AFC Women’s Asian Cup: Japan beats South Korea 4-1 to reach the final against Australia

Clinical Japan beat South Korea 4-1 on Wednesday to set up a Women’s Asian Cup final against hosts Australia, with the two-time champions putting on a masterclass.

West Ham’s Riko Ueki and Tottenham’s Maika Hamano scored in the first half in Sydney, while veteran Saki Kumagai and Remina Chiba added to the tally after the break.

Three more goals were disallowed.

It was a dominant performance from Nils Nielsen’s world number eight and a warning shot for the Matildas.

Japan will meet Australia in the final at the same stadium on Saturday after Sam Kerr scored the winner in the host nation’s 2-1 semi-final victory over defending champions China on Tuesday.

While Australia had to fight hard to reach the final, it was a much easier ride for Japan.

With former Denmark and Switzerland coach Nielsen at the helm, the team has scored 28 goals in the five games so far and only conceded one.

It was always going to be a big ask for South Korea against a team that hasn’t beaten them in more than a decade and is thirteen places higher in the rankings.

Japan, who made seven changes from the quarter-final, were relentless at the start and should have taken a 1-0 lead after seven minutes.

But Manchester City midfielder Yui Hasegawa picked out a sitter and sliced ​​her shot wide in front of an open goal.

With the match played almost exclusively in the South Korean half, a breakthrough was inevitable, and it came from Ueki in the 15th minute.

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Liverpool’s Fuka Nagano won the ball in the penalty area and passed it to her teammate, who calmly side-footed it home – her sixth goal of the tournament.

Japan kept the pressure on and doubled their lead ten minutes later when Hamano darted into the penalty area from the right and smashed home from an acute angle at the near post.

She was overcome with emotion and tears streamed down her cheeks.

Japan had two more goals disallowed for offside and handball before halftime, while South Korea held on.

When they returned it was more of the same, with the Koreans barely getting a look.

An effort from Ueki clattered over the crossbar before the third goal finally came in the 75th minute from Kumagai with a powerful header fdsh.

Against the run of play, Kang Chae-rim pulled one back for South Korea before Chiba’s powerful drive sealed a dominant victory minutes later, with a third goal ruled out for offside close to the finish.

Published on March 18, 2026