Football national side

Japan Women

National team · Japan

«Nadeshiko Japan»

83 Matches

52 wins

11 draws

20 losses

230–63 Goals

+167 Difference

2.8 Scored per game

Form W W W W W D

The side did not exist under that name at first. It was formed in 1981 and spent more than two decades simply as the national team before the Japan Football Association ran a public contest in 2004 to give it an identity; from roughly 2,700 entries came Nadeshiko, after a wild pink carnation long used as shorthand for an idealised Japanese woman. The federation later added a gold star to the badge for 2011, the kind of mark usually reserved for men's teams with a World Cup star of their own.

There is no fixed home ground. Games rotate between the Japan National Stadium, Saitama Stadium 2002 and International Stadium Yokohama. Continental results have been steadier than the global ones: three Asian Cup titles, most recently in 2026, and five wins in the EAFF E-1 Championship.

Michihisa Kano took over as head coach in May 2026 after Nils Nielsen left following that Asian Cup win, inheriting a squad still built around Yui Hasegawa as captain. The next assignment is turning continental dominance back into something closer to 2011 on the world stage.

Latest results

Fixtures and results

9 Oct	Friendlies Women	Haiti Women A
2 Oct	Asian Games Women	Korea DPR A	2:2	D
29 Sep	Asian Games Women	South Korea Women H	2:0	W
25 Sep	Asian Games Women	Philippines Women H	4:0	W
21 Sep	Asian Games Women	Chinese Taipei Women H	4:0	W
17 Sep	Asian Games Women	Vietnam Women A	8:0	W