"One Korea-Japan match ago, I couldn't beat him."' Women's soccer 'fate face-off' for advancing to the finals

*This content was translated by AI.

• Women's Asian Cup semifinal Korea-Japan match successful

The South Korean women's national soccer team, which advanced to the semifinals of the 2026 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Women's Asian Cup, will compete with Japan for the finals. The last time they won against Japan was 2015, more than 10 years later. He will be qualified to challenge for the championship only when he crosses Japan, which has not been able to exceed nine games since then.

South Korea, led by head coach Shin Sang-woo, will play against Japan in the semifinals of the tournament at Stadium Australia in Sydney, Australia, at 6 p.m. on the 18th (Korea Standard Time). Earlier, South Korea passed Group A (2 wins, 1 draw, difference + 6) and defeated Uzbekistan 6-0 in the quarterfinals. Japan defeated the Philippines 7-0 after passing first place in Group C (3 wins, difference of difference + 17). The "four-way Korea-Japan match," which had been influential since the time the quarterfinals were confirmed, was finally achieved without any unexpected incident.

You will meet the undeniable "strongest in Asia." The FIFA ranking of Japan's women's soccer team is 8th, the highest in Asia. Along with North Korea (9th), he is the only one with a single-digit FIFA ranking. On the other hand, Korea ranked 21st, the fifth in Asia after Australia and China. There is no small difference in women's soccer infrastructure and objective power.

The "all-time record" supports this. South Korea has faced Japan a total of 35 times, winning only four times and losing 12 draws and 19. In particular, he has four draws and five losses in the last nine games. The last victory remained a 2-1 victory at the East Asian Football Federation (EAFF) E-1 Championship (East Asian Cup) held in Wuhan, China in 2015. Cho So-hyun and Jang Seul-ki scored back-to-back goals to win 2-1 against Japan. Although South Korea won the East Asian Cup in July last year by drawing 1-1 in South Korea, it should be taken into account that Japan formed a national team centered on domestic players with almost no overseas players.

Japan's momentum is also strong in this tournament. Right now, in the last match against the Philippines, Japan fired as many as 50 shots in 90 minutes. There were 17 effective shots. In the process, not a single shot was allowed, and the ball possession reached 85.3%. Although the difference in power was large due to the face-off between the 8th and 41st places in FIFA rankings, Japan drove the Philippines by showing off its strength even in tournament tournaments other than group stages. Earlier in the group stage, he did not allow a single goal while scoring 17 goals.

However, Shin Sang-ho also has strong momentum. It was a bit shaken by a number of controversies outside the tournament, but after a series of 3-0 defeats to Iran and the Philippines, it passed the group stage with a 3-3 draw with host country and 15th-ranked FIFA Australia. It also won a 6-0 landslide victory over Uzbekistan, which was considered one step below. As the team has achieved its first goal of advancing to the 2027 FIFA Women's World Cup finals, which will be given to the semifinals of the tournament, it is time to ease the burden and challenge for the top place in Asia.

Of course, Korea is inferior in objective power. However, if you look back on the strength of the last Australia match, which drew 3-3 with Australia with more than 60,000 home spectators on its back, you can expect another great match. The fact that there are so many scorers that as many as 12 players have scored in this tournament can also be a "weapon" of Shin Sang-woo.

If they beat Japan and reach the final of the tournament, Shin Sang-woo will win Korea-Japan match for the first time in 11 years and write a new history of Korean soccer reaching the final for the first time in a row. Coach Shin Sang-woo said after the quarterfinals of the last tournament, "Our second goal was to advance to the semifinals and the World Cup, but the players did a good job. However, I am not satisfied with this, and I need to prepare well for the next game," he said, looking at the goal of "more than advancing to the World Cup." To this end, Japan has to overcome.

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*This content was translated by AI.