The U.S. Olympic Women’s Soccer Team kicks off the knockout rounds of the Paris 2024 Olympics on Saturday, August 3, taking on familiar foes Japan in the quarterfinal. The teams will square off at famed Parc des Princes in Paris, with kickoff at 3 p.m. local / 9 a.m. ET on USA Network, Telemundo, Universo and Peacock. The Americans won all three group stage games for the first time since 2012 to finish atop Group B, setting up a matchup against Group C runners-up and 2012 Olympic silver medalists Japan.
Get ready for the quarterfinal meeting in Paris with Five Things to Know about USA vs. Japan.
JAPAN CLAIMS SPOT IN QUARTERFINALS
After opening the tournament with a 2-1 loss to eventual group winners Spain, Japan responded with back-to-back victories to finish second in Group C and advance to the knockout rounds for the fifth time in six Olympic appearances.
In the tournament opener in Nantes, Japan took an early lead over the reigning World Cup champions with a goal in the 13th minute from Aoba Fujino. However, FIFA Women’s Player of the Year Aitana Bonmati equalized for Spain in the 22nd minute and Mariona Caldentey tallied in the 74th to give Spain the 2-1 win.
Japan seemed headed to a second straight defeat, trailing Brazil 1-0 late into the second group stage match in Paris. However, team captain Saki Kumagai converted a penalty kick in the 90+2nd minute to level the match at 1-1 after Brazil was whistled for a handball in the box. Midfielder Momoko Tanikawa scored the emphatic game winner four minutes later, pouncing on a miscue by the Brazilian defense and curling in a strike from distance for the 2-1 come-from-behind victory.
Needing a win to assure its spot in the knockout rounds, Japan got off to a flying start in the third and final group stage match against Nigeria, taking a 2-0 lead just after the half-hour mark following goals from Maika Hamano in the 22nd minute and Mina Tanaka in the 32nd. The Super Falcons pulled one back in the 42nd but Hikaru Kitagawa scored late in first-half stoppage time to give Japan a 3-1 lead. Neither team scored in the second half and Japan punched its ticket to the quarterfinal in Paris with the 3-1 final.
PATHWAY TO PARIS
Japan qualified for the 2024 Summer Olympics, the program’s second in a row and first since hosting the delayed Tokyo Games, by defeating North Korea 2-1 on aggregate in the third and final round of the AFC Women’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament.
With one of two Olympic berths from Asia at stake, Japan and North Korea opened the two-leg playoff with a 0-0 draw on February 24 in Saudi Arabi before traveling to Tokyo for the decisive second match on February 28, which Japan won 2-1. Hana Takahashi scored in the 25th minute to give the hosts an early advantage and Fujino added to Japan’s lead with a goal in the 76th. North Korea pulled one back in the 81st minute, but Japan withstood the comeback attempt to qualify for its sixth Olympics overall.
Japan’s best showing at the Olympics came in 2012, winning silver after losing 2-1 to the USA in the gold medal match. At the delayed Tokyo 2020 Games, Japan advanced out of a challenging group that also featured Canada, Great Britain and Chile, but lost to eventual silver medalists Sweden in the quarterfinal.
WE MEET AGAIN ON THE WORLD STAGE
Saturday’s match at Parc des Princes will be the first meeting between the USA and Japan at the Olympics since the gold medal match at Wembley Stadium in 2012, which the Americans famously won 2-1 behind a brace from Carli Lloyd to avenge their defeat in the World Cup final the year prior.
The U.S. and Japan have played five times previously at the Olympics and four times at the FIFA Women’s World Cup, with all but two of their meetings at world championships coming in the knockout rounds.
Along with the gold medal match at London 2012, the USA and Japan also squared off twice at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing – a 1-0 win for the Americans in the group stage and 4-2 USA victory in the semifinals – as well as the quarterfinals of the 2004 Olympics in Athens, a 2-1 win for the U.S. enroute to its second gold medal.
The USA and Japan met in back-to-back FIFA Women’s World Cup finals in 2011 and 2015. Japan prevailed 3-1 on penalty kicks in 2011 to win its first-ever World Cup title after the teams were level at 2-2 through the end of regulation and overtime. Four years later in Canada, the USA earned its third star in a match for the ages, winning 5-2 behind a hat-trick from Lloyd in the opening 16 minutes. The teams also met in the quarterfinals of the 1995 World Cup, a 4-0 victory for the U.S., preceded by a 3-0 USA victory in the group stage of the inaugural Women’s World Cup in 1991.
With the penalty kick shootout officially listed as a draw, the U.S. has an overall record of 7W-0L-1D when facing Japan at world championship events, including a 4W-0L-0D record when facing the Japanese at the Olympics.
