Shinji Kagawa

Kagawa was born in Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture. He started playing football at the age of five. He played for Marino Football Club from 1994 to 1999, Kobe NK Football Club from 1999 to 2001, and FC Miyagi Barcelona in Sendai from 2001 to 2005.

Cerezo Osaka

Cerezo Osaka noticed his talent and signed him at the age of 17. He was the first player in Japan to sign a professional contract before graduating from high school, except players promoted from youth teams of the J.League clubs. In 2007, he gained a regular position but the club missed promotion to the J.League Division 1. He became the top scorer of J.League Division 2 and drew widespread attention in 2009.

Borussia Dortmund

2010–11 season

In the summer of 2010, Kagawa transferred from Cerezo to Borussia Dortmund for €350,000. The relatively low cost of the transfer was because of a release clause in Kagawa's contract with Cerezo, which allowed him to leave the club cheaply if he had an opportunity to play in Europe. On 23 August 2010, he made his debut appearance in the Bundesliga, starting for his new club Dortmund. After scoring his first two competitive goals for the club in the UEFA Europa League qualifying tie against Qarabağ, he continued this form with his first goal in the Bundesliga against VfL Wolfsburg, which Dortmund won 2–0. In the Revierderby against arch-rivals Schalke 04, Kagawa said before the match that he would score two goals, which he then did as Dortmund won 3–1. Kagawa…

Kagawa played as a member of the Japan under-20 national team in the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup held in Canada. In 2008, he was selected to play as a member of the Japan under-23 team for the 2008 Summer Olympics. On 24 May 2008, he made his senior international debut in a friendly Kirin Cup match. Japan won the match against Ivory Coast 1–0. However, he was not selected in Takeshi Okada's final 23-man squad for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. In September 2010, he scored the only goal of the game in Japan's win over Paraguay in Yokohama. Kagawa was included in the 2011 AFC Asian Cup by coach Alberto Zaccheroni. In the quarter-final against Qatar, he scored two goals. The game ended in 3–2 win for Japan. In the semi-final against South Korea, Kagawa broke his metatarsal bone and missed the final where Japan beat Australia after extra-time. Kagawa was named in Japan's 23-man squad for the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup and scored the second goal for his country during the group stage match against Italy, which ended in a 4–3 loss. He was selected for his first World Cup in 2014, but made little impact as Japan was eliminated in the group stage. At the 2015 AFC Asian Cup, Kagawa scored Japan's second goal during a 2–0 victory against Jordan in the group stage and was named as man of the match. Kagawa participated in Japan's quarter-final match against the United Arab Emirates. After the match ended 1–1 after extra time, Kagawa, who was Japan's final kicker in the penalty…

Kagawa is a versatile attacking midfielder who can play through the middle or on either flank. He is known for his passing, movement, and positioning during attack. While playing for Japan, he has featured in left midfield and central attacking roles. From 2023 onward, Kagawa has primarily been deployed as a central midfielder.

Club

As of match played 25 August 2025

International

As of 10 June 2019

Scores and results list Japan's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Kagawa goal.