Futsal Ferns lose to Japan in opening game at FIFA Futsal Women's World Cup

Asian champions Japan have powered past New Zealand 6-0 in their opening Group C match at the inaugural FIFA Futsal Women’s World Cup in the Philippines.

From the moment Sara Oino opened the scoring with a lovely left-footed shot in the second minute, following a back heel assist from Ryo Egawa, it was largely one-way traffic with the Futsal Ferns struggling to retain possession and get out of their own half.

The Oceania champions were heroic on defence throughout, however, and put their bodies on the line time and time again to shut down wave after wave of Japan attacks.

Jordana Bremner had New Zealand’s first effort in the 7th minute when Japanese ‘keeper Nene Inoue saved her right-footed effort. But that was the only real save the Japanese keeper had to make.

A couple of minutes later, Danielle Bradley made a fine save to deny Japan a second goal. Aki Ikeuchi then missed a tap-in midway through to the half as New Zealand continued to frustrate the Japanese attack.

Japan fired a shot against the woodwork in the 12th minute and barely a minute later finally doubled their lead, when Anna Amashiro rifled home the second, leaving Bradley with no chance in the New Zealand goal.

There was no further scoring in the half with Japan managing 30 attempts on goal to New Zealand’s two, highlighting their dominance.

The onslaught continued in the second half as the Futsal Ferns had no answer to Japan’s precision passing.

Risa Ikadai added a third goal four minutes after the restart, and then two goals in a minute, the first through Ryo Egawa, followed by Oino’s second, killed off any hopes of a New Zealand fightback.

Yukari Miyahara added a sixth goal for Japan eight minutes from full-time and New Zealand managed to limit the damage over the final minutes.

The Futsal Ferns must now regroup ahead of their second match of the tournament against Tanzania on Wednesday (NZT).

Main photo: The Futsal Ferns make their first appearance at a FIFA Futsal Women’s World Cup. Photo credit: Aitor Alcalde – FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images.

Acknowledgement

We thank OFC Media for providing information for this story.

Watch the highlights

Results

Games played on Sunday November 23, 2025 (NZT)

Group C

New Zealand 0
Japan 6 (Sara Oino 2’,27’, Anna Amishiro 13’, Risa Ikadai 24’, Ryo Egawa 27’, Yukari Miyahara 32′)

Portugal
Tanzania
*Result to come, kick-off 7.30pm (NZT)

Fixtures

Game to be played on Wednesday November 26, 2025 (NZT)

New Zealand v Tanzania
PhilSports Arena, Pasig City, Manila, Philippines, 6pm (NZT)

Game to be played on Saturday November 29, 2025 (NZT)

New Zealand v Portugal
PhilSports Arena, Pasig City, Manila, Philippines, 7.30pm (NZT)

This story was first published on November 23, 2025.