Zion Suzuki

1.1. Birth and upbringing

Suzuki was born on August 21, 2002, in Newark, New Jersey, United States. He is of mixed heritage, with a Ghanaian father and a Japanese mother. His given name, 彩艶_Zaion^Japanese (Zion), is derived from Mount Zion, a biblical location near Jerusalem. Suzuki's family later relocated to Japan, settling in Urawa, Saitama, where he spent his formative years.

1.2. Youth career

Suzuki began playing football in kindergarten, influenced by his older brother. He joined the Urawa Daito Soccer Sports Youth Team before entering the Urawa Red Diamonds academy system during his elementary school years. He progressed through the ranks, playing for Urawa Reds Junior (2009-2014), Urawa Reds Junior Youth (2015-2017), and Urawa Reds Youth (2018-2020). On February 1, 2019, at the age of 16 years, 5 months, and 11 days, Suzuki signed his first professional contract with Urawa Red Diamonds, making him the youngest player in the club's history to do so. He was subsequently registered as a Type-2 player with the senior team in both the 2019 and 2020 seasons, making bench appearances but not playing in any official matches during those periods.

2.1. Urawa Red Diamonds

Suzuki was officially promoted to the Urawa Red Diamonds first team for the 2021 season, taking the jersey number 12. He made his professional debut on March 2, 2021, starting in a J.League Cup match against Shonan Bellmare, where he kept a clean sheet. This appearance also marked him as the youngest goalkeeper to ever play for the club. His J1 League debut came on May 9, 2021, in a match against Vegalta Sendai, contributing to a 2-0 victory with another clean sheet. He was selected for this match after regular goalkeeper Shusaku Nishikawa was temporarily dropped due to poor performances. Suzuki went on to play in five consecutive league matches, recording a total of four clean sheets in his six appearances for Urawa Reds during this period. Notably, he became only the second player in J1 League history, after Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi, to achieve three consecutive clean sheets from his debut. In his first season, Suzuki won the 2021 J.League Cup and was honored with the J.League Cup New Hero Award, becoming only the second goalkeeper to receive this accolade. He was also the first player from the Urawa Reds Junior academy to make a top-team appearance.

For the 2022 season, Suzuki was appointed as the young team captain. He made his 2022 AFC Champions League debut on April 15, 2022, against Singaporean club Lion City Sailors. However, he made a costly error in this match, receiving a back pass that resulted in an own goal. In the subsequent match against Chinese side Shandong Taishan, he recovered by keeping a clean sheet in a dominant 5-0 win. Suzuki played in four group stage fixtures before being replaced by first-choice goalkeeper Shusuke Nishikawa for the remainder of the tournament. Despite this, he contributed to the club's victory in the 2022 AFC Champions League and also helped them secure the 2022 Japanese Super Cup.

2.2. Sint-Truiden

In August 2023, Suzuki was loaned from Urawa Red Diamonds to Sint-Truiden, a team competing in the Belgian Pro League. He initially served as an understudy to fellow Japanese goalkeeper Daniel Schmidt before being named the starter as Schmidt neared his departure from the club. During his tenure at Sint-Truiden, Suzuki reportedly received a transfer offer from Manchester United for over 900.00 M JPY to join as a backup goalkeeper. However, he declined the offer, stating his desire to remain with Sint-Truiden to secure more playing time and continue his development. He went on to make 32 league appearances for the Belgian club. On February 1, 2024, it was announced that Suzuki's loan spell with Sint-Truiden would be converted into a permanent transfer effective July 1, 2024.

2.3. Parma

On July 15, 2024, Serie A club Parma announced the signing of Suzuki on a five-year contract, valid until June 30, 2029. The transfer fee was reported to be 1.70 B JPY. With this move, Suzuki became the second Japanese player to represent Parma, following Hidetoshi Nakata, and also the first Japanese goalkeeper to play in Serie A. He made his league debut for Parma on August 17, 2024, in a match against Fiorentina, which concluded in a 1-1 draw. Suzuki was recognized for his strong performances at Parma, receiving the Parma Club Monthly MVP award twice, in December 2024 and February 2025.

3.1. Youth national teams

Suzuki has represented Japan across multiple youth national team categories, including U-15, U-16, U-17, U-19, U-20, U-21, U-22, and U-23/U-24 teams.
In September 2017, he was selected as a skip-grade member for the Japan U-17 national team to participate in the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup. However, he remained a backup goalkeeper to Kosei Tani during this tournament.
Two years later, in May 2019, Suzuki was again selected as a skip-grade player for the Japan U-20 national team for the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup. At 16 years old, he was the second youngest player in the entire tournament, though he once again served as a backup to Kosei Tani. Despite not playing in that U-20 tournament, he later participated in the 2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup in October, featuring in four matches and recording three clean sheets, playing a crucial role in the team's advancement to the Round of 16.

On July 1, 2021, at just 18 years old, Suzuki was selected as the youngest member of the Japan U-24 national team for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. He contributed to the team reaching the Olympic semifinals for the first time in nine years. The following year, at the 2022 AFC U-23 Asian Cup, he played a pivotal role as the main goalkeeper, keeping three clean sheets in five matches and helping Japan achieve a third-place finish, their best result in the tournament in six years. He also won the Dubai Cup U-23 in 2022.

3.2. Senior national team

On July 13, 2022, Suzuki received his first call-up to the Japan senior national team for the 2022 EAFF E-1 Football Championship. He made his A-match debut on July 19, 2022, playing the full match against Hong Kong, which Japan won 6-0 with Suzuki keeping a clean sheet.

Suzuki made his major tournament debut at the 2023 AFC Asian Cup in Qatar. He played in Japan's opening match, a 4-2 victory against Vietnam, and also in their subsequent 1-2 defeat to Iraq, where he recorded one save. However, throughout the tournament, Suzuki's performance was inconsistent, marked by influential mistakes and repeated complacent plays. He conceded a total of eight goals in the competition, and Japan was eliminated in the quarterfinals after a 1-2 loss to Iran, an outcome to which his performance contributed.

On November 21, 2023, Suzuki participated in Japan's FIFA World Cup Asian Second Round qualifier against Syria. His appearance at 21 years and 92 days old broke Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi's record for the youngest goalkeeper to play in a World Cup qualifier for Japan (Kawaguchi's record was 21 years and 220 days). He later played in all matches for Japan in the 2023 AFC Asian Cup and continued to be a key player in the 2026 FIFA World Cup Asian Third Round qualifiers. As of November 19, 2024, Suzuki has earned 16 caps for the Japan national team.

5.1. Club

5.2. International

6.1. Club

Urawa Red Diamonds

• AFC Champions League: 2022
• Emperor's Cup: 2021
• Japanese Super Cup: 2022

6.2. International

Japan

• EAFF E-1 Football Championship: 2022

Japan U-21

• Dubai Cup U-23: 2022

6.3. Individual

• J.League Cup New Hero Award: 2021
• Japan Pro-Footballers Association Best XI: 2023, 2024
• IFFHS Asia Best XI: 2024
• Parma Club Monthly MVP: December 2024, February 2025
• Saitama City Sports Special Achievement Award: 2021