Korea blanked by Japan in women's football semifinals, to face China for bronze

NAGOYA, Japan — South Korea lost to Japan 2-0 in the semifinals of the Asian Games Aichi-Nagoya 2026 women’s football tournament on Tuesday after conceding both goals to the host country in the second half.

Chiina Kamiya scored a brace at Shizuoka Stadium Ecopa in Fukuroi, Japan, and sent her team to their sixth consecutive Asiad final.

Japan will take on North Korea in the gold medal match at the same Fukuroi stadium at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. It will be a rematch of the 2023 Asiad final, when Japan prevailed 4-1.

South Korea will face China in the bronze medal contest, also in Fukuroi, at 3 p.m. on Friday.

South Korea were chasing their first women’s football title, having previously won bronze medals in 2010, 2014 and 2018.

South Korea have four wins, 14 draws and 21 losses against Japan. The last victory came in August 2015.

Neither side made a shot on target through the first 35 minutes until South Korean defender Jang Selgi put one right at goalkeeper Shu Ohba.

Things opened up a bit on both ends after the restart.

Jung Min-young tested Ohba with a midrange attempt in the 51st minute, but Japan broke the deadlock three minutes later.

Japan took advantage of a slow South Korean transition defense, with Kamiya heading home a cross by Mami Ueno past goalkeeper Kim Min-jung.

Kamiya then netted her second goal of the match nine minutes later, picking off a South Korean pass attempt and firing a left-footed shot into the bottom right corner.

South Korea kept their pressure on the opposing defense, but their 63-37 edge in ball possession did not translate to a goal.

South Korea head coach Shin Sang-woo said afterward that he will hold himself accountable for not taking the team to the final.

“It’s my fault as head coach that we missed out on a chance to play in our first final,” he said. “To break through, we need more diversity in our talent pool, and we should unearth more young players.”

He added that he had been worried about the players’ conditioning and energy levels in the second half, given that they had traveled a long distance between Shizuoka and Osaka, the site of their quarterfinals match. The two cities are about 260 kilometers (161.6 miles) apart.

“That worry became reality as we gave up goals in the second half,” Shin continued. “But on a brighter note, we did see the rise of some young players. Their experience of going up against some strong opponents will help us prepare for next year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup.”

Yonhap