AFC Women's Asian Cup: The evening Japan exposed Indian football's reality

When the scoreboard at the Perth Rectangular Stadium flickered to double digits on Saturday, Indian fans in the stadium seemed quieter than before. It was a heartbreak of epic proportions. 

As Elangbam Panthoi Chanu picked up the ball out of the net again, captain Sweety Devi looked up briefly before turning away. By the time the tenth goal went in, both of them were in tears.

The AFC Women's Asian Cup 2026 match against Nadeshiko Japan eventually ended with a sorry 0-11 loss for the Blue Tigresses. 

On the pitch, their opponents were magnificent. Right from the kick-off, Japan moved like a single organism, midfielders rotating, wingers drifting inside, defenders stepping forward into space.

It took just four minutes for Yuzuki Yamamoto to curl a stunning strike into the top corner for her first senior international goal. Minutes later, Yui Hasegawa, the Manchester City playmaker, calmly slotted home after a precise delivery into the box.

The pattern was already clear. They were orchestrating a humongous win.

There was a ten-minute resistance from India after the second goal but once Hinata Miyazawa glided through the midfield to break open the defence, it all fell apart. By half-time, they were trailing 0-5.

After the break, the avalanche continued. Riko Ueki completed a hat-trick. Miyazawa would eventually do the same. Seike added another, while crosses and quick transitions kept arriving from every direction.

Through it all, Panthoi kept diving. Left. Right. Forward.More than once, she pulled off saves that drew  applause even from neutral observers.

Without her, the number on the scoreboard might have been even harsher.

Yet for all the pain of the result, there was one thing India did not do. They did not park the bus. Against a side ranked eighth in the world, that courage mattered.

But courage alone cannot close decades of structural difference.

Japan’s long road to excellence

Japan’s women’s football story did not begin in the 2010s or even the 1990s. Its roots stretch back more than a century.

During the Taisho era (1912–1926), girls’ schools across Japan played football as part of physical education programs.

By the 1960s, the modern era of women’s football in Japan had begun. The first recorded school teams emerged in Hyogo Prefecture in 1966, and public matches soon followed. Through the 1970s, participation grew steadily with regional leagues forming across the country.

The major structural step came in 1979, when the Japan Women’s Football Federation was established and the All-Japan Women’s Championship launched.

In 1981, the national team was officially formed. And in 1989, Japan created the L.League, the country’s first semi-professional women’s league, which later evolved into the Nadeshiko League.

Even when Japan’s economy struggled during the “Lost Decade” of the late 1990s, threatening the league’s survival, the system did not collapse. Instead, the Japan Football Association reorganized the structure in 2002, focusing heavily on youth development and coaching education.

The true global breakthrough came in 2011, when they won the FIFA Women’s World Cup, defeating the United States in the final. It transformed the sport’s visibility across the country.

More recently, Japan took another step forward with the launch of the fully professional WE League in 2021, giving female players professional contracts and a stable domestic competition. 

Today, Japan’s women’s football ecosystem is expansive and international. A large portion of the national team plays abroad, particularly in Europe’s top leagues.

Players like Yui Hasegawa (Manchester City), Hinata Miyazawa (Manchester United), Kiko Seike (Brighton), Riko Ueki (West Ham), Honoka Hayashi (West Ham), and Hana Takahashi (Liverpool) compete week in and week out against some of the best footballers in the world.

This exposure sharpens the national team. Players arrive in camp already accustomed to elite tactical systems, high-intensity matches, and professional environments.

The ignorance towards Indian women's football

India’s women’s football journey has been far more turbulent.

The Indian Women’s League (IWL), the country’s top domestic competition, only began in 2016, nearly three decades after Japan launched its own national league.

Even today, the IWL remains semi-professional. Most players juggle football with other responsibilities, and the league season is relatively short. Teams typically play around 14 matches per season, far fewer than players in fully professional leagues abroad.

This season, preparation for the Asian Cup exposed deeper structural issues.

The AIFF had promised a well-structured domestic season beginning in September 2025, designed to give players regular competitive matches before the tournament. Instead, the league started three months late in December, and only half the season was completed before the Asian Cup break.

Plans for an 83-day national camp with 10–12 international friendlies also failed to materialize. Since qualifying for the tournament in July 2025, India played only three official international matches before arriving in Australia.

A proposed set of friendlies in North Macedonia during the November FIFA window collapsed due to visa issues. Instead of facing high-level opponents, the team played club matches in Turkey and Australia.

In the days leading up to the tournament, players had to scramble to secure properly fitting kits from local suppliers after receiving incorrect age-group-sized jerseys from official shipments. It was a small detail, but a revealing one.

The contrast with Japan’s professional system could not have been clearer. This was a match that reflected a system, or the lack of one.

When the teams stepped onto the pitch in Perth, the difference was already years in the making. The gap was always going to show. And it did.

The challenge now lies beyond the pitch.

Closing the gap between India and Asia’s elite will require more than effort on match day. Until then, results like the one in Perth will continue to happen. Not because the Indian women's team lacks courage. But because football systems, like teams, are built over time.