INSIDE THE SERIES: USA vs. JAPAN
The quarterfinal clash in Paris with be the 41st meeting all-time between the USA and Japan and the second matchup between the teams this year.
The U.S. and Japan faced off in the semifinals of the 2024 SheBelieves Cup in Atlanta on April 6. Playing in front of a crowd of 50,644 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium – the largest crowd to watch the USWNT on home soil since the 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup Final – the U.S. came back from an early deficit to win 2-1 and advance to the SheBelieves Cup final, where it went on to hoist the trophy for the fifth consecutive year. Japan scored just 31 seconds into the match, taking the lead on a goal from Kiko Seike, but the Americans equalized in the 21st minute with a strike from distance by Jaedyn Shaw and Lindsey Horan converted the game-winning penalty kick in the 77th.
The last four meetings between the teams have come at the SheBelieves Cup – a 2-2 draw in 2019 followed by three consecutive wins for the Americans (3-1 in 2020, 1-0 in 2023 and 2-1 in 2024). Overall, the USA leads the all-time series against Japan with a record of 31W-1L-8D, with its lone loss in the series came during the 2012 Algarve Cup. Since then, the USA is unbeaten in the last 13 meetings between the teams, with nine wins and four draws in that span, including victories in the 2012 Olympic Final and the 2015 World Cup Final. The U.S. has scored multiple goals in eight of its last nine matchups with Japan.
INSIDE THE ROSTER: JAPAN
All but two players representing Japan at Paris 2024 were on the Japanese roster for the 2024 SheBelieves Cup, including the 27-year-old Seike, who scored for Japan in Atlanta. Japan has benefitted from a well-balanced attack at this Olympics, with goals from six different players.
Tanaka, who recently signed with Utah Royals FC in the NWSL, is the leading scorer on this roster with 38 international goals in 84 caps. The 30-year-old forward will join the Royals following the conclusion of the Olympics. Yui Hasegawa, who plays for Manchester City in the FA Women’s Super League, has the second-most goals of any player on this roster with 20 goals in 88 caps and has started all three matches this tournament.
Like the U.S. roster, Japan’s Olympic squad is a combination of respected veterans and up-and-coming talent looking to make their mark on the world stage. Kumagai is by far the most experienced player on this roster with 155 caps and has represented Japan at the last four FIFA Women’s World Cups, including scoring the winning penalty against the USA in the penalty kick shootout during the 2011 FIFA World Cup Final. She currently plays her club soccer for AS Roma, leaving Olympique Lyon after the 2020-21 campaign following eight seasons with French powerhouse Olympique Lyon, at which she won five UEFA Women’s Champions League titles.
On the other end of the spectrum, 10 players have 25 caps or fewer for Japan, including the 20-year-old Fujino, who scored Japan’s first goal this tournament. In 2022, Fujino was part of Japan’s roster for the Under-20 FIFA Women’s World Cup and helped the team finish runners-up. Less than a year later, she represented Japan at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand and made history when she scored in the second group stage match against Costa Rica to become the youngest Japanese goal scorer ever at a World Cup at just 19 years of age.
JAPAN OLYMPIC WOMEN’S SOCCER TEAM ROSTER BY POSITION (CLUB)
GOALKEEPERS (2): 1-Ayaka Yamashita (Unattached), 18-Chika Hirao (Albirex Niigata Ladies)
DEFENDERS (6): 2-Risa Shimizu (Manchester City FC, ENG), 3-Moeka Minami (AS Roma, ITA), 4-Saki Kumagai (AS Roma, ITA), 5-Hana Takahashi (Urawa Reds Ladies), 6-Toko Koga (Feyenoord Rotterdam, NED), 13-Hikaru Kitagawa (INAC Kobe Leonessa)
MIDFIELDERS (7): 7-Hinata Miyazawa (Manchester United WFC, ENG), 8-Kiko Seike (Urawa Reds Ladies), 10-Fuka Nagano (Liverpool FC, ENG), 12-Momoko Tanikawa (FC Rosengård, SWE), 14-Yui Hasegawa (Manchester City FC, ENG), 15-Aoba Fujino (NTV Tokyo Verdy Beleza), 16-Honoka Hayashi (Unattached)
FORWARD (3): 9-Riko Ueki (West Ham United FC, ENG), 11-Mina Tanaka (Utah Royals FC, USA), 17-Maika Hamano (Chelsea FC, ENG)
ALTERNATES (4): 19-Remina Chiba (Eintracht Frankfurt, GER), 20-Miyabi Moryia (INAC Kobe Leonessa), 21-Rion Ishikawa (Urawa Reds Ladies), 22-Shu Ohba (Ole Miss, USA)