Women’s World Cup: Japan through to last eight after win over Norway

Japan are through to the quarter-finals of the Women’s World Cup after beating Norway.

The 2011 champions got through the group stage with ease and continued their fine form with a 3-1 win.

An Ingrid Engen own goal gave Japan the lead but Guro Reiten cancelled it out a few minutes later.

Risa Shimizu netted in the second half though and Hinata Miyazawa broke through with nine minutes remaining to secure the victory.

Japan will face either the USA or Sweden in the quarter-finals, who meet on Sunday.

“I am really happy to have scored the goal but it is because all of the team worked for that,” Miyazawa said. “I want to score more.”

Japan had scored 11 goals in the group stage and their fine form continued with this win.

Reiten’s superb header, into the top left corner, was the first they conceded in the tournament with goalkeeper Ayaka Yamashita in fine form once again.

Whenever Yamashita was called up she dealt with the Norway attack with efficiency. Her highlight was a late save from Karina Saevik’s bullet header to keep Japan two goals ahead.

Cover Photo: The flag of Japan” by futureatlas.com is licensed under CC BY 2.0 .