Japan into Women's Asian Cup semis with Philippines thrashing

Updated: Mar 15, 2026, 08:22 am

Japan were in ruthless form on Sunday as they crushed Philippines 7-0 to advance to the semifinals of the 2026 AFC Women's Asian Cup.
Japan were in ruthless form on Sunday as they crushed Philippines 7-0 to advance to the semifinals of the 2026 AFC Women's Asian Cup.
EPA/DEAN LEWINS

Japan have put a spirited Philippines outfit to the sword, booking their ticket to the Women's Asian Cup semifinals with a ruthless 7-0 win.

For 45 minutes, Mark Torcaso's side repelled and frustrated the Japanese at Stadium Australia, before two first-half stoppage-time goals in Sydney set the world No. 8 on the path to victory.

Mina Tanaka and Tōko Koga scored for Japan just before the halftime break in Sunday's quarterfinal as the side secured qualification for next year's Women's World Cup in Brazil with a win in front of 13,321 fans.

Koga grabbed her second goal in the second half as Remina Chiba, Manaka Matsukubo, Momoko Tanikawa and Riko Ueki also added to the Filipinas' misery to tee up a semifinal clash with rivals South Korea in Sydney on Wednesday.

Japan have scored 24 goals through their first four games and are the only side yet to concede at this year's tournament.

Their dominance was on full display as Nils Nielsen's outfit enjoyed 85% of possession and had 16 shots on target to Philippines' zero.

Philippines' hopes of reaching the World Cup remain alive and will hinge on the result of Thursday's playoff against Uzbekistan on the Gold Coast.

But from the first minute on Sunday, Japan's star-studded side were completely in control and had Philippines camped back in their own penalty box.

Try as they might, the Japanese could not crack a resolute Filipino defence that opted to bench first-choice left-back Angela Beard and No.1 goalkeeper Olivia McDaniel with an eye on the Uzbekistan playoff.

Nina Meollo was handed the gloves instead and did well to repel goal-bound efforts from Hinata Miyazawa and Yui Hasegawa.

The first came courtesy of Tanaka, who headed over the line following a chaotic goal-mouth scramble, before Koga rose high at the front post and glanced another past Meollo.

Chiba and Matsukubo further extended Japan's lead in a 120-second double salvo just after the hour mark.

Koga added her second from a set-piece, before close-range goals from Tanikawa and Ueki completed the rout.