🏏 Wed, 18 Mar 2026 18:00 JST
South Korea
vs
Japan Women
Positions estimated (no formation data from the API)
Substitutes
Substitutes
Match Preview
- This is the semi-final. Japan, who played all three of their group matches at HBF Park in Perth, move east to the Accor Stadium in Sydney to meet South Korea, with a place in the 21 March final on the line. The Nadeshiko starting eleven is drawn almost entirely from players based in Europe and North America, beginning with 30-year-old goalkeeper Ayaka Yamashita.
- Japan pair two centre-backs separated by fourteen years. Saki Kumagai, 35 and 172cm, won the 2011 World Cup and back-to-back Champions League titles at Lyon after spells with Frankfurt, Bayern Munich and Roma. Alongside her is 21-year-old Toko Koga, who established herself at Feyenoord before signing a four-year deal with Tottenham in 2025 and being named player of the match on debut. Hana Takahashi, 24, of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Urawa completes the group.
- Fuka Nagano, 27, anchors the midfield. Comfortable on either foot, she drops between the centre-backs to help build play and her vertical passing is her calling card; she has already scored at Anfield for Liverpool. Ahead of her, 29-year-old Yui Hasegawa stands just 155cm but is one of the WSL's finest technicians and has added serious ball-winning since joining Manchester City. Korea counter with Kim Shin-Ji, Mun Eun-Ju and Jung Min-Young in the middle.
- Riko Ueki leads the line. The 26-year-old striker won the WE League golden boot at Nippon TV Tokyo Verdy Beleza, then moved permanently to West Ham in 2023 and became the inaugural winner of the club's WSL Young Hammer of the Year award. To her left is Hinata Miyazawa, 26, the golden boot winner at the 2023 World Cup, a left-footer who joined Manchester United from Mynavi Sendai and thrives attacking the half-spaces.
- Japan's second line is strikingly young. Maika Hamano, 21, left INAC Kobe for Chelsea, where she was part of six consecutive WSL title-winning squads, and is now building minutes at Tottenham. Beside her, 22-year-old Aoba Fujino relies on explosive acceleration and moved from Beleza to Manchester City in 2024. How quickly those two can find gaps in Korea's defensive block will shape the contest.
- The goalkeeping contrast is worth watching. Yamashita is small for the position at 170cm, but her reflexes, positioning and distribution make her a genuinely modern keeper, and she has been at Manchester City since 2024. Korea hand the gloves to No. 21 M. Kim, 29, with 28-year-old Ryu Ji-Soo, 175cm, and Woo Seo-Bin waiting on the bench.
- Korea's bench is stacked with caps. No. 10 Ji So-Yun, 35 and 160cm, leads a group that also includes Choe Yu-Ri, 31, Son Hwa-Yeon, 29, and Kang Chae-Rim, 27. There is a very different option there too in 18-year-old Casey Phair, who at 178cm offers height the starting forwards do not. Whether Korea turn to experience or physicality late on could change the texture of the match.
- Japan's reserves are just as strong. Momoko Tanikawa, 22, two-footed and a Bayern midfielder, once scored in three consecutive Bundesliga matches. Mami Matsukubo, 21, was named NWSL midfielder of the year after starting all 26 league games and scoring 11 goals. Remina Chiba, 26, struck a hat-trick within four minutes of coming off the bench for Frankfurt, and Takako Seike, 29, completed a WE League treble of golden boot, MVP and team of the season.
- The flanks could decide it. Hikaru Kitagawa, 28, began her overseas career at BK Hacken in Sweden after INAC Kobe and scored from distance on her debut following a 2025 move to Everton, making her an attacking presence from right-back. In reserve Japan have Risa Shimizu, 29, on loan at Liverpool from Manchester City, and Miyabi Moriya, 29, who plays for the Utah Royals after a spell with Angel City.