Japan Women vs Norway Women. Women's World Cup Round of 16.
Sky StadiumAttendance33,042.
Match report as Ingrid Syrstad Engen's own goal, and strikes from Risa Shimizu and Hinata Miyazawa give Japan a deserved 3-1 win over Norway in the Women's World Cup last-16; Chelsea's Guro Reiten had levelled in one of few chances for Hege Riise's side
Saturday 5 August 2023 14:10, UK
Japan kept up their superb Women's World Cup campaign with a deserved 3-1 win over beleaguered Norway to see them through to the quarter-finals.
Arguably the tournament's best performers in the group stages, Japan dominated in Wellington but were twice handed the lead by moments of madness from a Norway side who never looked capable of handling their opponents.
Hinata Miyazawa's early shot from outside the box was turned past her own goalkeeper by Ingrid Syrstad Engen, before Norway sprung a surprise to level through a booming header from Chelsea's Guro Reiten with their first effort on target of the game.
A lack of cutting edge stifled Japan before half-time, but five minutes after the restart Vilda Boe Risa's horror pass inside her own box, straight to Risa Shimizu, gave the West Ham defender a chance she could not miss to restore their advantage.
Norway finally introduced star striker Ada Hegerberg, an injury doubt ahead of the game, with 15 minutes to go as Hege Riise sacrificed defence for attack.
But she was made to pay when Japan grabbed a third on the break through Golden Boot-leader Miyazawa, who netted her fifth of the tournament to set up a quarter-final tie with the USA or Sweden.
After scoring 11 unanswered goals and thrashing Spain 4-0 in their final group game, all eyes were on Japan's increasingly impressive tournament against 1995 winners Norway.
Their performance in Wellington was different, but still one of true quality. Inside a minute, Aoba Fujino's pressing inside the Norway box almost set up an opportunity, but set the tone for what was to follow.
Whereas Japan had seen off Spain with barely 20 per cent of the ball, they had plenty of it against Norway and controlled the match almost from start to finish.
All that was lacking was a killer touch - until Syrstad Engen provided one herself, turning Miyazawa's shot beyond her own goalkeeper with an outstretched foot 15 minutes in.
That burst Norway briefly into life, and brought an immediate equaliser out of nowhere. Emilie Haavi was the architect with a powerful run through midfield, before Reiten's leap to meet a cross left Ayaka Yamashita with no chance.
Japan huffed and puffed before the interval against an overworked Norway defence who stood firm - until five minutes into the second period.
After her team-mates had snuffed out another Japan attack on the edge of the Norway box, Boe Risa's inexplicable pass across her own area was a gift for Shimizu, who finished past Aurora Mikalsen via a deflection.
Chances continued to come at a premium at both ends until the introduction of Hegeberg, and within moments Norway could have been level when Caroline Graham Hansen was played through in the box before dragging an effort just past the far post.
With a woman light at the back since that change, Norway were always vulnerable as they mounted increasing risks to keep their World Cup dream alive.
But their nightmare exit was confirmed with nine minutes to go as Fujino's defence-splitting pass found Miyazawa on the break. Her calm finish past Mikalsen sparked wild celebrations among her team-mates, knowing their place in the quarter-finals was assured.
Sky Sports' Charlotte Marsh:
"Despite their World Cup pedigree, not many were counting Japan among the favourites for the tournament. But this has been no ordinary World Cup - it feels almost like a turning point for women's international football.
"However, that's another discussion for another day. Today's focus is on Japan, who are taking this competition by storm and are one of the in-form teams heading into the quarter-finals.
"Let's look at their results first - in the group stage, they scored 11 goals and conceded zero. It took a moment of world-class quality from Reiten to breach the Japanese defence. Their solidity was perhaps epitomised when Ayaka Yamashita made a sensational save late on - a team is nothing without a confident goalkeeper behind them.
"Japan have won in different ways. In their 4-0 win against Spain, they had just 23 per cent of possession. But against Norway, it was 60.4 per cent of the ball, which they dominated for the majority of the game.
"They also took full advantage of Norway's mistakes, especially for the first two goals. In knockout football, those margins are what ultimately decide games.
"Their play is also a delight to watch. It's almost Barcelona-esque, with slick, clean passing that is sometimes visionary in its execution. These players trust to know where one another will be.
"After each goal, the scorer went over to the dugout to celebrate with the players and staff. This group has a clear togetherness and understanding, which along with on-field talent, is key to a successful major tournament.
"Manager Futoshi Ikeda has made some bold calls for this World Cup, from team selection - particularly the omission of Mana Iwabuchi - to rotating his squad for each game. 22 of his 23 players have made it onto the pitch.
"However, his choices are now paying off. There's something special about Japan at the moment and despite Sweden or the USA waiting in the quarter-finals, they will rightly feel like they can beat anyone in their path."
Japan manager Futoshi Ikeda: "This is the knockout stage, and we knew it would have been a tough match, and so we had the pressure to try our very best to win. The players have a very positive attitude, we stayed focused and we kept up with our opponents' pace. I think we have become stronger than before.
"The quarter-finals will just consist of strong teams, so whichever team comes we are ready to fight against a strong opponent. We also want to make sure to study our opponent well and train well, so that we will have a good preparation."
Norway manager Hege Riise: "I will say credit to Japan for how they play, how they broke us down. Even though I think the plan we had, we knew Japan would have a lot of possession and for us to be strong in defence, to not allow them to play too much into us. But they played well. We played a solid defence at times, but not quite good enough.
"Obviously, Japan are a great team… they were stronger than us and they [Norway's players] followed the plan. We have done that a lot of times against France and England and been successful. So that was a good plan going into the game."
Japan will face the winner of Sunday's last-16 meeting between USA and Sweden on Friday, kick-off at 8.30am.
The round of 16 takes place from August 5 to August 8 with eight games being played across Australia and New Zealand.
The quarter-finals, which will be held in Wellington, Auckland, Brisbane and Sydney, are scheduled for August 11 and 12.
The first semi-final will then be played on August 15 in Auckland, with the other semi-final taking place on August 16 at the Accor Stadium in Sydney, which will then host the final on August 20.
A third-place play-off will be played the day before the final on August 19 in Brisbane.
