The third round of the 38th Empress's Cup All Japan Women's Football Tournament will be held on Thursday 3, Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 November. The winners of this round will advance to the quarter-finals.

All the teams in the third round are first and second division clubs of the Nadeshiko League (Japan Women’s Professional League). In this round, there will be match-ups between the two top-flight teams, including the one between IGA FOOTBALL CLUB KUNOICHI (Nadeshiko League Division 1/ Mie) and Urawa Red Diamonds Ladies (Nadeshiko League Division 1/ Saitama).

Iga have played against Urawa 4 times in the recent two seasons, and they have lost all four matches without scoring a single goal. In the 36th Empress Cup (2014), they were beaten 0-2 and got eliminated in the quarter-finals. This time, they are looking to score at least one goal and break the streak of five scoreless games. In the second round, six different players of Urawa scored a goal. Iga are therefore required to defend resiliently against their opponents’ fierce attacks, while trying to score their own.

On the other hand, Urawa were the runners-up of the 36th Empress Cup in 2014. The Nadeshiko powerhouse ended in eighth place of the Division 1 league. They were also eliminated in the semi-finals of the Division 1 League Cup. They are now looking to capture at least one title this season by winning this tournament.

Yokohama FC Seagulls (Nadeshiko Division2/Kanagawa), who is entering this competition for the third time, will face JEF UNITED ICHIHARA CHIBA LADIES (Nadeshiko Division 1/ Chiba). They are looking to win this match and advance to the quarter-finals. Seagulls defeated the top flight counterparts, KONOMIYA SPERANZA OSAKA TAKATUKI (Nadeshiko Division 1/ Osaka), with a score of 3-1 in the second round. This is their first appearance in the third-round of the Empress Cup.

On the other hand, JEF UNITED are a seeded team, and they entered the competition from the second round. In the previous match, they posted a sweeping victory against JFA Academy FUKUSHIMA (Tokai 3/ Shizuoka) 4-0, where KAMOGAWA Miho scored two goals. In addition to the two forward players, SUGASAWA Yuika and Fukazawa Risa, their midfielders are also eager to score. We cannot wait to see how their offence will perform against the second-division opponents.

The meeting between ALBIREX NIIGATA LADIES (Nadeshiko Division 1/ Niigata) and CHIFURE AS ELFEN SAITAMA (Nadeshiko Division 2/ Saitama) is also expected to be exciting. ALBIREX gained their momentum after posting three consecutive wins in the latter part of the league and ended in fifth place. They got through to this round by beating ORCA Kamogawa (Kanto 1/ Chiba) in the second round. In the previous match, they allowed the opponents to take only a single attempt at goal. They have made three appearances in the final (2011, 2013, and 2015), but lost all three of them to INAC Kobe Leonessa. We cannot wait to see whether they can advance to the final for the fourth time and claim their first-ever title of the Empress Cup.

On the other hand, CHIFURE performed superbly in Division 2 of the Nadeshiko League, losing only a single game this season. They ended up as the runners-up behind NOJIMA STELLA KANAGAWA SAGAMIHARA (Nadeshiko Division 2/ Kanagawa). As a result, they are going to compete in the promotion/relegation play-off matches. They are not only looking at the result but also their overall performance ahead of these crucial matches this November*. They certainly want to post an upset against the top-flight powerhouse.

*The promotion/relegation play-off matches between CHIFURE AS ELFEN SAITAMA and KONOMIYA SPERANZA OSAKA TAKATUKI will take place on Sunday 13 November in Konosu Stadium (Saitama) and Sunday 20 November in TAKATSUKI City Sogo Sports Center (Osaka).

Third Round Fixtures (11/3～6)

Fixtures and Results (Japanese version only)

38th Empress's Cup All Japan Women's Football Tournament

2016-10-22(Sat.)～2016-12-25(Sun.)

Tournament Information