Japan took a big step toward winning their second Women’s World Cup when they beat Norway and moved on to the quarterfinals. The 2011 champions immediately showed how good they were when Norway’s defender Ingrid Engen put Hinata Miyazawa’s cross into her net by chance. This gave Japan the best possible start. Norway quickly answered back, though, and Guro Reiten’s well-timed header put the ball in the back of the net to temporarily tie the game.
Japan didn’t give up, and when Risa Shimizu’s shot was blocked, it caught the other team off guard and gave Japan the lead again. Hinata Miyazawa then showed off her speed and skill by racing through the defense to score Japan’s third goal and send them to the quarterfinals. Miyazawa’s performance also puts her in the running for the Golden Boot. She leads the tournament in Australia and New Zealand in goals scored with five.
Japan defeats Norway to reach Women’s World Cup quarterfinals
After the game, Miyazawa said that her success was due to the whole team’s work and that she wanted to keep getting goals. Ayaka Yamashita, Japan’s goalie, was vital to the win. She made a great save to stop Karina Saevik’s powerful header and keep Japan’s lead. Thanks to their strong play, Japan has been a formidable opponent throughout the Women’s World Cup.
They have played slick soccer and strong defense. The team had no trouble getting through the group stage. They won all of their games without giving up a single point, including a 4-0 win over Spain, another team that made it to the quarterfinals. Their counterattacking skills were evident in the game against Spain, where they won despite having only 23% of the ball.
They were able to take advantage of chances and beat tough opponents. Japan’s defense has been strong throughout the event, letting only one goal in. On the other hand, Norway had difficulty finding its form at the 2023 Women’s World Cup. Even though they made it to the quarterfinals at the last World Cup, they had trouble this time. Their season was hurt by an injury to star forward Ada Hegerberg, which limited her time on the field.
Even though Hegerberg came in as a substitute, she couldn’t change the result because of how hard Japan worked to score. Japan’s win showed how strong they are and how good they are at tactics. Norway had some excellent defensive moments, but they knew beating such a strong opponent would be hard.
