Is Japan the strongest team at the 2023 Women's World Cup?

Japan were the unbeaten team from the start of the tournament until the quarter-finals. They scored 14 goals and conceded just one in four matches. They crushed Spain, one of the strongest teams in the world , 4-0 in the group stage and the two teams are likely to meet again in the semi-finals.

Japan after their 4-0 win over Spain in the group stage

Of Japan’s 14 goals, apart from a Norwegian own goal and a penalty against Zambia, all came from clever, purposeful passes, often starting from deep. In a tournament where teams struggled to create chances through combination play, wing attacks and crosses, Japan’s goals were remarkably clean.

Spain in dismay after 0-4 loss

Japan are the only team in the tournament using a 3-4-3. Not many teams in the tournament use a back three, with the exception of the Netherlands and England who occasionally use them. Japan only started using the three-man defence a year ago, but they are really good at it. They play like a club, with players training together all year.

Japan's system allows them to always defend with 5 men, that is 3 defenders and 2 holding midfielders. On the offensive front, they also always have 5 men, that is 3 strikers plus 2 wingers.

Hinata Miyazawa (7) is leading the list of "Queen of goalscorers"

Hinata Miyazawa (7) is leading the "Top scorer" list with 5 goals, but Yui Hasegawa (14) and Riko Ueki (9) are the soul of the cherry blossom team's playing style. Hasegawa has sharp passes from the midfield. Ueki plays as a center forward but often drops back to link the lines.

Riko Ueki (9) is the soul of the cherry blossom country's football team.

With counter-attacking play, it is important to have a striker who can hold the ball. Ueki played this role brilliantly. When a team has little possession, players will not be eager to sprint to counter-attack if their striker cannot control the ball, because they know they will eventually have to sprint back.

Yui Hasegawa (14) shoots the ball during the match against Norway

Japan is a team that knows how to adapt to the situation. It's easy to say, but not easy to do. It takes a certain humility to do it. Although they and Spain have the same style of short passing, keeping the ball for a long time, and the striker dropping deep to link up the play, when they clash, Japan is willing to "let" Spain do that.

For their part, Japan chose a counter-attacking style of play, which was more direct and effective. Spain controlled the ball a lot without creating many chances. Japan scored despite not having much possession. In one half against Spain, Japan scored three goals with just three attempts on the opponent's penalty area. A frightening performance.

Goalkeeper Ayaka Yamashita has only conceded one goal in four matches.

Like the men's team at the 2022 World Cup, the Japanese women's team is happy to rotate their lineup as everyone knows their role in the team. Only four players have been in the starting lineup for all four matches since the beginning of the tournament: goalkeeper Ayaka Yamashita (1), right-back Risa Shimizu (2), center-back Moeke Minami (3), center-back Saki Kumagai (4).

Japan won the 2011 World Cup and finished runners-up in 2015. At the 2019 World Cup, they lost a last-minute penalty to the Netherlands, who went on to reach the final. Japan could meet the Netherlands again in the semi-finals, but first they need to get past Sweden, a team with a similar style of play to Norway, who Japan defeated 3-1 in the round of 16.

Japan beat former world champions Norway

Norway coach Hege Riise said of Japan: "They are a great team with a lot of good players, the most cohesive team in this tournament, and they use very good tactics. The combination of tiki-taka and their direct style of play makes it very difficult for opponents to defend."

Source: https://nld.com.vn/the-thao/nhat-ban-la-doi-manh-nhat-world-cup-nu-2023-20230810171356047.htm