Camille Naredo

Action between Japan and the Philippines in the quarterfinals of the AFC Women's Asian Cup 2026, March 15, 2026 at the Stadium Australia in Sydney. PFF-PWNFT

Action between Japan and the Philippines in the quarterfinals of the AFC Women's Asian Cup 2026, March 15, 2026 at the Stadium Australia in Sydney.

Article (news)

AFC Women's Asian Cup 2026

ABS-CBN News

<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1773557933020EM-00210.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="Action between Japan and the Philippines in the quarterfinals of the AFC Women&#x27;s Asian Cup 2026, March 15, 2026 at the Stadium Australia in Sydney. PFF-PWNFT" width="960"/>Action between Japan and the Philippines in the quarterfinals of the AFC Women&#x27;s Asian Cup 2026, March 15, 2026 at the Stadium Australia in Sydney. PFF-PWNFT</div>(UPDATED) The Philippines absorbed a 7-0 loss against powerhouse Japan in the quarterfinals of the AFC Women&#x27;s Asian Cup 2026, Sunday at the Stadium Australia in Sydney.The result sent Japan -- the highest-ranked team into the tournament -- into the semifinals, and assured the Nadeshiko of a place in the FIFA Women&#x27;s World Cup next year in Brazil. This marks the 10th time that Japan will play in the World Cup; they won the global showpiece in 2011. They will play South Korea in the semifinals.The Filipinas rotated their line-up, with Mark Torcaso giving youngster Nina Meollo the start between the sticks in the place of Olivia McDaniel. Meollo, 21, held firm for most of the first half, repelling a wave of attacks from Japan. It wasn&#x27;t until the 45th minute that the Nadeshiko broke through, with Mina Tanaka heading in the ball off a goalmouth scramble.Toko Koga scored Japan&#x27;s second three minutes into stoppage time, beating Meollo with a header.Japan poured it on in the second half, with Remina Chiba (65&#x27;), Manaka Matsukubo (67&#x27;), Koga (76&#x27;),  Momoko Tanikawa (86&#x27;) and Riko Ueki (90&#x27;) all finding the back of the net.Japan has scored 24 goals in the tournament, conceding none.&quot;They didn&#x27;t really challenge our defenders and we were in complete control,&quot; said Japan coach Nils Nielsen. &quot;It&#x27;s always nice to score a lot of goals and for the players to show what they can do.&quot;Despite the disappointing result, all is not lost for the Filipinas.They will play Uzbekistan in a play-in match on March 19, with the winner qualifying to next year&#x27;s World Cup.&quot;We turn over the page, we focus on the next match and that match is going to get us to the World Cup. So yeah, we&#x27;re going to regroup, stay together and we&#x27;ll focus on the next one,&quot; said Meollo, who said she was proud of the fight shown by the Filipinas against a team ranked eighth in the world.&quot;I&#x27;m very proud. I&#x27;m very proud of every single one of us. Every single one of the girls, they put their body on the line. We fought for each other, we backed each other and you can really see with our performance that we gave everything that we can. I&#x27;m just beyond proud of them,&quot; said the goal-keeper. -- with Agence France-Presse<div> </div>

The Philippines absorbed a 7-0 loss against powerhouse Japan in the quarterfinals of the AFC Women's Asian Cup 2026, Sunday at the Stadium Australia in Sydney.

The Philippines absorbed a 7-0 loss against powerhouse Japan in the quarterfinals of the AFC Women's Asian Cup 2026, Sunday at the Stadium Australia in Sydney.

Filipinas fall to Japan in q'finals of Women's Asian Cup

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Filipinas fall to Japan in q'finals of Women's Asian Cup

Camille B. Naredo,

ABS-CBN News

Published March 15, 2026 02:59 PM PHT

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Updated March 15, 2026 03:48 PM PHT

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abssports

football

AFC Women's Asian Cup

Filipinas

Japan

Philippine women's national football team

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