'8 Koreans and 22 Japanese' Shocking Number of Overseas Korean Players, Will Women's Soccer Be Gap Between Korea and Japan

*This content was translated by AI.

The final entry of the South Korean and Japanese national soccer teams for the 2026 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Women's Asian Cup has been confirmed. Of the 26 people, six are sent to Korea and 22 are sent to Japan. In the previous tournament alone, there were four Korean overseas players and six Japanese players, but the gap widened significantly.

South Korea, led by head coach Shin Sang-woo, confirmed and announced the final entry for the Women's Asian Cup on the 10th. With business WK League players such as Ji So-yeon and Kim Hye-ri (Suwon FC Women) and Jang Seul-ki (Gyeongju KHNP), overseas players are composed of eight players, including Jung Min-young and Choo Hyo-joo (Ottawa Lapid FC), Kang Chae-rim (Montreal Rose FC), Casey Eugene Fair (Angel City FC), Shin Na-young (Brooklyn FC), Kim Shin-ji (Rangers WFC), Park Soo-jung (AC Milan) and Jeon Yoo-kyung (MoldeFK).

On the other hand, the Japanese women's soccer team's roster announced on the 12th was filled with 22 players from overseas out of 26. Even 16 out of 22 players from overseas leagues belong to the English League, which is considered the best league in Europe. In addition, three players play in the U.S. league and two and one in the German and Spanish leagues, respectively. Only four players play in Japan's national league. Even the head coach is Nils Nelson from Denmark.

Recently, the number of Korean female players' overseas expansion has increased, but Japan is now able to set up most of its entries overseas. As the gap in entry to the tournament shows, the gap in women's soccer between Korea and Japan, which was already wide, seems to have widened even more. In the FIFA women's rankings, Japan is ranked eighth, the highest in Asia. Korea is ranked 21st, the fifth in Asia.

It's not just a matter of women's soccer. In the men's FIFA rankings, Japan is also ranked 19th, the highest in Asia, and South Korea is ranked 3rd at 22nd. At the 2026 AFC U23 Asian Cup, Japan, who played as a two-year-old U21 national team, rose to the top with overwhelming performance, while South Korea lost to Japan and was eliminated in the semifinals before losing to Vietnam to stay in fourth place. Even at the AFC Futsal Asian Cup, Japan reached the semifinals of the tournament, while South Korea was eliminated from the group stage, widening the gap between South Korea and Japan in all areas of soccer under the Korea Football Association.

The 'Shin Sang-woo' women's soccer team will convene at Korea Football Park in Cheonan, Chungcheongnam-do on the 15th to conduct training, and then leave for Australia on the 19th. South Korea, which belongs to Group A, will face Iran on March 2, the Philippines on March 5, and Australia on March 8. The first and second place in each group will advance to the quarterfinals, and the top two teams with good performance among the third place in the three groups will also advance to the quarterfinals. Two playoff victories between the semifinals and the quarterfinals elimination teams will qualify for next year's FIFA Brazil Women's World Cup. South Korea reached the final for the first time in history at the 2022 Indian Games, the previous tournament, and finished second.

The Korea Football Association decided to provide business seats to all women's national team athletes for long-distance air travel for more than a certain period of time, including the FIFA World Cup, Asian Games, and Olympic finals, amid a series of foreign media reports over the possibility of boycotting the tournament. Again in this tournament, all women's national team players will head to Australia using business seats.

- Goalkeepers: Kim Min-jung (Incheon Hyundai Steel), Ryu Ji-soo (Sejong Sports Toto), Woo Seo-bin (Seoul Metropolitan Government)

- Defenders: Shin Na-young (Brooklyn FC, USA), Choo Hyo-joo (Otawa Lapid FC, Canada), Ko Yu-jin (Incheon Hyundai Steel), Kim Jin-hee, Jang Seul-ki (Gyeongju KHNP), Kim Hye-ri (Suwon FC Women), Noh Jin-young (Munkyung Sangmu), Lee Min-hwa (Hwacheon KSPO)

- Midfielders: Kang Chae-rim (Montreal Rose FC, Canada), Kim Shin-ji (Rangers WFC, Scotland), Park Soo-jung (AC Milan, Italy), Minyoung Jung (Ota and Lapid FC, Canada), Kim Min-ji (Seoul City Hall), Moon Eun-ju (Hwacheon KSPO), Park Hye-jeong (Incheon Hyundai Steel), Ji So-yeon, Choi Yuri (Suwon FC Women), Song Jae-eun, Lee Eun-young (Gangjin Women's Soccer Team)

- Strikers: Casey Eugene Fair (Angel City FC, USA), Jeon Yu-kyung (MoldeFK, Norway), Son Hwa-yeon (Kangjin Women's Soccer Team), Choi Yoo-jeong (Hwacheon KSPO)

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*This content was translated by AI.