Ayase Ueda: The Comeback Legend from U15 Rejection to Scoring on His Ligue 1 Debut

Turning the clock back more than two decades, Ayase Ueda was just an ordinary young footballer from Ibaraki Prefecture. Born in 1998, he trained at the Kashima Antlers northern affiliated youth team. In theory, the closest route to his professional dream was Kashima Antlers’ own academy. However, fate played a trick on him there. At the age of 15, he failed the U15 selection because his physical development came later than others. His peers signed professional contracts one after another, while he remained where he was.

An ordinary person might have given up by then. But the fire inside Ayase Ueda never went out. Instead of quitting, he chose another path: attending Kashima Gakuen High School and then entering Hosei University. From high school to university football, he continued chasing his professional dream in his own way. This route was destined to be harder than entering an academy directly. Without connections or the support of elite youth development resources, he could only rely on himself to improve.

This kind of self-improvement truly helped him develop strong abilities. During his four years at university, Ueda built an impressive record. In his first year, he played 27 matches and scored 15 goals, winning the Kanto University League Best Newcomer award. In his second year, he led his team to the All Japan University Football Championship title and was named the tournament’s best forward. In the 2019 Universiade men’s football final, Japan defeated Brazil 4-1, and he scored a hat-trick to earn key-player recognition.

These achievements eventually opened the door to professional football. In the summer of 2019, the 21-year-old Ueda signed with J1 League club Kashima Antlers as a designated special player, officially beginning his professional career. From being rejected by an academy to signing a professional contract, he spent six years on that journey.

After entering the J League, Ueda did not rush to move overseas. Instead, he focused on building experience in the domestic league. He spent three years with Kashima Antlers, making 103 appearances in all competitions and scoring 47 goals. The numbers were solid for a young striker. More importantly, he continued improving his technical weaknesses, becoming more than just a penalty-box poacher by learning hold-up play, dropping deeper to link attacks, and creating space against defenses.

In 2022, 26-year-old Ueda made a bold decision: moving to Europe. He joined Belgian Pro League club Cercle Brugge for a transfer fee of 1.3 million euros. The Belgian league is known for physical battles and a fast pace, and many Japanese players have struggled there. But Ueda proved himself over a full season, scoring 23 goals in 42 matches and finishing as the Belgian league’s second-highest scorer with 22 league goals. He made a steady step on his second European platform.

After winning the Belgian league silver boot, Ueda was signed by Dutch giants Feyenoord in the summer of 2023 for 80 million euros. This was supposed to be a major step forward, but reality delivered a setback. After arriving in the Eredivisie, he exposed weaknesses in physical duels and his style appeared limited. Across his first two league seasons, he scored only 12 goals combined, suffered frequent scoring droughts, and dropped down the selection order.

The turning point came after Robin van Persie took charge of Feyenoord. The Dutch legendary striker personally worked with Ueda and designed specific training to address his weaknesses. He corrected Ueda’s tendency to only attack space behind defenders and strengthened his hold-up play, penalty-area positioning, and finishing consistency. It was a complete rebuild from technique to mentality, and Ueda did not disappoint the trust placed in him.

In the 2025-26 season, Ueda fully broke out. In 31 Eredivisie matches, he scored 25 goals, finishing eight goals ahead of the second-place scorer to win the Eredivisie Golden Boot and set a single-season scoring record for an Asian player in the league. His market value also rose from an initial 8 million euros to 20 million euros, ranking fifth among Japanese players. The boy once rejected by a professional academy finally made his voice heard on the European stage.

With the World Cup year arriving, Ueda reached another career high point. At the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico, several of Japan’s main attacking and midfield players were absent, giving Ueda an opportunity to show himself. He started all four matches, played 321 minutes in total, scored two goals and provided one assist. In Japan’s 4-1 group-stage win over Tunisia, he scored twice and added an assist, directly contributing to three goals and becoming the first Asian player in World Cup history to record two goals and one assist in a single match.

Japan eventually stopped at the round of 32 after a 1-2 defeat to Brazil, but Ueda’s World Cup performances were enough to make his name known around the world. From being rejected by a professional academy, to establishing himself in the J League, from a Belgian silver boot to an Eredivisie Golden Boot, then scoring twice at the World Cup, and finally moving to Ligue 1 this autumn and scoring on his debut—every step of Ueda’s journey came not from instant success through talent alone, but from steady accumulation.

Lille fans may not have fully become accustomed to the club’s first Japanese player, but Ueda has already told everyone through a perfect debut: he has arrived, and he is ready. The Ligue 1 stage is bigger than the Eredivisie and competition is tougher, but the boy who was once rejected proved over 28 years that a dream does not end because of one rejection.

Looking back at Ueda’s football journey, we see not only a player’s comeback story, but also another possibility beyond Japan’s youth academy system. Not everyone can be selected by an academy, and not everyone is blessed with exceptional talent, but some people choose a more difficult path and walk it all the way. Such stories may move ordinary people more than those of players who achieve fame early and enjoy a smooth rise.

Although the 2026 World Cup has ended, Ueda’s story has only just begun. The Ligue 1 stage with Lille, the spotlight of Europe’s top five leagues, and countless future challenges await him. The only thing we can be certain of is that the boy once turned away by Kashima Antlers’ U15 team is now writing his own legend in the most spectacular way.