On Saturday, Japan advanced to the quarterfinals of the Women’s World Cup for the fourth time by defeating Norway 3-1. Hinata Miyazawa scored her fifth goal of the tournament, and the victory sent Japan over Norway in a matchup of previous champions.
Japan has been on a quest to erase the memories of their disheartening elimination from the tournament in the round of 16 in 2019, and they will now advance to face the winner of the match between the holders, the United States, and Sweden, which will take place on Sunday.
Despite having given up their first goal of the competition on a header by Guro Reiten, they were able to pull out the victory in front of 33,042 spectators thanks to an own goal scored by Norway’s Ingrid Engen as well as goals scored by Risa Shimizu and Miyazawa in the second half.
With her goal in the 81st minute, Miyazawa broke the tie she had with Germany’s captain Alexandra Popp for the most goals scored in the tournament. She also tied Homare Sawa’s record for the most goals scored by a Japanese player in a World Cup, which Sawa had established in 2011 when the Nadeshiko won the championship.