Taiga Hata Scout Report At Sint-Truidense 2025/2026: The Next Japanese Success Story In Belgium? – Player Analysis

Sint-Truidense V.V. have built a reputation in recent years for their strong Japanese connection.

The club actively recruits talent from Japan, such as Rihito Yamamoto, and even involves figures like Tsuyoshi Takano, who helped shape their youth programs.

That network has paved the way for several players to establish themselves in Belgium.

Taiga Hata (born January 20, 2002) is the latest addition to continue that trend in the Jupiler Pro League.

The Japanese defender’s journey has been marked by steady development and an international pedigree.

A standout at Ichiritsu Funabashi High School, Hata represented Japan at the 2019 FIFA U17 World Cup, where he played an essential role in helping the team reach the Round of 16.

That same year, he was selected among the tournament’s best players at the All Japan High School Soccer Championship, underlining his early promise.

In 2020, he began his professional career with Shonan Bellmare in the J1 League.

He quickly earned first-team minutes and built a reputation as a hard-working, modern full-back.

Over five seasons in Japan’s top flight, Hata demonstrated his adaptability across various defensive roles, combining athleticism with a strong technical foundation.

His consistent growth at Shonan paved the way for his first move abroad, as he secured a transfer to Sint-Truidense in July 2025.

The move continues the club’s tradition of recruiting emerging Japanese talents and offering them a platform to establish themselves in European football.

This Taiga Hata scout report and player analysis will examine Hata playing style and tactical role at STVV under Wouter Vrancken tactics ahead of the new season.

We will assess how Hata qualities could help him succeed in the Belgian Pro League as he begins the next stage of his career.

Taiga Hata Stats

Taiga Hata’s 2023/2024 season with Shonan Bellmare highlights him as a possession-oriented left wing-back who thrives in build-up phases and advancing play down the flank, though his defensive game is still a work in progress.

In possession, Hata is heavily involved.

He ranks among the very best for received passes (94.6 percentile), passes per 90 (94.6 percentile), and progressive passes (88.15 percentile), showing his activity as a constant outlet and facilitator in circulation.

His passing accuracy (54.5 percentile) is solid but suggests room for improvement to match the volume and ambition of his distributions.

Going forward, he demonstrates a strong ability to support the attack.

He places highly in terms of touches in the opposition penalty area (78.6 percentile) and dribbles per 90 minutes (57.2 percentile), reflecting his willingness to push high and engage opponents directly.

While his expected goal contribution (44.35 percentile) and shot volume (54.0 percentile) indicate good movement into advanced areas, his actual goal contribution (20.3 percentile) shows that his end product still needs refinement.

Defensively, his impact is less pronounced.

His aerial duel success (51.3 percentile) is respectable, but both his frequency in aerial duels (32.6 percentile) and defensive duels per 90 (24.0 percentile) rank low.

Positioning (34.4 percentile) also suggests he can be caught out of shape at times, with defensive awareness a key area to improve if he’s to balance his attacking tendencies.

Overall, Taiga Hata profiles as a modern wing-back who can provide width, progression, and consistent link-up play down the left side.

His next step will be to tighten his defensive reliability and increase attacking output, which would make him a more complete option in higher-level systems that demand both sides of the role.

Taiga Hata Stats At Shonan Bellmare

Taiga Hata Style Of Play

Hata’s standout qualities come to the fore when deployed as a left wing-back, and he is even capable of playing on the wing at times, even though his Belgian spell initially saw him used more as a traditional full-back.

His true strength lies in his ability to cover the flank relentlessly, using his work rate and pace to contribute on both ends of the pitch.