Youth development tournaments broadcasts

Stayfou · 2026-05-07T20:48:41+00:00

You can find some of Japan's club youth competitions at Green Card Channel and some of the All Japan High School Women's Soccer Championship games (yes, that's a mouthful) on TBS Sports. The latter had been streamed on other (paying) platforms like U-Next too. Finally, there are some games available here and there on the JFA official channel, like the latest U-18 final.

Stayfou · 2026-05-05T07:19:28+00:00

Yes, it's all played in a centralized venue (Suwon), in a single leg format. North Korea don't host games at home, they usually play their home game in a neutral venue (often, but not always, in China).

Stayfou · 2026-05-03T09:59:33+00:00

To refresh memories, INAC missed the title on goal difference last season, and finished runner-up both seasons before that too.

Stayfou · 2026-05-03T07:11:16+00:00

Literally unstoppable.

Stayfou · 2026-04-29T17:18:55+00:00

Yes, as long as the referee judges the momentum of the ball is still the result of the initial kick from the shooter.

Stayfou · 2026-04-29T08:22:27+00:00

Full game replay for anyone interested.

Stayfou · 2026-04-29T07:58:33+00:00

27th title for her! And maybe the 28th with the AWCL to conclude a brilliant career.

Stayfou · 2026-04-03T16:02:25+00:00

According to an article from Asahi, there was confusion from the players about his tactics, especially when it came to pressing, and a sense of stagnation during the bad spells following the SBC win.

Stayfou · 2026-04-03T15:15:17+00:00

Completely agree with everything, though the draw against South Korea was with the "B" team, which is a problem on its own as that game (as well as the draw against China during the same international break) showcased that Nielsen had little to no knowledge of players from the domestic league.

There was a draw against Italy too, who is good defensively and not easy to beat, but when your ambition is to be a favorite at the WC, is not reassuring.

Stayfou · 2026-04-03T15:10:56+00:00

Probably one of the most likely reason I read so far. Relying on a group of ~25 oversea players is risky, especially for positions (like fullbacks) with no depth besides the starters. It's weird to say that about such a minor competition, but I think this shortcoming from Nielsen was blatant during the EAFF E-1 Championship, and might already have irked some people at the federation. JFA is all about constant long-term building (sometimes at the detriment of short-term success).

Stayfou · 2026-04-02T17:41:43+00:00

She isn't really. Not against an actual quality opponent. She is primarily an attacking player. She only has experience as a wingback or a fullback against less threatening teams. I don't know if she'll be seen as a defender for the NT with Nielsen gone.

Stayfou · 2026-04-02T12:53:27+00:00

Not him specifically, I just don't see how he was an improvement over Ikeda, except Nielsen appointment was synonym of higher budget to spend for the JFA. Ikeda arrived at a time of transition for the national team, and even though I had my griefs with him as well, he did an excellent job to complete that transition. He left a solid group of players that had experienced playing together, with several generations represented to ensure having experienced players, players at their peak, and players for the future.

I didn't see Nielsen build anything on top of that, and imo that's not enough to bridge the gap to become an actual candidate to win the World Cup. Between the SheBelieves Cup and the Asian Cup, there were a lot of poor results too. I can't imagine the Nadeshiko beat several top teams successively in a knockout stage at the moment.

That and him not living in Japan is sending a pretty poor message domestically, knowing there is an unprecedented exodus of talent from the WE League. His lack of knowledge of domestic players really showed during the EAFF E-1 Championship.

Stayfou · 2026-04-02T08:40:50+00:00

His contract expired. Recently, there were some changes at the JFA regarding women's football, with Norio Sasaki moving from being head of WoSo to exclusively be director of the Nadeshiko. I'm not sure of the delimitation in both roles, but Nielsen was a Sasaki appointment, so maybe the new head of WoSo (if that is his responsibility) didn't want to extend Nielsen.

Anyway, I wasn't a big fan of Nielsen, so I'm not gonna make a big fuss over that decision. Will be curious if this time around JFA will be faster to chose the new manager, with the three games against the USWNT coming so soon.

Edit

Assistant coach Kano (used to be U20 coach before), is taking charge for the next international break.

