The U.S. women’s national team will face Japan in three friendlies in April. “Japan is one of the best teams in the world,” U.S. head coach Emma Hayes said in a press release. “I’m a big admirer of how they play and I have tremendous respect for their team and identity.”
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The April window will see the teams play in three different states across just seven days—that kind of intense travel is usually reserved for densely scheduled tournaments like the World Cup and Olympics.
The first match will be played April 11 at PayPal Park in San Jose, Calif. The second will be played on April 14 at Lumen Field, home of the NWSL’s Seattle Reign, and the third on April 17 at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colo.
At this point in the four-year international soccer schedule, all roads point to the 2027 World Cup. The games against Japan will only be friendlies, but they indicate that the USWNT is choosing high-level opponents from around the world as it prepares for the biggest stage. “Playing the same opponent three times is unusual, but it presents a great challenge and a chance to test ourselves against a top-quality opponent,” Hayes said.
The matches against the Asian superpower will be a welcome change after the SheBelieves Cup, which in years past has included teams from multiple continents—its greatest contribution to the US’s schedule—but this year includes only teams from North and South America. Indeed, Japan has appeared in the tournament four times, including last year, when they beat the U.S. 2-1 on their way to finishing in first place.
Japan will have most recently played in the Women’s Asian Cup, the World Cup-qualifying tournament for the Asian Football Confederation.
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Japan, currently ranked 8th in the FIFA World Rankings to the U.S.’s 2nd place, has a storied rivalry with the USWNT. Nakeshido beat the U.S. in the 2011 World Cup final, and had the favor returned in the final of the 2015 edition of the tournament.
The Japanese team had an impressive 2023 World Cup run, memorably trampling eventual winners Spain 4-0 in the group stage. Recently, however, the team has faltered under new head coach Nils Nielsen; it lost to Brazil, Spain, and Norway in 2025.
Japan is home to a strong domestic club ecosystem, which has been home to many players who would go on to play in the NWSL and WSL, like Jun Endo, Maika Hamano, Yui Hasegawa, Nahomi Kawasumi, Manaka Matsukubo, Miyabi Moriya, Becca Moros, Yuki Nagasato, Clare Polkinghorne, Mina Tanaka, Ji So-yun, Hina Sugita, and Bev Yanez. The top tier, called the Japan Women’s Empowerment Professional Football League, fully professionalized in 2021.
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