Defender Ignashevich, who will turn 39 in July, retired from international football following UEFA Euro 2016, but was called up to head coach Stanislav Cherchesov's World Cup squad in May to replace injured Rubin Kazan defender Ruslan Kambolov. Russia thrashed Saudi Arabia 5-0 in the World Cup opener on 14 June.

“I know that Ignashevich trains hard every day... I’m not surprised [that he was called up] because I know he is a great professional player. He deserves to play in the World Cup, and I hope he will successfully perform at what probably will be his last World Cup,” Honda said.

Former CSKA Moscow midfielder, Honda has already played at two World Cups and has scored 36 goals in 94 matches for Japan since earning his first cap in 2008.

“I had a lot of good memories in Russia, so I’m happy to be here,” the 32-year-old said.

Japan beat ten-man Colombia 2-1 in teams' first FIFA World Cup match earlier on Tuesday.

Japan, who have twice made it past the group stage at FIFA World Cups, will take on Poland and Senegal in their other two Group H matches.