Asian Games 2026 open September 19 — Japan's first in 32 years, with 469 golds at stake
The 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games open on September 19, 2026 and close on October 4, running 16 days. There are 469 gold medals across 43 sports, with about 15,000 athletes from 45 nations. South Korea is sending roughly 1,000 athletes across 41 sports. It is the first Asian Games held in Japan since Hiroshima in 1994
The three lines
- Dates — September 19 to October 4, 2026, sixteen days in Aichi Prefecture and the city of Nagoya
- Scale — 43 sports, 469 gold medals, about 15,000 athletes from 45 nations; Korea sends about 1,000 across 41 sports
- Streaks — Korea's baseball team goes for a fifth straight title and the men's football team for a fourth, having become the only nation to win three in a row
Key questions
- When are the 2026 Asian Games?
- They open on Saturday, September 19, 2026 and close on Sunday, October 4, running sixteen days. The hosts are Aichi Prefecture and the city of Nagoya in Japan. This is the 20th edition, and Japan's third after Tokyo in 1958 and Hiroshima in 1994 — a gap of 32 years. One unusual feature is the gap since the previous edition: the Games run on a four-year cycle, but the Hangzhou Games were postponed by a year and held in 2023, so this edition arrives after only three years.
- How many sports and medals?
- 43 sports and 469 gold medals. Participation is projected at about 15,000 athletes from 45 nations. South Korea's delegation is roughly 1,000 athletes across 41 sports — meaning it does not enter two of the 43, though this page could not confirm which. For scale, the 2024 Paris Olympics awarded 329 golds. The Asian Games award more because the programme includes sports absent from the Olympics, such as sepak takraw, kabaddi and wushu.
- Which events is Korea targeting?
- Two streaks stand out. Baseball goes for a fifth consecutive title, having won at Guangzhou 2010, Incheon 2014, Jakarta-Palembang 2018 and Hangzhou 2023; Ryu Ji-hyun was appointed head coach on April 14, 2026. Men's football goes for a fourth straight, after Incheon 2014, Jakarta-Palembang 2018 and Hangzhou 2023 — Korea is the only nation to have won three consecutive Asian Games men's football titles. Final squads and draws for both had not been confirmed as of August 23.
The Asian Games open in Japan on September 19, 2026 and close on October 4 — sixteen days.
It is Japan's first Asian Games since Hiroshima in 1994, a gap of 32 years.
1. The scale of it
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Edition | 20th |
| Dates | September 19 – October 4, 2026 (16 days) |
| Hosts | Aichi Prefecture and Nagoya, Japan |
| Sports | 43 |
| Gold medals | 469 |
| Participation | about 15,000 athletes from 45 nations |
| Team Korea | about 1,000 athletes across 41 sports |
469 golds is a hard number to size. For comparison, the 2024 Paris Olympics awarded 329. The Asian Games award more because the programme includes sports the Olympics do not run — sepak takraw, kabaddi, wushu among them.
2. Only three years since the last one
The Asian Games run on a four-year cycle. This edition follows the previous one after three.
| Edition | Scheduled | Actually held |
|---|---|---|
| 19th, Hangzhou | 2022 | 2023 (postponed one year) |
| 20th, Aichi-Nagoya | 2026 | 2026 (on schedule) |
Only the earlier edition slipped; this one kept its slot, so the interval narrowed to three years. For athletes that means a year less preparation. For the record books it means the same generation is more likely to appear at consecutive Games.
3. Two streaks Korea is carrying
Baseball — going for five in a row
| Games | Result |
|---|---|
| Guangzhou 2010 | Gold |
| Incheon 2014 | Gold |
| Jakarta-Palembang 2018 | Gold |
| Hangzhou 2023 | Gold |
| Aichi-Nagoya 2026 | fifth title attempt |
The head coach is Ryu Ji-hyun, appointed by the Korea Baseball Softball Association on April 14, 2026.
Men's football — going for four in a row
Korea won at Incheon 2014, Jakarta-Palembang 2018 and Hangzhou 2023. No other nation has won three consecutive Asian Games men's football titles. A win here makes four.
Final squads and draws for both sports were unconfirmed as of August 23.
4. Why this matters to the KBO and the K League
Men's football and baseball at the Asian Games are tied directly to military service in Korea: a gold medal makes a player eligible for the arts and sports personnel programme. That gives the tournament unusual weight, and it pulls players out of domestic competitions.
This page covered the overlap on August 15 in "Kim Do-young's 35th home run (August 15)". A September 19 opening falls in the closing stretch of the KBO regular season, and any club losing players to the national team loses that much of its squad.
How the KBO adjusts its schedule during the Games — or whether it pauses at all — could not be confirmed here.
5. What is not confirmed
- The two sports Korea skips — coverage says 41 of 43, without naming the omissions.
- Final squads and draws — unconfirmed for both baseball and football as of August 23.
- Medal target — no official target from the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee was confirmed.
- Broadcast — domestic broadcasters and schedules were not confirmed.
- KBO schedule — no confirmed announcement on league operations during the Games.
- Next checkpoint — September 19. Squads and draws are released by sport in the weeks before.
Sources
- Joongboo Ilbo — Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games open on the 19th of next month for 16 days; Korea enters 41 sports with about 1,000 athletes
- Financial News — Asian Games held in Japan for the first time in 32 years next month, with 469 gold medals contested
- TSN Korea — Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games D-50: 16 days from September 19
- Olympics.com — Aichi-Nagoya 2026: Team Korea day-by-day highlights and how to watch
- Olympics.com — Top five Team Korea events not to miss at Aichi-Nagoya 2026
- Olympics.com — Asian Games baseball: Team Korea roster confirmed
- Wikipedia (Korean) — 2026 Asian Games