Joel Chima Fujita
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Joel Chima Fujita[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 16 February 2002 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Tokyo, Japan | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Defensive midfielder | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Team information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Current team | FC St. Pauli | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Number | 16 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2008–2013 | Machida Okura FC | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2014–2019 | Tokyo Verdy | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2019–2021 | Tokyo Verdy | 45 | (3) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2021 | Tokushima Vortis | 28 | (1) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2022–2023 | Yokohama F. Marinos | 46 | (3) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2023–2025 | Sint-Truiden | 58 | (1) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2025– | FC St. Pauli | 32 | (1) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| International career‡ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2019 | Japan U17 | 4 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2023 | Japan U22 | 1 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2022–2024 | Japan U23 | 20 | (1) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2022– | Japan | 8 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 17:28, 16 May 2026 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals as of 28 March 2026 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Joel Chima Fujita (藤田 譲瑠 チマ, Fujita Joeru Chima; born 16 February 2002) is a Japanese professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for 2. Bundesliga club FC St. Pauli and the Japan national team.
Club career
[edit]Sint-Truiden
[edit]On 27 July 2023, Fujita left Japan for the first time to join Sint-Truiden on a permanent deal.[2]
International career
[edit]On 4 April 2024, Fujita was called up to the Japan U23 squad for the 2024 AFC U-23 Asian Cup.[3]
Personal life
[edit]Fujita was born in Tokyo on 16 February 2002 to an Igbo Nigerian father and Japanese mother, and chose to represent the Japan national football team.[4][5]
Career statistics
[edit]Club
[edit]- As of match played 16 May 2026[6]
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | League cup[b] | Continental | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Tokyo Verdy | 2019 | J2 League | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 4 | 0 | |
| 2020 | J2 League | 41 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 41 | 3 | ||
| Total | 45 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 45 | 3 | |||
| Tokushima Vortis | 2021 | J1 League | 28 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | — | 33 | 1 | |
| Yokohama F. Marinos | 2022 | J1 League | 29 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7[c] | 0 | 39 | 1 |
| 2023 | J1 League | 17 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 2 | |
| Total | 46 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 60 | 3 | ||
| Sint-Truiden | 2023–24 | Belgian Pro League | 25 | 1 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 27 | 1 | ||
| 2024–25 | Belgian Pro League | 23 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | — | 26 | 0 | |||
| Total | 48 | 1 | 5 | 0 | — | — | 53 | 1 | ||||
| FC St. Pauli | 2025–26 | Bundesliga | 32 | 1 | 4 | 0 | — | — | 36 | 1 | ||
| Career total | 199 | 9 | 10 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 227 | 9 | ||
- ↑ Includes Emperor's Cup, Belgian Cup, DFB-Pokal
- ↑ Includes J.League Cup
- ↑ Appearances in AFC Champions League
International
[edit]- As of match played 28 March 2026
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Japan | 2022 | 2 | 0 |
| 2025 | 5 | 0 | |
| 2026 | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 8 | 0 | |
Honours
[edit]Yokohama F. Marinos
Japan
Japan U23
Individual
- AFC U-23 Asian Cup Most Valuable Player: 2024
References
[edit]- ↑ "FIFA U-17 World Cup Brazil 2019: List of Players: Japan" (PDF). FIFA. 31 October 2019. p. 13. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 December 2019.
- ↑ "Japanse kampioen wordt een Kanarie" (in Dutch). Sint-Truidense V.V. 27 July 2023. Retrieved 27 July 2023.
- ↑ "U-23日本代表 メンバー・スケジュール（4.6-5.4 カタール／ドーハ）AFC U23アジアカップ カタール2024" [U-23 Japan National Team Squad List (4.6-5.4 Qatar/Doha) AFC U23 Asian Cup Qatar 2024] (in Japanese). Japan Football Association. 4 April 2024.
- ↑ Dachen, Isaac (21 October 2019). "Nigeria loses prodigious football talent to Japan". Naija Online TV Blog. Retrieved 28 October 2019.
- ↑ "Joel Chima Fujita – Japanese-Nigerian Midfielder Who Helped Japan U17 To Win Over Nigeria Ahead Of WYC". OwnGoal Nigeria. 21 October 2019. Retrieved 28 October 2019.
- ↑ Joel Chima Fujita at Soccerway
- ↑ "J1横浜M 3年ぶりリーグ制覇 最終節で決める" [J1 Yokohama F. Marinos clinch the league title for the first time in 3 years, securing it in the final round.]. Kanagawa Shimbun. Retrieved 10 November 2022.
External links
[edit]- Joel Chima Fujita at J.League (archive) (in Japanese)
- Joel Chima Fujita at Global Sports Archive
- Joel Chima Fujita at Olympics.com
- Joel Chima Fujita at Olympedia
- Joel Chima Fujita at Team Japan (in Japanese) (in English)
- Joelchima Fujita on Instagram
 | ||
AFC U-23 Asian Cup awards | |
|---|---|
| Most Valuable Player | |
| Top goalscorer | |
| Best goalkeeper | |
  | This biographical article related to a Japanese association football midfielder born in the 2000s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by adding missing information. |
Categories:
- 2002 births
- Living people
- Sportspeople of Nigerian descent
- Football people from Tokyo
- Japanese people of Nigerian descent
- Japanese men's footballers
- Men's association football midfielders
- Tokyo Verdy players
- Tokushima Vortis players
- Yokohama F. Marinos players
- Sint-Truidense VV players
- FC St. Pauli players
- J2 League players
- J1 League players
- Belgian Pro League players
- Bundesliga players
- Japan men's youth international footballers
- Olympic footballers for Japan
- Japan men's international footballers
- Footballers at the 2024 Summer Olympics
- Japanese expatriate men's footballers
- Japanese expatriate sportspeople in Belgium
- Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium
- Japanese expatriate sportspeople in Germany
- Expatriate men's footballers in Germany
- 21st-century Japanese sportsmen
- 2022 AFC U-23 Asian Cup players
- Japanese football midfielder, 2000s birth stubs