoals
Japan 200820
200900
2010150
2011160
2012160
201390
201450
2015110
201670
201790
2018100
2019101
202020
202180
2022111
2023160
202471
Total1543
Scores and results list Japan's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Kumagai goal.
List of international goals scored by Saki Kumagai
No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
110 November 2019 Kitakyushu Stadium, Kitakyushu, Japan Flag of South Africa.svg  South Africa 1–02–0 Friendly
224 January 2022 Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex, Pune, India Flag of Vietnam.svg  Vietnam 2–03–0 2022 AFC Women's Asian Cup
329 July 2024 Parc des Princes, Paris, France Flag of Brazil.svg  Brazil 1–12–1 2024 Summer Olympics

Honours

Saki Kumagai with Lyon in 2019. Saki Kumagai 2019.jpg
Saki Kumagai with Lyon in 2019.

Urawa Reds

Lyon

Bayern Munich

AS Roma

Japan

Japan U20

Individual

See also

References

  1. ↑ Japan Football Association (in Japanese)
  2. ↑ "Saki Kumagai: A captain, a champion, a Japanese hero". 6 June 2023. Retrieved 21 September 2023.
  3. ↑ "A Look At The Best Asian Female Football Players Of All Time". Yahoo News. 2 August 2023. Archived from the original on 9 October 2023. Retrieved 21 September 2023.
  4. ↑ "Japan and Lyon champion Kumagai dreams of Ballon d'Or". South China Morning Post. 4 December 2019. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  5. ↑ "Lyon claim third title in shoot-out drama". UEFA. 26 May 2016. Retrieved 27 May 2016.
  6. ↑ "Nadeshiko captain Saki Kumagai to leave Lyon at end of season". japantimes.co.jp. The Japan Times. 21 April 2021. Retrieved 12 May 2021.
  7. ↑ "FC Bayern verpflichten Saki Kumagai von Olympique Lyon". fcbayern.com. FC Bayern Munich. 21 April 2021. Retrieved 12 May 2021.
  8. ↑ "Roma Women: Saki Kumagai is a new Giallorosse player!". AS Roma. 5 June 2023. Retrieved 11 June 2023.
  9. ↑ "Saki Signs for the Pride". www.londoncitylionesses.com.
  10. ↑ Japan Football Association (in Japanese)
  11. ↑ "USA v Japan – as it happened". Guardian. 17 July 2011. Retrieved 13 April 2020.
  12. ↑ "Japan vs. South Africa 2–0". soccerway. 10 November 2019.
  13. ↑ "Nadeshiko Japan (Japan Women's National Team) Squad - Games of the XXXII Olympiad (Tokyo 2020)【7/21-8/6】, MS&AD CUP 2021【7/14＠Kyoto】". www.jfa.jp. Japan Football Association (JFA). 18 June 2021. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
  14. ↑ "AFC Women's Asian Cup India 2022 - Selected Players / Staff". Japan Football Association . Retrieved 7 January 2022.
  15. ↑ "Iwabuchi left out of Japan's World Cup squad". BBC Sport. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
  16. ↑ "Nadeshiko Japan (Japan Women's National Team) squad & schedule - MS&AD Cup 2024: Noto Peninsula Earthquake Reconstruction Support Match "Ganbarou Noto" / Games of the XXXIII Olympiad (Paris 2024)". jfa.jp. Japan Football Association (JFA). 14 June 2024.
  17. ↑ "United States vs Japan: Japan wins SheBelieves Cup". BBC Sport. 27 February 2025. Archived from the original on 27 February 2025. Retrieved 27 February 2025.
  18. ↑ "Japan – S. Kumagai – Profile with news, career statistics and history – Soccerway".
  19. ↑ "Nadeshiko Japan | National Teams｜JFA｜Japan Football Association".
  20. ↑ UEFA.com. "History: Wolfsburg 1-1 Lyon". UEFA . Retrieved 4 November 2024.
  21. ↑ "Women's Champions League final: Lyon 0-0 Paris St-Germain (7-6 pens)". BBC Sport. 1 June 2017. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
  22. ↑ UEFA.com. "History: Wolfsburg 1-4 Lyon". UEFA . Retrieved 4 November 2024.
  23. ↑ UEFA.com. "History: Lyon 4-1 Barcelona". UEFA . Retrieved 4 November 2024.
  24. ↑ UEFA.com. "History: Wolfsburg 1-3 Lyon". UEFA . Retrieved 4 November 2024.
  25. ↑ Yannick, Nkouaga (2 December 2019). "Saki Kumagai named Asian Player of the Year". FootballNews24. Retrieved 6 January 2020.
  26. ↑ "IFFHS AWARDS – THE WOMEN WORLD TEAM 2018". IFFHS. 1 December 2018. Archived from the original on 15 May 2019. Retrieved 5 December 2018.
  27. ↑ "IFFHS WORLD AWARDS 2020 – THE WINNERS". IFFHS. 4 December 2020. Retrieved 4 December 2020.
  28. ↑ "IFFHS WORLD'S WOMAN TEAM OF THE DECADE 2011–2020". IFFHS. 25 January 2021.
  29. ↑ "IFFHS WOMAN TEAM – AFC – OF THE DECADE 2011–2020". IFFHS. 30 January 2021.
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