India faces a stern test against Japan in its second Group C match of the AFC Women’s Asian Cup 2026 at Perth Rectangular Stadium on Saturday.
India is third in the group after a 2-1 loss to Vietnam in its opening match, while Japan began its campaign with a 2-0 win over Chinese Taipei.
Historically, Japan, ranked eighth in the FIFA Women’s World Rankings, has dominated the Blue Tigresses (67th), winning all three previous meetings in FIFA recognised competitions. The Nadeshiko have scored 14 goals across those matches, including a 7-0 victory in the Olympic qualifiers in 2023.
India has had two days to recover from the Vietnam match, and getting the players back into peak condition is a key priority for head coach Amelia Valverde.
“Of course, we will adapt to whatever situations arise. Right now, the first focus has been recovery because we had a very demanding match physically,” she said.
Valverde is wary of the threat posed by Japan, which won the AFC Women’s Asian Cup in 2014 and 2018 and the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2011.
“We know Japan is a team that really likes to keep possession, with a lot of dynamism. They like to dominate the game, but we have to prepare our own game. We hope to deliver a strong performance and be very competitive again, as we were last Wednesday,” she said.
“At certain moments the game may demand that we be flexible from a tactical point of view.
“We will try from the first minute of the game. I’ve mentioned in the past that the three opponents we face in our group are very different from each other,” she added.
“We need to focus our energy on our own team. We want to try to manage the game and take it in the direction we believe is best, while adapting to their characteristics.”
Midfielder Sangita Basfore said the team had analysed the mistakes from the Vietnam match.
“We made a big effort against Vietnam and did everything we could on the field, but we have analysed the game and the mistakes made in it,” she said.
“The plan is to improve in the next game and take those learnings into the match against Japan.
“Japan is a very good side. We need to perform even better than before, and that’s what we’ll try to do.”
Japan head coach Nils Nielsen said his side would look to create chances against India.
“I’m confident we can create chances against India. They are a strong team with great spirit, and although they were unlucky in their last game, we believe we can put them under pressure. To score, we must really commit and fight for every ball.”
Published on Mar 06, 2026