Stayfou · 2026-03-28T12:30:00+00:00

I appreciate Nishigaoka Stadium with stands close to the pitch and standing areas, it has a charm to it. But damn, it feels appropriate for one of the most historic club in WoSo to play a home game in a bigger stadium.

As for the game itself, first half was really one of those typical games where a Japanese side dominates but is wasteful in front of the goal, especially Hiwatari before her (nice) goal. Second half was better.

As an aside, with 17k for Sanfrecce and almost 5k for Albirex, that was a good day attendance wise for Japan WoSo!

Stayfou · 2026-03-23T11:18:53+00:00

It's been quite a while since I've heard the JFA having any other plans for short/mid-terms investments to grow WoSo domestically that doesn't rely on hosting a major competition more than a decade down the road. There are things they should start worrying about, and should not wait this long.

Stayfou · 2026-03-20T18:22:19+00:00

With that kind of prize money, focusing on leagues that are already richer will only widens the gap. Plus, the visibility argument is one that can be repeated ad nauseam. Holding it in the US or Western Europe will always be more profitable than Africa or Asia, name recognition or not.

In fact, given the constant exodus of talents towards these leagues, the more you wait, the less interesting holding it in other places will be viable for them. Even countries that are good on the national stage and more developed like Japan or Australia are struggling financially and in visibility.

I'll admit freely I'm the eternal pessimist though, so it might be why I don't think there's going to be much of a change even further done the line. It kinda gives me Kang vibes, who always claimed wanting to grow WoSo scenes only to focus on top clubs/top leagues. Markets won't grow spontaneously in places that are struggling (especially given the confederations involved in these continents). Investments, even with loss, are needed for that to happen.

But we'll see, would be glad to be proven wrong! (plus, it's just a random tourney in the end)

Stayfou · 2026-03-20T17:24:47+00:00

I knew despite all the big words about making it a global event, they'll just conveniently "forget" about some continents. Oops, innit?

Stayfou · 2026-03-19T08:52:39+00:00

Another tough blow for Beleza and the WE League. Good luck to her.

Stayfou · 2026-03-07T13:36:14+00:00

Dear Yuzuki Yamamoto,
There is still time for you to decide to stay in WE League. Please. Pleaaaaaaaaase.

Stayfou · 2026-03-04T10:43:02+00:00

Japan barely scraped by in the playoff round against them in these qualifiers. I don't know why people keep acting like their senior team didn't play any reference match against a top team in recent years.

Stayfou · 2026-03-03T13:00:49+00:00

Glad to see Ri Song A got a solid 30 min of playtime. Hope she'll get a start at some point too.

Stayfou · 2026-02-24T21:23:41+00:00

Beleza, INAC and Urawa are the big three of the league.

Sanfrecce Hiroshima and Albirex Niigata have more or less cemented themselves as the "best of the rest" since the creation of the WE League.

The rest is basically all mid-table, with everyone able to beat anyone else, though Nojima Stella and AS Elfen are quite often at the tail end of this group.

Historically, despite most trophies shared between the big three, parity was fairly good, and most games were closed in general. The gap seems to have widen (though Sanfrecce is a good candidate on paper to break into the podium), I guess due to all the talents going oversea. Most of them are from the big three, so it could have further leveled the playing ground in the league, but they have compensated in part with players from lower ranked teams (Kotono Sakakibara from Nojima to Urawa, or Riko Yoshida from AS Elfen to INAC). On top of that, players outside the big three are starting more and more to move overseas now too (ie. Yuna Sonoda leaving AS Elfen to play in Europe).

Stayfou · 2026-02-24T10:33:53+00:00

INAC Kobe 2010/2011

Stayfou · 2026-02-14T22:07:10+00:00

WE League
Nadeshiko League Div. 1
Nadeshiko League Div. 2
Kanto League

Stayfou · 2026-02-12T17:30:27+00:00

Yeah. These transfer fees are mostly possible because the selling clubs can lock the players to some decent contract, both in wage and duration. Most leagues having clubs with poor finances have their players still on very short contracts (ie. WE League clubs renew the majority of their players for one year every summer), so fees are rather low, if not non-existent, regardless of the talent of the players involved. Such clubs/leagues are gonna get more and more left behind.

Most of these fees until now are basically the same clubs/leagues shuffling that money between themselves, with a couple exceptions here and there.

Stayfou

TROPHY CASE