Japan coach Vahid Halilhodzic left little to chance for next week's World Cup qualifier against Syria by naming European stars Keisuke Honda and Shinji Kagawa among a strong squad.

Salzburg striker Takumi Minamino also earned his first call-up for the Blue Samurai under the Franco-Bosnian for the October 8 game in neutral Oman. Japan are also scheduled to play a friendly against Iran in Tehran on October 15.

Halilhodzic, still to convince after a shaky start as coach, told reporters: "Syria are an aggressive side and this will be our toughest game yet. It's a game we must win."

Japan were held to a goalless home draw by tiny Singapore in their opening 2018 World Cup qualifier, triggering criticism of Halilhodzic's tactics. But they bounced back by beating Cambodia 3-0 and Afghanistan 6-0.

Japan squad:

Goalkeepers - Masaaki Higashiguchi (Gamba Osaka), Shusaku Nishikawa (Urawa), Yuji Rokutan (Sendai)

Defenders - Daiki Niwa (Gamba Osaka), Yuto Nagatomo (Inter Milan), Tomoaki Makino (Urawa), Masato Morishige (FC Tokyo), Koki Yonekura (Gamba Osaka), Maya Yoshida (Southampton), Tsukasa Shiotani (Hiroshima), Gotoku Sakai (Hamburg)

Midfielders - Makoto Hasebe (Eintracht Frankfurt), Yosuke Kashiwagi (Urawa), Shinji Kagawa (Borussia Dortmund), Hiroshi Kiyotake (Hannover) Hotaru Yamaguchi (Cerezo Osaka), Gaku Shibasaki (Kashima)

Forwards - Shinji Okazaki (Leicester City), Keisuke Honda (AC Milan), Genki Haraguchi (Hertha Berlin), Takashi Usami (Gamba Osaka), Yoshinori Muto (Mainz), Takumi Minamino (Salzburg)