Japan women's national soccer team
1 (24 March 2017)
The Japan women's national football team, or Nadeshiko Japan (なでしこジャパン), is a selection of the best female players in Japan and is run by the Japan Football Association (JFA). It is currently ranked 6th in the world.
Japan defeated the United States in the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup Final in a penalty shootout, thus claiming their first FIFA Women's World Cup title, becoming the first Asian team to do so and only the fourth women's world champions. They won the silver medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics, and most recently finished second in the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup.
During the 1970s, the number of women football players and teams increased in Japan, and teams made up regional leagues in various parts of Japan. In 1980, "All-Japan Women's Football Championship" was held, and in 1981 the Japan women's national football team played its first international match in Hong Kong. The team continued playing matches in Japan or in other countries, but it was not an "All Japan" national team but a temporarily organized team selected from the regional leagues.
In 1986, Ryohei Suzuki was selected as the coach of the Japan women's national football team, the first "All Japan" team. In 1989, the "Japan Women's Football League" (abbreviated to "L. League") was established, and the women’s national team qualified for the "1991 FIFA Women's World Cup" in China.
Japan women's national football team attended various championship tournaments such as the 1996 Summer Olympics and the 1995 FIFA Women's World Cup which had made the national team and the L. League very popular. However, in 1999, Japan failed to qualify for the 2000 Summer Olympics, and this helped to cause the withdrawal of a series of teams from the L. League. Japanese women’s football was on the verge of decline.
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