Japan 1-0 Australia
By Alyce Collett 21/3/2026
Above: Maika Hamano (second from right) celebrates with team mates after scoring the match winning goal of the 2026 Women’s Asian Cup final. Photo: via AFC.
Japan are the champions of Asia for 2026, after defeating Australia 1-0 in tonight’s final.
While Maika Hamano’s first half goal was what ultimately made the difference on the scoreboard, it was a strong and disciplined defensive performance from the Nadeshiko that ultimately made the difference, really constricting Australia’s attackers while they were trying to do their job.
The start from the tournament hosts was a lively one, and Sam Kerr almost got the game off to a perfect start for the Australians inside the first two minutes but did not get enough power on her shot.
Australia was also dominating possession, but a well positioned Japanese defence meant that shots – particularly ones on target – were hard to come by. Not only was Japan getting plenty of numbers behind the ball but was also giving the Matildas’ attackers very little room to manoeuvre.
However it was the Japanese who scored first, with Hamano letting a powerful shot rip from outside the box that perfectly curled away from Mackenzie Arnold and into the back of the net.
That goal really showed the class of Japan, and showed that a side as good as Japan only needs one moment to make all the difference.
Caitlin Foord did pick up a good steal and opportunity to score with about 1o minutes left in the first half, but unfortunately for the home fans she could not quite work the angles in her favour.
Despite the Matildas’ inability to navigate past a very strong Japanese defence, the score at half time was still only 1-0 so the tournament hosts were still very much in the match at the break.
Australia continued to dominate possession, but just could not navigate a well disciplined Japanese defence, in much the same way that plagued them in the first half.
Ellie Carpenter and Kaitlyn Torpey both had prime chances in the first half of the second half, but just could not make them count for one reason or another.
As the minutes ticked down, Australia was running out of time to fix its issues in attack and find that equalising goal.
What was not helping Australia’s case was that coach Joe Montemurro was not really changing anything in terms of formation or personnel on the field. Hayley Raso was the only player brought on by Montemurro in the second half before the 80th minute mark.
Australia kept pushing hard in the last 10 minutes to try and find that equaliser, but as hard as the Matildas tried they just could not find what they were looking for.
Teams: JAPAN (4-3-3): Yamashita, Kumagai, Takahashi, Kōga, Miyazawa, Ueki, Nagano, Kitagawa, Hasegawa, Fujino, Hamano. Substitutions: Shimizu, Minami, Seike, Tanaka, Hayashi, Moriya, Hirao, Yamamoto, Tanikawa, Matsukubo, Okuma, Narumiya, Chiba, Hijikata.
Scorers: Hamano 17’
AUSTRALIA (4-4-2): Arnold, Heatley, Catley, Torpey, Foord, Fowler, Kennedy, Carpenter, Gorry, Cooney-Cross, Kerr. Substitutes: Hunt, Wheeler, Rankin, Nevin, Lincoln, Chidiac, Johnson, Sayer, Aquino, Heyman, Rule, McNamara, Van Egmond, Siemsen, Raso.
Referee: Kim Yu-jeong (South Korea)
Attendance: 74,397.
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