Japan Rolls to Second-Straight Win at SheBelieves Cup, Presented by Visa, with 4-1 Victory over Colombia

GLENDALE, Arizona (Feb. 23, 2025) – The Japan Women’s National Team put together its second consecutive impressive win at the 2025 SheBelieves Cup with a dominant 4-1 victory against Colombia in the first game of the tournament’s second matchday. The Nadeshiko netted two early goals and then put the game away with two more in the second half, led by a brace from tournament scoring leader Mina Tanaka.

Japan took the lead mere seconds after the opening whistle. From just beyond the center circle, Momoko Tanikawa dribbled forward before ripping a rocket of a shot from 25 yards out to the top right corner for the game’s first goal. Netting just 18 seconds in, the goal marked the fastest tally in SheBelieves Cup history.

It didn’t take long for Japan to double its advantage, scoring again off a corner in the eighth minute. Momoko Tanikawa sent a booming ball into the box and Tanaka leapt to meet it, squaring a clinical header to the near left post for her third of the competition.

After its ideal start, Japan was on the front foot for much of the first half, menacing Colombia’s defense with a number of dangerous attacking runs. The Japanese nearly had another goal in the 41st as Hikaru Kitagawa took a hard-hit shot after a deflected cross into the box that was parried by the Colombian defense and Aoba Fujino had another look at goal off the ensuing rebound, once again blocked by Colombia.

Las Cafeteras pulled one back in the final moments of first-half stoppage time, winning the ball near midfield and launching a speedy counterattack. A nice exchange between Daniela Montoya, Linda Caicedo and Leicy Santos sprung Caicedo on the run towards goal, and she outran her mark to slot a shot just inside the right post from just outside the six.

Despite the effort, the comeback never came for Colombia as Japan put things away in the second half with two more tallies. The Nadeshiko used a fast break of their own to net the third in the 57th. From the left side, Riko Ueki played it centrally to Tanaka, who found Maika Hamano streaking down the right. She dribbled into the box and ripped a shot into the left side of the goal from 12 yards out to reestablish Japan’s multi-goal lead.

A successful penalty in the 80th iced things for Japan. As Tanaka fought to get on the end of a long ball into the box, Colombia goalkeeper Luisa Agudelo clipped her and took her down, causing the referee to point to the spot. She left no doubt with a low, hard-rolling shot to the left post, good for her tournament-leading fourth goal. Tanaka is now tied with Mallory Swanson for most goals ever in a single SheBelieves Cup tournament.

Japan is in strong position for the tournament title heading into the final matchday with six points and a plus-seven goal difference. The teams will now travel to San Diego, Calif. for the final games of the competition on Feb. 26 as Japan takes on the United States at 10:30 p.m. ET (TBS, Max, in Spanish on Universo and Peacock and on the radio via the Westwood One Sports Network) and Colombia faces Australia at 7:30 p.m. ET (Max, Universo and Peacock).

- 2025 Shebelieves cup MATCH REPORT -

Match: Colombia Women’s National Team vs. Japan Women’s National Team
Date: February 23, 2025
Competition: 2025 SheBelieves Cup
Venue: State Farm Stadium; Glendale, Ariz.
Attendance: 12,624
Kickoff: 12:07 p.m. local (2:07 p.m. ET)
Weather: 69 degrees, sunny

Lineups:
COL: 1-Luisa Agudelo; 2-Mary Álvarez, 5-Yirleidis Quejada Minota (22-Daniela Caracas, 46), 14-Ángela Barón (15-Wendy Bonilla, 73), 4-Ana Guzman; 10-Leicy Santos, 6-Daniela Montoya (8-Marcela Restrepo, 46, 11-Catalina Usme, 66), 19-Karla Torres; 7-Manuela Paví (9-Mayra Ramírez, 46), 21-Maria Camila Reyes (20-Sara Martínez, 46), 18-Linda Caicedo
Substitutions Not Used:3-Daniela Arias, 12-Katherine Tapia, 13-Natalia Giraldo, 16-Jorelyn Carabalí, 17-Carolina Arias, 23-Ivonne Chacón
Head coach: Ángelo Marsiglia

JPN: 12-Chika Hirao; 5-Hana Takahashi (2-Saori Takarada, 88), 6-Toko Koga, 3-Moeka Minami 13-Hikaru Kitagawa; 16-Momoko Tanikawa (18-Honoka Hayashi, 69), 7-Hinata Miyazawa, 20-Narumi Miura (10-Fuka Nagano, 46); 15-Aoba Fujino (8-Manaka Matsukubo, 88), 11-Mina Tanaka (19-Remina Chiba, 83), 9-Riko Ueki (17-Maika Hamano, 46)
Substitutions Not Used: 1-Ayaka Yamashita, 4-Saki Kumagai, 14-Yui Hasegawa, 21-Miyabi Moriya, 22-Yuka Momiki, 23-Akane Okuma
Head coach: Nils Nielsen

Stats Summary: COL / JPN
Shots: 5 / 13
Shots on Goal: 2 / 7
Saves: 3 / 1
Corner Kicks: 3 / 4
Fouls: 16 / 8
Offside: 1 / 0

Misconduct Summary:
COL – Luisa Agudelo (Caution) 78th minute

Officials:
Referee: Alex Billeter (USA)
Assistant Referee 1: Kali Smith (USA)
Assistant Referee 2: Katarzyna Wasiak (USA)
4th Official: Danielle Chesky (USA)