SoccerNinth-ranked Canada fell to its fourth straight defeat Saturday, blanked 3-0 by Japan in a women’s soccer friendly in the Asian nation.Four-game slide team’s longest losing streak since 2019The Canadian Press · Posted: Nov 29, 2025 2:05 PM EST | Last Updated: 2 hours agoListen to this articleEstimated 5 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by text-to-speech, a technology based on artificial intelligence.Canada’s Holly Ward, front, takes the ball past Costa Rica’s Gabriela Guillen during the first half of international women’s friendly soccer action in Toronto on June 27, 2025. (Chris Young/The Canadian Press)The slump continues for the Canadian women’s soccer team.Ninth-ranked Canada fell to its fourth straight defeat Saturday, blanked 3-0 by Japan in a women’s soccer friendly.Momoko Tanikawa, Mina Tanaka and Aoba Fujino scored for eighth-ranked Japan, which controlled play at the 20,000-capacity Peace Stadium in Nagasaki. Canada was outplayed for much of the game and it was one-way traffic for long stretches.”We’re in a really difficult stage right now. There’s no shying away from that,” said Canada assistant coach Natalie Henderson, who is running the team with head coach Casey Stoney back in England with her ailing mother. “We certainly aren’t a team that likes losing or wants to continue this run. We want to fix things and we’re trying to fix things.”I think there’s some positives to take from today. But again we have to make those positives more consistent.”Canada fell to 4-9-4 all-time against Japan. The Canadians have not beaten Japan since March 2018 — when they prevailed 2-0 at the Algarve Cup — and have won just one of the last eight meetings.The two teams meet again Tuesday at Transcosmos Stadium Nagasaki in nearby Isahaya in Canada’s final outing of the year.Canada will be looking to turn the tide, coming off consecutive 1-0 losses to No. 24 Switzerland and the 11th-ranked Netherlands last month after a disappointing 3-0 loss to the second-ranked U.S. in July.It’s the Canadian women’s longest losing streak since a four-game slide in 2019 that included a round-of-16 loss to Sweden at the World Cup in France.The Canadians, whose 2025 record stands at 6-5-1, have not scored in 364 minutes since Emma Regan’s 86th-minute goal in a 4-1 win over Costa Rica on June 27 in Toronto.Canada assistant coach Natalie Henderson gives instructions during a training session days prior to the women’s soccer team’s 3-0 loss to Japan. (Canada Soccer/The Canadian Press)Canada dominated in Japan Canada lived dangerously early on, turning the ball over on several occasions. Fujino came close in the eighth minute, curling a shot from distance that bounced off the crossbar.A Canadian corner in the 30th minute caused some disarray in the Japanese penalty box, but did not produce a shot on goal. Canadian fullback Marie Levasseur’s shot hit the side netting in the 38th minute.Tanikawa put the home side ahead in the 43rd minute, capping a sequence that saw Canada defending desperately with centre back Jade Rose blocking two shots.Japan kept the ball in play, heading it back into the penalty box for an unmarked Tanikawa to hammer home. The play started with an errant clearance from Canadian goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan.Japan outshot Canada 9-2 in a first half that saw Vancouver Rise forward Holly Ward, earning her sixth cap, the most effective Canadian. And the Japanese kept coming in the second half.The Canadian ‘keeper was at fault again in the 51st minute, caught on the ball under pressure from Tanaka after taking a back pass in front of the goal. The Utah Royals forward took advantage, dispossessing Sheridan and knocking the ball into an empty goal from close range.The Canadian defence was cut open again in the 58th minute, with Tanikawa’s pass finding an unmarked Fujino in the box. Her shot went through Sheridan.Canada captain Jessie Fleming, right, battles for the battle during a game against the United States in July. Her appearance in Saturday’s 3-0 loss to Japan was her 150th cap. (Nick Wass/The Associated Press)Canada XI featured two NSL playersThere were five changes to the Canadian starting lineup that faced the Swiss on Oct. 28, with Sheridan, Levasseur, midfielder Simi Awujo and forwards Nichelle Prince and Ward slotting in.Canada’s starting 11, which included two Northern Super League players in Ward and AFC Toronto’s Regan, went into the match with a combined 702 caps. Captain Jessie Fleming, one of four centurions in the side, earned her 150th cap.Jordyn Huitema, Julia Grosso, Evelyne Viens, Sydney Collins, Florianne Jourde and Vanessa Gilles — in her first appearance since the July loss to the U.S. — came on for Canada in the second half.The Japanese starting 11 included eight players from clubs in England.But Canada was without its England-based star forward, Olivia Smith. Arsenal did not want Smith, who suffered a hip injury playing for Canada last month, to make the long trip to Japan.Henderson shouts instructions on the sideline during Canada’s 3-0 loss to Japan. (Canada Soccer/The Canadian Press)Her absence led to a first senior call-up for D.B. Pridham, the NSL’s player of the year. But the Ottawa Rapid star, born in California to Canadian parents, is ineligible to take part in the Japan games because she couldn’t get her Canadian passport in time.A dual citizen, Pridham travelled on her U.S. passport.”The situation will be resolved upon D.B.’s return to Canada at the conclusion of this window,” Canada Soccer said in a social media post.Canada was missing the injured Kadeisha Buchanan, Gabby Carle and Lysianne Proulx. Utah Royals forward Cloe Lacasse, while back from a knee injury suffered in October 2024, is not expected to rejoin Canada until next year.Annabelle Chukwu (Notre Dame) and Kayla Briggs (Michigan State University) were unavailable for selection by mutual agreement with their colleges.
Canada women outplayed in 3-0 loss to Japan in international soccer friendly
