On Friday 9 September, JFA announced the U-17 Japan Women's National Team’s squad for the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup India 2022™. Chairman SASAKI Norio of the JFA Women's Committee and head coach KANO Michihisa of the U-17 Japan Women's National Team made their appearances at the press conference held at JFA House.

Coach Kano says the 21 players were selected on the basis of “what they can bring to the team, not only in terms of technique, tactics and physicality” and requires players to “contribute their strengths to the team and be willing to take on challenges with a positive attitude.”

20 out of the 21 players selected into this squad were those who participated in the team's tour to France, which took place from Tuesday 23 August to Friday 2 September. Position wise, there were more players registered as forwards (seven) than any other positions: KUBOTA Mao, TAKAOKA Mio, TSUJISAWA Ai (all from Fujieda Junshin High School), HIWATARI Moka, MATSUNAGA Miyu (both from (Nippon TV Tokyo Verdy Menina), SHIRAGAKI Uno (Cerezo Osaka Sakai Ladies), and ITAMURA Mao (JFA Academy Fukushima).

Coach Kano, who has consistently called up extra number of strikers since the launch of the team, explained the reason of his tendency, “One of our goals is to develop the future striker of the Nadeshiko Japan. We have made conscious efforts to select players who have the potential to be that player.” The roster also includes many versatile players who are capable of playing multiple positions, making it interesting to see how these players are going to be line-up in the matches in India.

The tournament was cancelled two years ago due to the pandemic, making this the first FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup™ held in four years, and India, who was supposed to host the tournament in 2020, was reappointed as the host for this year’s tournament. The Asian qualifiers were also cancelled due to the pandemic, but Japan was given their place into this year’s tournament because of their record at the 2019 AFC U-16 Women's Championship, which they won.

The FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup India 2022™ will kick-off on 11 October, with Japan’s battle for the world title beginning with a match against Tanzania on 12 October (23:30 Japan time).

Comments

SASAKI Norio, Chairman of JFA Women's Committee
In order to conduct the national team activities through this ongoing pandemic, coach Kano and the players of the U-17 Japan Women's National Team have devoted their time and effort to prepare for each activity. In their most recent trip to France, they complied with all the strict measures to travel overseas and managed to earn positive results. We hope that they will follow the steps of their sister team, the U-20 Japan Women's National Team, to reach the World Cup final and win the title.

KANO Michihisa, Head Coach (U-17 Japan Women's National Team)
We are delighted to be playing in the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup™ and our players are looking forward to it. We, the U-17 Japan Women's National Team, want to play aggressive, attacking, and pressing football in India and show that we are willing to take on bold challenges. Players in this age group had gone through number of school closures and cancellation of many school events, such as the sports festival and school trips. We want to make it a tournament where the players can express their joy of playing their favourite game at the world stage.

FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup India 2022™

Tournament Dates: Tue. 11 - Sun. 30 October 2022

Group Stage
1st Match: Wed. 12 October 20:00 vs U-17 Tanzania Women's National Team
2nd Match: Sat. 15 October 20:00 vs U-17 Canada Women's National Team
3rd Match: Tue. 18 October 20:00 vs U-17 France Women's National Team
*Time shown in local time

Tournament Information