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• Updated Jun 14, 2026 at 5:36pm

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Zion Suzuki makes a save in a training session for Japan.

Zion Suzuki forged an unusual path to the World Cup, with Japan’s goalkeeper bringing his unique ethnic heritage to the sport’s biggest stage.

Suzuki helped lead the Japanese team to a World Cup bid and started in their first match against the Netherlands, but is actually eligible to play for two countries in the World Cup.

Zion Suzuki Was Born in the United States

Suzuki was born in the United States to a father from Ghana and a Japanese mother.

As USA Today’s Jon Arnold noted, Suzuki has represented the Japanese team since he was a young teenager.

“Suzuki suits up for Japan, having represented the Samurai Blue as early as the U-15 level, but he also was eligible for the U.S., having been born in Newark, New Jersey,” Arnold reported. “His father is Ghanian and his mother is Japanese, and Suzuki was raised in Urawa, where he went through the Urawa Red Diamonds academy and went pro with that club before moving to a club in Belgium.”