Veteran Japan defender Shogo Taniguchi has joined Sint-Truiden for his first career move to Europe after leaving Qatari side Al-Rayyan, the Belgian top-flight club announced Friday. The 33-year-old helped Kawasaki Frontale to four J-League titles before joining Al-Rayyan in December 2022, soon after making his World Cup debut with Japan in Qatar. The Kumamoto Prefecture native played in two games at the tournament, Japan’s 2-1 comeback win over Spain in the group stage and a penalty shootout loss to Paraguay following a 1-1 round-of-16 draw. Taniguchi has 28 caps for Japan with one goal.