Women's International Friendly: Japan vs South Africa in Crucial WAFCON Warm-up
Fifth-ranked Japan Women's National Team will once again face South Africa Women in an international friendly. This match serves as a vital part of South Africa's preparation for the 2026 Women's Africa Cup of Nations, as they look to improve their performance, while Japan aims to maintain their strong momentum and fine-tune tactics. Expect a clash of technical prowess and physical play, with key players on both sides to watch.
Match Background & Qualification Scenarios
Scheduled for June 9, 2026, at J-Green Sakai Stadium in Osaka, Japan, this international friendly marks the second of two matches between Japan Women and South Africa Women. For the South Africa Women's National Team, also known as Banyana Banyana, this fixture is a crucial component of their intensive preparations for the 2026 Women's Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) in Morocco [16]. Japan Women, currently ranked fifth globally, are considered a powerhouse in women's football [16, 30], while South Africa sits at 58th in the FIFA rankings [2]. In the first friendly match just days prior, Japan secured a dominant 5-0 victory over South Africa [4, 5, 17]. Consequently, for South Africa, the stakes involve demonstrating improvement and learning from their previous defeat, whereas Japan aims to extend their winning momentum and potentially experiment with new lineups or tactical setups. While this friendly does not impact qualification for any tournament, it holds significant importance for both teams' morale and readiness.
Recent Form
**Japan Women:** Japan has shown strong recent form, securing four wins and one loss in their last five official matches. Their most recent outing saw them defeat South Africa 5-0 [17]. Prior to that, they experienced a 0-3 loss to the USA [17], followed by a 1-0 victory over the USA [17], a narrow 1-2 defeat to the USA [17], and a 1-0 win against Australia [17]. Overall, Japan has scored 7 goals and conceded 6 in these five matches [30]. **South Africa Women:** South Africa's performance in their last five official matches stands at two wins, one draw, and two losses. Their most recent result was a 0-5 defeat to Japan [10]. Before that, they recorded back-to-back victories against Algeria (2-0 and 1-0) [10], followed by a 1-2 extra-time loss to Namibia in the CAF Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament [10], and a 1-1 draw (4-2 on penalties) against Zimbabwe [10]. South Africa has scored 5 goals and conceded 8 in their last five matches (including the 5 goals conceded against Japan).
Key Players & Injury News
For Japan Women, forward Mina Tanaka is a key offensive player, being a leading scorer in league play [30]. Midfielders Yui Hasegawa and Hinata Miyazawa are also crucial creators [29, 32]. There are no reports of significant new injuries for the Japanese squad. On the South Africa Women's side, key players include prolific scorer Thembi Kgatlana, midfielder Linda Motlhalo, and captain Refiloe Jane [13, 18, 22]. Notably, Gabriela Salgado suffered a serious leg injury during the Women's Africa Cup of Nations semi-final in July 2025 [6, 14, 19]. However, she, along with Hildah Magaia and Wendy Shongwe, made a welcome return to the national team squad for international friendlies in April 2026 [20, 28]. Her comeback is a significant boost for the team, but her match fitness will be a point of interest.