Nadeshiko Japan (Japan Women’s National Team) took on the Canada Women’s National Team on Saturday 29 November in the MS&AD Cup 2025, held at Nagasaki Stadium City (Peace Stadium).

Japan set up in a 4-3-3 formation, with YAMASHITA Ayaka (Manchester City) in goal and a back four of TAKAHASHI Hana (Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Urawa Reds Ladies), KOGA Toko (Tottenham Hotspur), KUMAGAI Saki (London City Lionesses) and KITAGAWA Hikaru (Everton), from right to left. NAGANO Fuka (Liverpool FC) anchored the midfield with MIYAZAWA Hinata (Manchester United) and TANIKAWA Momoko (Bayern Munich) positioned just ahead. The front three comprised SEIKE Kiko (Brighton & Hove Albion), TANAKA Mina (Utah Royals) and FUJINO Aoba (Manchester City), with Kumagai wearing the captain’s armband.

This was the first time the Japan National Team had played at Nagasaki Stadium City (Peace Stadium). MORIYASU Hajime, head coach of SAMURAI BLUE (Japan National Team) and a native of Nagasaki Prefecture, was in attendance.

Japan moved the ball confidently from the outset, pressing aggressively from the front to carve out opportunities. In the eighth minute, Fujino struck a powerful long-range effort that crashed off the crossbar, drawing gasps from the 8,634 spectators. Canada, the Tokyo Olympic gold medallists, looked to threaten on the counter, but Koga’s excellent defensive positioning repeatedly broke up their attacks, with Nagano also providing crucial coverage in midfield.

Japan broke the deadlock in the 43rd minute, when Takahashi delivered a teasing cross, Tanaka cushioned a header back across goal, and Tanikawa arrived to guide the ball in, sending the home crowd into raptures.

At half-time, Fujino switched to right forward and Seike to the left. In the 51st minute, Tanaka pressed the Canadian goalkeeper with relentless intensity, forced a turnover, and calmly finished to score her 45th international goal—moving to fourth on Japan’s all-time list—and double the lead.

Head coach Nils NIELSEN introduced MORIYA Miyabi (Angel City FC), HAMANO Maika (Chelsea) and MATSUKUBO Manaka (North Carolina Courage) in the 64th minute. Four minutes later, Matsukubo released Tanikawa on the left side of the area, and her cross was met by Fujino, who steered the ball home to complete an excellent team move and extend the advantage to 3–0.

Canada mustered a late threat on the counter in the 86th minute, but Moriya tracked back superbly to make a vital block. Japan, who recorded 16 shots while restricting Canada to just four, showed strong defensive discipline throughout and claimed a convincing 3–0 victory and a clean sheet.

Nadeshiko Japan will continue their preparations ahead of their training match against Canada on Tuesday 2 December at Transcosmos Stadium Nagasaki.

Coach and Players' Comments

Nils NIELSEN, Head Coach of Nadeshiko Japan
The players have worked on many aspects to bring out their strengths, and they were able to score and produce a positive result. That said, we had chances to score even more. Of course, there were mistakes too, but I believe we are improving steadily. Defensively, we aimed to prevent Canada from playing the way they wanted, and in attack, we tried to threaten their back line immediately after winning the ball. I think we executed those intentions well. It was a performance deserving of victory, but we will continue to make adjustments and improvements. We have our second match on Tuesday (a training match), and I believe we can head into the AFC Women’s Asian Cup Australia 2026™ with confidence.

MF #15 FUJINO Aoba (Manchester City/England)
Compared with previous matches, we kept the ball for longer periods, and when we lost possession, the nearest player applied immediate pressure, which helped us disrupt Canada’s rhythm. Even in dangerous moments, everyone recovered into good positions and defended with real determination, so it was pleasing to finish with a clean sheet. For the goal, there was excellent movement down the left, and (Tanikawa) Momoko broke free and played the ball across, so all I had to do was put it away. Getting into the box for crosses is something I’ve been focusing on individually, so I’m happy to have finished it well. Our pressing was slightly out of sync at times, and we didn’t fully close their passing lanes, so we want to work on those points before the second match in two days’ time.

MF #19 TANIKAWA Momoko (Bayern Munich/Germany)
First of all, I’m genuinely pleased that we were able to take the win. I pressed from the front while communicating closely with (Tanaka) Mina-san, and looking back, there were moments when it worked well and others when it didn’t, so I want to build on that next time. As the match was played in Japan, there were even more fans in the stands, and we drew a lot of strength and motivation from their support. Before the match, the coach told us to get more players into the box, and Mina-san provided an excellent cut-back, so I just kept my eye on the ball and focused on finishing. I’m happy to have contributed with a goal, but above all, the most important thing is that the team won.

Fixture: Nadeshiko Japan vs Canada Women's National Team
Date: Sat.29 November, 15:30
Venue: Nagasaki Stadium City (Peace Stadium), Nagasaki
Match information

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