On Monday 20 August, the U-20 Japan Women's National Team played in the semi-final match of the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup France 2018 against the U-20 England Women's National Team and won the match 2-0. With this result, Japan will be making their first World Cup final appearance at this age category.

England came out striking a shot to threaten the Japanese goal in the early minutes of the match, but Japanese goalkeeper, STAMBAUGH Hannah made a superb save with her left hand to parry the ball just wide of the goal. From then on, Japan created numerous chances in efforts to score the opening goal. Their efforts materialised in the 22nd minute, when UEKI Riko received the ball from Endo Jun, and fired a shot after evading a defender. Her shot pierced the left-hand corner of the goal to give Japan the opener. In the 28th minute, midfielder MIYAZAWA Hinata struck a powerful shot from distance that struck the cross bar, and Endo was there to convert the deflection to extend their lead to two-goals. Minutes before halftime, midfielder NAGANO Fuka almost made it 3-0, when she received the ball from Endo and curled a shot to the far post, but her effort was denied by the goal post.

The second half saw the England side rally back as they attacked the Japanese goal fiercely, but the solid performance displayed by the Japanese defence line kept them away from creating a clear opportunity. In the 63rd minute, Ueki delivered a cross to her fellow forward TAKARADA Saori, but their timing was slightly off. Japan continued to defend well against England and kept a clean sheet to earn a 2-0 victory, advancing to the final for the first time at this age category.

Match details

The other semi-final match was played afterwards, where France and Spain clashed, and Spain took a 1-0 victory to advance to the final. As a result, the U-20 Japan Women’s National Team will take on the U-20 Spain Women's National Team at the final. The two teams have faced each other in the group stage, where Spain won the match with a score of 1-0. Japan will be seeking for revenge as well as their first ever title, when the match kicks-off at 19:30 local time on Friday 24.

Coach and Players’ Comments

IKEDA Futoshi, Coach (U-20 Japan Women's National Team)
With just a two-day rest, I am sure the players were fatigued, but they played very well until the final minute. They showed great composure to keep the ball moving, and it helped a lot that we managed to score the opening goal in the first half. We will recover from this match and prepare ourselves ahead of the next match.

MF #10 NAGANO Fuka (Incheon Hyundai Steel Red Angels/Korea Republic)
I am so glad we managed to win and advance to the final. We faced the England team in June at a training match, but they were a totally different team from then. We were able to score two goals at a great timing in the first half, and we managed to keep a clean sheet. At the final, we will showcase everything we’ve been working on as a team and win the match.

FW #19 UEKI Riko (NIPPON TV BELEZA)
(Regarding the goal scene) I was able to carry the ball into a favourable situation, so all I had to do was strike the ball. I am so proud of the fact that we have brought ourselves to a stage where our older players have never been before, and I would like to thank all of my teammates. The support from everybody who has made it all the way to the stadium from Japan, has given us great strengths. I will create many chances, score goals and lead the team to win the title.

Schedule

*Local Time, Japan time indicated within the parentheses
*The schedule is subject to change due to the team condition, the weather, etc.

FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup France 2018

Tournament Dates: Sun. 5 August - Sat. 24 August 2018
Live broadcasting for all of the Japanese matches scheduled on Fuji Television NEXT
Information on live broadcast(Japanese website)
Tournament Information