Japan's women's football team won their opening match of the 2026 AFC Women's Asian Cup against the Philippines 1-0, largely due to Mary Fowler's performance. The victory was all that matters for Japan, as they are expected to make it out of the group stage of the tournament. Despite taking an hour to break the deadlock and only securing the victory in injury-time, the Matildas were in control of possession and fired away 30 attempts on goal compared to none from their opponents. Despite this, Japan is expected to be one of the title contenders at the tournament, having already avoided second-seeded teams China and South Korea. They are likely to face challenging opposition in their next matches against India and Vietnam, and may continue in the round of 16 and quarterfinals.