HOUSTON (Feb. 20, 2025) – The Japan Women’s National Team made a statement in its opening game of the 2025 SheBelieves Cup presented by Visa with an entertaining 4-0 win over long-time Asian Football Confederation rivals Australia on a chilly afternoon in the first game of the first doubleheader of the 10th annual tournament.
Japan established dominance in possession early on – a stat it kept throughout the entire 90 minutes -- and scored just six minutes into the match.
A cross from the left wing by forward Aoba Fujino was headed up in the air by an Australia defender, but fell to midfielder Fuka Nagano just inside the penalty area. Nagano struck a first-time volley, but didn’t catch all of it. The ball bounced to center forward Mina Tanaka, who was posting up an Aussie defender with her back to goal and deftly flicked the ball through her own legs with the inside of her right foot, rolling it into the lower left corner to give the Nadeshiko an early lead.
In the 26th minute, Tanaka sent a looping header off the right side of the crossbar from seven yards out, and would then get her brace six minutes later.
Japan doubled its lead in the 32nd minute as left back Hikaru Kitagawa bent in a cross from deep on the left wing. Australia center back Alanna Kennedy got slightly tangled with fellow center back Claire Hunt and was unable to deal with the service that flew over her head and into the path of Tanaka, who slid to knock the ball past onrushing Australia goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold from seven yards out. It was Tanaka’s 41st international goal, and moved her into sole possession of fourth place on Japan’s all-time scoring list.
Japan effectively put the game away in the 52nd minute on a fantastic team goal. Japan worked the ball through the Australia defense down the left side as it went in quick succession from Fujino to team captain Yui Hasegawa to Tanaka deep inside the penalty area. She played a simple pass across the six-yard box to forward Maika Hamano, who tapped the ball home from close range.
Japan added a fourth in the 75th minute on a brilliantly redirected header goal from center back Moeka Minami, who rose high over the Matildas defense to score into the left corner off a cross from the right by Kitagawa.
Japan held the Aussies to one shot throughout the entire game and zero on goal. Japan outshot Australia 7-0 in the first half and 18-1 overall for the match.
It was Japan’s largest margin of victory ever in the SheBelieves Cup and was tied for the third-most goals ever scored in an SBC match. It also put Japan in the driver’s seat for the SheBelieves Cup title with a plus-four goal difference heading into the second round of games.
The teams will now travel to Glendale, Arizona for second doubleheader of the tournament on Jan. 23 as Australia takes on the USA at 3 p.m. MT (TBS, Max, in Spanish on Universo and Peacock and on the radio via the Westwood One Sports Network) and Japan faces Colombia at Noon MT (Max, Universo and Peacock).
Match: Japan Women’s National Team vs. Australia Women’s National Team
Date: February 20, 2025
Competition: 2025 SheBelieves Cup
Venue: Shell Energy Stadium; Houston, Texas
Attendance: 5,243
Kickoff: 4:03 p.m. local (5:03 p.m. ET)
Weather: 39 degrees, sunny
| Scoring Summary | 1 | 2 | F |
| JPN | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| AUS | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| JPN – Mina Tanaka (Fuka Nagano) | 6th minute |
| JPN – Mina Tanaka (Hikaru Kitagawa) | 32 |
| JPN – Maika Hamano (Mina Tanaka) | 52 |
| JPN – Moeka Minami (Hikaru Kitagawa) | 75 |
Lineups:
JPN: 1-Ayaka Yamashita; 5-Hana Takahashi (21-Miyabi Moriya, 85), 6-Toko Koga, 3-Moeka Minami, 13-Hikaru Kitagawa; 17-Maika Hamano (8-Manaka Matsukubo, 71), 4-Saki Kumagai, 14-Yui Hasegawa, 15-Aoba Fujino (9-Riko Ueki, 60); 10-Fuka Nagano (7-Hinata Miyazawa, 60), 11-Mina Tanaka (22-Yuka Momiki, 85)
Substitutions Not Used: 2-Saori Takarada, 12-Chika Hirao, 16-Momoko Tanikawa, 18-Honoka Hayashi, 19-Remina Chiba, 20-Narumi Miura, 23-Akane Okuma
Head coach: Nils Nielsen
AUS: 1-Mackenzie Arnold; 21-Ellie Carpenter, 14-Alanna Kennedy (3-Winonah Heatley, 64), 4-Clare Hunt, 7-Steph Catley (22-Charlotte Grant, 64); 19-Katrina Gorry (10-Emily van Egmond, 74), 23-Kyra Cooney-Cross (5-Natasha Prior, 85); 16-Hayley Raso, 11-Mary Fowler (15-Daniela Galic, 64), 13-Tameka Yallop; 9-Caitlin Foord (17-Holly McNamara, 64)
Substitutions Not Used: 2-Michelle Heyman, 6-Alana Murphy, 8-Kaitlyn Torpey, 12-Teagan Micah, 18-Chloe Lincoln 20-Laini Freier
Head coach: Tom Sermanni
Stats Summary: JPN / AUS
Shots: 18 / 1
Shots on Goal: 8 / 0
Saves: 0 / 4
Corner Kicks: 7 / 2
Fouls: 18 / 7
Offside: 1 / 1
Misconduct Summary:
None
Officials:
Referee: Natalie Simon (USA)
Assistant Referee 1: Tiffini Turpin (USA)
Assistant Referee 2: Jennifer Garner (USA)
4th Official: Danielle Chesky (USA)