Football: Urawa’s Ito latest to withdraw from injury-hit Japan squad

Urawa Reds midfielder Atsuki Ito on Monday joined the growing list of injury withdrawals from the Japan squad for their two second-round Asian qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup.

Ito, who was hurt in his club’s 2-1 loss to Vissel Kobe on Sunday, pulled out shortly after it was confirmed that Celtic forward Kyogo Furuhashi would also be unavailable.

Kashiwa Reysol forward Mao Hosoya replaces Furuhashi, while Kashima Antlers midfielder Kaishu Sano got his first Samurai Japan call-up from manager Hajime Moriyasu to fill in for Ito.

Furuhashi scored before being hurt during Celtic’s 6-0 home win ov...