Saturday at 10: 30 p. m. ET — India’s route to the knockout phase was severely compromised while Japan secured an unsurpassable position in the afc Women’s Asian Cup after an 11-0 victory that left Japan on six points and India with a -13 goal difference.
Japan’s scorers and hat-tricks put pressure squarely on India
Japan’s forwards produced the match-defining impact: Hinata Miyazawa and Riko Ueki each completed hat-tricks, Kiko Seike struck twice, and Yuzuki Yamamoto, Yui Hasegawa and Maya Hijikata added one apiece. Those goal returns created the 11-goal margin that shifted qualification math for both teams.
Afc quarterfinal berth clinched as Japan reach six points
Japan’s win left them with an unsurpassable six points from two games and a goal difference of +13, ensuring entry into the quarterfinals of the 2026 AFC Women’s Asian Cup. China Taipei sit second on head-to-head from Vietnam, both with three points, while India now face a steep climb to keep any hope alive.
Match control shown in possession, shots and passing left India exposed
Statistically, Japan overwhelmed India: 35 shots to India’s zero, 16 shots on target, 80% possession, and 613 passes compared with India’s 161. Japan forced 65% of the action into India’s defensive third while their own defensive third saw just 3. 6% of the play, underlining how one-sided the contest was.
Yamamoto opened the scoring in the fourth minute with a curled finish after beating Sanju Yadav and Pyari Xaxa; Hasegawa followed in the 13th and Miyazawa converted in the 20th. Mina Tanaka assisted Miyazawa’s second before Seike added a penalty on the stroke of first-half injury time to make it five at the break.
At halftime, coach Nils Nielsen made three substitutions and two of his changes combined inside the opening minute of the second half as Hijikata’s left-side delivery was flicked in by substitute Riko Ueki. Ueki then profited from a deflected shot to make it seven, and Seike, Hijikata and Ueki added further finishes before Miyazawa completed her hat-trick to reach 11 goals for the match.
For India, the defeat cut their goal difference to -13 and left them needing an improved performance in their remaining group match. Japan’s statement victory followed a more restrained 2-0 win over Chinese Taipei in their opener, and the scale of the rout underscored the gap between the sides this tournament.
Still, tournament mathematics leave a narrow path open: Japan will meet a third-placed finisher in the quarter-finals unless they suffer a cataclysmic collapse in their final group fixture; India must beat Chinese Taipei to preserve any realistic chance of advancing as one of the best third-placed teams.
If Japan were to lose heavily to Vietnam next Tuesday, their top spot and quarterfinal draw could change.
