🏏 Sat, 6 Jun 2026 15:50 JST
Japan Women
vs
South Korea
Positions estimated (no formation data from the API)
Substitutes
Substitutes
Match Preview
- A June friendly at Yanmar Stadium Nagai in Osaka, kicking off at 15:50 local time. It is Japan's first match since the two-game trip to the United States on 12 and 15 April, and another step in the programme that has run on from the AFC Women's Asian Cup in March.
- Michihisa Kano takes the Japan bench. Nils Nielsen was in charge for the first of the April matches in the United States, with Kano leading the side from the second game on 15 April onwards. The opposition are managed by Desiree Ellis. With Japan mid-transition on the touchline, the shape and the spine Kano picks are the first things to watch.
- The starting eleven is drawn straight from the senior group listed in this site's profiles. Ayaka Yamashita, 30, takes the gloves: at 170cm she is short for a goalkeeper but stands out for her reflexes and her comfort playing out from the back. The back four of Risa Shimizu (29), Toko Koga (21), Moeka Minami (27) and Hikaru Kitagawa (29) is entirely England-based, at Liverpool, Tottenham, Brighton and Everton respectively.
- Yui Hasegawa, 29, and Fuka Nagano, 27, anchor the midfield. Hasegawa joined Manchester City as a creative midfielder and has since added serious ball-winning to her game to become one of the WSL's outstanding operators. Nagano is a two-footed holding player whose habit of dropping between the centre-backs shows her positional intelligence, and she has scored for Liverpool.
- Momoko Tanikawa, 22, completes the middle. A JFA Academy Fukushima graduate, she strikes the ball equally well with either foot, has become a key midfielder at Bayern Munich and once scored in three consecutive Bundesliga matches. Aoba Fujino, also 22, brings explosive acceleration after moving from NTV Tokyo Verdy Beleza to Manchester City just two years out of high school.
- Hinata Miyazawa, 26, and Takako Seike, 29, take the flanks. Miyazawa finished as the Golden Boot winner at the 2023 World Cup and thrives on sniffing out space in the half-spaces for Manchester United. Seike swept the WE League's scoring title, MVP award and Best XI place before joining Brighton, where she marked her WSL debut with a hat-trick.
- Per this site's data, ten of Japan's eleven starters play for clubs in England's Women's Super League, the sole exception being Tanikawa at Bayern Munich. A group that trains at that intensity week to week now has to find shared rhythm and spacing in national-team colours over 90 minutes.
- The bench carries plenty of pedigree too. Saki Kumagai, 35, was part of the 2011 World Cup-winning squad and won back-to-back UEFA Women's Champions League titles at Lyon. Minami Tanaka, 32, offers hold-up play and a fierce turn-and-shoot finish, while 21-year-old Manaka Matsukubo was named NWSL Midfielder of the Year after 11 goals in all 26 league games. Remina Chiba, 27, and Honoka Hayashi, 28, are also available.
- The opposition name No. 13 B. Mbane, No. 15 R. Jane, No. 23 N. Majiya and No. 6 S. Cesane in the forward line, with No. 7 K. Dhlamini, No. 10 L. Motlhalo, No. 14 N. Mthandi and No. 9 G. Salgado in midfield, and No. 11 T. Kgatlana waiting on the bench. This site holds no player profiles for the visiting squad, so their names appear on the pitch graphic in English only.